Great Discovery.... I Call it the J.R. Watkins Finish!

Loving all things natural as I do...holding to the philosophy that nobody is smarter than God... thus, if God thinks we should breath oxygen, perhaps we out not breath solvents.. (OK, in the interest of full disclosure, there are limits to certain natural products.  For example:  If you are going to do some public speaking, skip the all-natural deodorant and just go for the hard stuff!)

I am digressing... back on track here.  Sometimes when working with Annie Sloan's light and dark waxes, I want to tweak the finish after the dark wax coat.  There are ways to do this, such as applying a bit more light wax over the dark wax and rubbing hard with a fresh cheese cloth.  Or, there is the very effective, but very smelly, non-lung and earth friendly option of taking it off with mineral spirits.  But, as I am prone to doing, I wondered if there is a more ntaural way.

Some time back I stumbled across the happy realization that J.R. Watkins Natural Home Care Dish Soap will take wax off of your hands and brushes if you rub it in before applying any water.  So, today, that set my little earth-mother heart to thinking.... if it will do that, is it possible that it will take a bit of the wax of of the piece or furniture I am working on (which at the moment is a great writing desk!)? I grabbed my bottle and cheese cloth... and the results are in... Yes!

The difference is not huge, but is visible, and is taking the top of this desk to the more subtle look I was hoping for.  Purrr. 

Bonus: You do have to rub pretty vigorously, so you get your workout in at the same time:)

Look at this beautiful effect...

This next one is the "before".  Notice the difference in the degree of blending and subtlety.

This entire effect and finish (of the first photo) has been a result of the 1.  First coat in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.  2.  Second Coat in a mixture of equal parts Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen and Old White (which makes a yummy, light warm grey color)  3.  A coat of AS Light Wax  4.  A coat of AS Dark Wax  (working in small sections and rubbed off quickly)  5.  Using ultra-fine sand paper to remove some of the paint and wax  6.  Rubbing the surface vigorously with fresh cheese cloth and the Watkins Dish Soap.  It now feels like silk, and has a gorgeous aged look!