Day 38 - soap finish

An invisible finish?

This is a finish what was once common in Scandinavia, and mentioned by Chris Schwartz in “The Anarchist’s Design Book” (nothing anarchistic about this book, the logic behind the title can be found on the net).

The recipe is simple: take pure soap flakes, dissolve in water, spread like wax, sand or polish, repeat if necessary. I use homemade soap, made from NaOH and Coconut oil - this is the hardest type of soap (palm oil is a close second), with a brilliant white hue which doesn’t spoil like vegetable-oil-based soaps.

The resulting finish looks like a low-luster wax finish, which looks especially good on lighter woods, the complete opposite of the common yellowing oil/varnish finishes. Like wax, the protection offered is miminal, but unlike any other finish, the re-application is extremly easy - no need to sand or strip anything, just grab a towel, fill with watery soap and rub in.

Actually, it’s the only finish I could think of that is self-cleaning. Worth a try.