Wax polishing with nylon stocking

Jewelry Discussion
1

Along with a nylon I also use Q-Tips to reach difficult spots.
The solvent/polish I use is Xylene. By the way, my wife is
suspicious of me because I ask her for nylons and fingernail
polish (which I use for masking for plating.)

Jeff Raymond

2

i use Wax Clean on my waxes, which needs to be diluted. It’s too
strong, full force. I used denatured alcohol before, but someone
told me that it was very toxic, and that i shouldn’t have too
much contact with it. watch, someone’s going to tell me that Wax
Clean is toxic too!!! :slight_smile: It says “organic” and smells of
oranges, for whatever that’s worth. -amery

Amery Carriere,
Assistant to the Director
Annenberg School for Communication
School of Communication
3502 Watt Way ASC304 F
LA, CA 90089-0281

phone: 213.740.0934
fax: 213.740.3913

3

First, let me say that you could put my waxworking experience in
a thimble. But years ago I had a casting class with an old-timer
jeweler who polished waxes with eucalyptus oil. It seemed to be a
fine solvent and smoother/polisher, and I loved the smell. Also
non-toxic, relative to some other chemicals. Available at health
food stores which stock herbs and essential oils; also carried by
Bryant Lab in Berkeley, CA.

Rene
No Calif coast

4 
  i use Wax Clean on my waxes, which needs to be diluted. It's
too strong, full force. I used denatured alcohol before, but
someone told me that it was very toxic, and that i shouldn't
have too much contact with it. watch, someone's going to tell
me that Wax Clean is toxic too!!!  :) It says "organic" and
smells of oranges, for whatever that's worth. -amery

You shouldn’t drink either one… Denatured alcohol should be
used with good ventilation, as should wax clean. But to avoid
all contact is probably overkill. It’s not that bad. main
effect is to cause dryness of the skin. I’ts mostly grain
alcohol, same as gin or vodka, after all. Just enough methanol
(wood alcohol) to make it toxic and not drinkable. The orange
oil too isn’t toxic to the touch. But the mineral spirits or
other petroleum solvents that may be mixed with it is another
story. Some of these solvents may be carcinogens. Not sure if
that’s in the wax clean, but wash your hands when done, and
similar precautions, and you should be fine. Probably the main
danger is contact dermatitis, or allergic type reactions. One
other comment about the wax clean/orange oil products. Despite
what the bottles claim, these can sometimes cause problems with
investments. Poor surfaces, spalling of the investment, etc.
Platinum investments especially. Problems generally relate to
waxes invested while there are still “wet” areas of the wax
clean. Avoid the possibility of problems by washing the wax
clean or residues thereof off with a swish in ordinary soapy
water and a rinse, before investing the wax.

Peter Rowe

5

I’ve always had good luck using fine steel wool and then a
section cut from a fine paint roller. The curvature of the roller
fits well in my finger… Then again, I’ve always been cheap :slight_smile:

Ken Sanders
Waco, TX

6

i second the eucalyptus oil used with old nylons method. i hope
that doesn’t qualify me as an oldtimer.

best regards,

geo fox

7

I tried the eucalyptus oil method, and it didn’t seem to take
any scratches out of the hard carving wax. It did make it shiny,
though. And how does this effect casting? Should I wash it off
first? The Wax Clean worked well. -amery