Using Black Wax on Chalk Paint

We love the transformative power of using a coloured wax over premium chalk paint, and have to say that a black wax is one of our favourites!

Black wax gives a more contemporary and industrial feel than your standard dark wax. Use it to bring out carved details and to deepen your base colour.

In this blog post we'll show you how we have used black wax over Clubhouse Grey to update a footstool. We'll also walk you through the steps to create your own black wax using The Artisan Company premium chalk paints and clear wax.

Using Black Wax On Chalk Paint

Creating Your Own Black Wax

One very unique thing about The Artisan Company brand of premium chalk paints and clear wax, is that they can be mixed together to create your own coloured wax!

This opens up a world of possibilities allowing you to create blue, green, pink, red, white and of course, black, coloured waxes. Using a coloured wax you can completely customise your paint finish to work for you and your home. Pull in colours from other pieces of furniture, soft furnishings or art.

You can use your coloured waxes all over, or use to create shadows or highlights. The options with coloured waxes really are endless!

How To Make Carbon Black Coloured Wax:

Decant some of your clear wax onto a plate or into a shallow bowl. We like to use baking paper as it gives us a nice flat surface to work on.
Decant some if your Carbon Black chalk paint. You want to use roughly the same amount of chalk paint to clear wax, or less chalk paint. We often refer to this as a 1:1 wax to chalk paint ratio.
Mix together really well. You want to make sure that all of the paint is mixed through the wax so there are no streaks of paint when brushing it on.
Apply your Carbon Black coloured wax like normal! Simply brush on with your natural bristle brush and wipe the excess off with a rag.

Products Used:

Applying a Carbon Black Coloured Wax

Using Carbon Black Wax On A Footstool

We updated this stool using Clubhouse Grey chalk paint to tie it in with the updated linen fabric.

We then used the Carbon Black wax to deepen the grey and allow the carved details to show. This has added plenty of depth, showing off the original details while also updating the dark wood to a more contemporary finish.

Before & After of the Footstool