For the past 2 or 3 years I’ve kept an eye out for the perfect Jenny Lind bed for our guest bedroom. Last week craigslist finally came through for me! What’s your favorite craigslist/flea market/ebay find? My new-to-me bed is definitely one of my top five favorites.
The bed needed a good polishing, but furniture polish isn’t something I keep on hand. I searched the internet and found a bunch of furniture polish recipes. I combined several to make my own blend, and it’s surprisingly similar to salad dressing…
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (use white vinegar for light wood)
2 tablespoons jojoba oil (you could substitute olive oil, but jojoba doesn’t turn rancid)
3–5 drops of lavender essential oil
Combine the ingredients in a jar and shake well to blend. Dip the corner of a rag in the polish and rub it into the wood. Test a small section of the wood before polishing the whole piece of furniture, just to make sure it doesn’t stain. After you’ve applied the polish, rub everything down with a clean dry rag to remove any excess.
 |
Wow, that did a great job. I love that you make your new-to-you furniture extra special by hand making your polish and rubbing it into the wood to make it even more yours. Maybe that is why old stuff remade by a new owner makes it extra special.
I’ve never heard of making your own furniture polish, what a brilliant idea! It looks like it worked really well and added some shine back to your piece. A lot of the things used on furniture are so chemically, this is a nice green alternative – thanks for sharing!
p.s. can’t wait to see what your guest bedroom looks like with the new bed!
Good to know for the future, I’ll keep this in mind when looking for new pieces.
Brilliant! I would have never thought of this. My favorite Craigslist find isn’t as fun as a bed, but was really practical. We found not one but two baby gates for $5 each gently used. We used them to help house train our puppy, and they were a LOT cheaper than what they would have been new!
That looks awesome, can’t wait to see the whole thing. My favorite current purchase is a free-standing coat rack, I’m going to hang aprons on it – and it’s going to go perfectly in my new kitchen!
I’m excited to try this…and you’re so right, it could almost pass as salad dressing!
The benefit of using homemade polish aside from the savings you can get is that it is eco-friendly which can not be said on many commercial ones.
On the other hand, if you are really bent on protecting and preserving your piece, a wax based furniture polish is the best choice.
I just found this recipe of yours on pinterest and am sooooo glad I did. I have black dining room furniture and nothing and I mean NOTHING made it shine like this DIY polish. Thanks a million for helping me make my dining room furniture look new again :)