Sure could use some advice -- just purchased a *rustic* white oak dining table and the manufacturer recommends using a "natural beeswax regularly to maintain finish". The wood looks raw to me now, meaning there's no apparent beeswax on it yet. I'm totally clueless!! What in the world do I use on this? Please recommend a good product (there are so many out there to choose from). Thanks so much in advance! Sweetpea

Wooden Wonders Beeswax Butcher Block Conditioner is hands down the best choice for a number of reasons. First it's made from high quality beeswax (normally the end cappings from fresh beeswax) so it's cleaner than the wax most people use. They ship it out quickly and when you order more than one tin at a time you get extra tins shipped to you as a bonus so it's considerably less expensive than Holland Mills product. You can order it on ebay or directly from their website. They don't overcharge for shipping like some places. You also don't have to be worried about getting overcharged for shipping, they routinely refund amounts exceeding their cap which presently considerably less than the cost of a flat rate box... this is great since a flat rate box can hold lots of tins. We use it on both our soapstone counters and all our wooden kitchen butcher blocks cutting boards and utensils. Here is a link that might be useful: Wooden Wonders Beeswax Butcher Block Conditioner

Since everyone is chiming in with their favorite wood sealers, I'd like to plug Skidmore's Beeswax wood products -- the wood sealers and the conditioning cream are great. I know the maker, Vince Skidmore, who is a woodworker himself, and he hand-produces all of the products from beeswax and natural resins and pine-based turpentine. The sealer is tough enough for exterior treatments, and the conditioning cream doubles as both a wood and leather restorer. (He sells the same product under leather and wood product labels.) Knew him back when he was producing in Wyoming, now he's moved the business to Port Townsend, WA. We'll be refinishing recycled bowling lane into kitchen counters, and I'm looking forward to using his stuff on raw wood from scratch for the first time (previously we've just used Skidmore's when restoring old, finished wood surfaces). FYI, I don't work for Vince, just love his products! Good luck, and have fun! Here is a link that might be useful: Skidmore's Fine Beeswax Products

I use Clapham's. I got tired of constantly touching up the mineral oil in the first month. Plus it always felt oily. With the Clapham's, in the first two to four months, you may need to re-apply every three to four weeks. After that it becomes very easy. Just save the rag in a zip lock bag. I used up a whole container already, so I just use the old container to store my rag. Then when you need a touch up, just pull out the rag. There's no need for mineral oil at all. I buff it with my bare hands. Last week, my wife left my silicone baking mats on the counter. When I took them off the counter, they left a rectangle where it sucked up the finish. So I pulled out the saved rag. It was already saturated, so I didn't need to dip into the wax. I just rubbed using a circular motion until the patina was restored. Then I gave it a final buff with my bare hands and it was like the patina was always there. Rubber small appliance feet will also remove the patina. I use Lysol kitchen spray as well as those kitchen wipes and they do not affect the patina. Dish soap, on the other hand, will do a number on the patina. The area around the base of the faucet and soap dispenser needs more frequent attention. I also use the Clapham's on my wood cutting board and chopping block, so it also has other uses around the house.