Wise Owl Scented Waxes
- , by Trudy Chuoke Trudy Chuoke
We had a “make and take” this last week at the store. “Make and Takes” usually are to introduce a new product in the store and let my customers try it out and see how they can use it at their house. Wise Owl Paint is a decorative paint that comes in a chalk style paint or a one-hour enamel. Their paints are amazing and if you want to see some beautiful work just google their website or take a look at them on Pinterest. And if you are interested in something like this, I’m your girl. Just send me an email or better yet give me a call at the store and we can talk about what the possibilities of redesigning and re-purposing a piece of furniture.
Wise Owl Paint also makes a furniture salve. And we have other furniture salves at the store, but none with a fragrance. And when I first saw these salves, my mind went a million directions in the possibilities that a scented salve would have.
My first thought is antiques. Antiques can have an odor. Aunt Lulu’s antique nightstand that she “gifted” you that had been in her garage or barn for decades can have a distinct smell. And the odor that comes with an older piece is hard to get rid of unless you use an odor blocking primer. Remember the story I told you about my cabinets and the smoke smell that had permeated the wood. I had to prime them with Zinsser Odor Killing Primer. And that’s been six years ago, and the smoke smell has not returned. But if you don’t want to do that, now you have an alternative.
Most smell in an older piece of furniture is on the inside of the piece. The unfinished drawers, the inside of the drawers, the drawer slides are usually not finished and that’s where odors live. Wise Owl Furniture Salve comes in fragrances to help alleviate odors. Wise Owl Salve comes in about 15 different fragrances but some of my favorites are lavender, riotous rain, teak-wood and amber, citrus mint, lemon verbena and cactus blossom.
To apply salve use a 2” palm brush. A palm brush has a shorter bristle, fits into your palm, and works well with waxes and salves. There are several on the market, and most of the time they are expensive, but I have found one by Wooster that is half the price, and we carry them in the store. Dip the brush into the wax and start applying it to the wood. You can go in any direction, just get it into the wood, let it sit for five minutes, and then buff off the excess with a soft cloth or the Libman Micro Fiber Rags on a roll.
You can use this salve on a lot of areas, but I think the best way to use it is on unfinished wood. It will seal the wood and provide a protective coating. It will also help drawers slide smoothly.
Let me share some great questions from the store….
Question: I have some bougainvillea that are not blooming. I have tried to find a fertilizer that is specially made for the plant, but the ones I see…. don’t have a good review. Do you have a suggestion?
Answer: This is above my “pay grade” so I went to my favorites garden center and here is what they told me. Medina (this is an organic) Has To Grow Plants is a good fertilizer and Rose Glo All-purpose plant food made by Maestrogro. Both products are made in Texas and should do well for you.
Question: I need to seal my grout lines in the shower. I did it last year and used one of the spray varieties and it was messy. Do you know of a good brand?
Answer: Oh yes and we just put it in stock at the store. Tilelab makes a great grout sealer that comes with a same brush applicator. Just the right size to go down the grout lines and not all over the tile. It will cut your project time in half.
Question: I don’t know what happened, but we have a dark stain on the granite in the kitchen. I think it’s an oil stain. I have tried cleaning, but nothing budges it. Help!
Answer: Stonetech has an oil stain remover that works well. Remove the oil stain and then seal the granite with Granite Gold Sealer. It’s the easiest.