Houses & Buildings - FURNITURE POLISHER

Comparing Home Made Furniture Polish Using Olive Oil on different surfaces

Primary Middle  Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

1. In pairs, read the following article in WikiHow: How to Make Furniture Polish Using Olive Oil:

2. Following the instructions, set up four pieces of similar wood (preferably off-cuts).

a. On one piece of wood, use the Olive Oil and vinegar solution

b. On the second piece of wood, use the Olive Oil and lemon juice solution.

c. On the third piece of wood, use a commercial Furniture Polish (not beeswax).

d. On the final and fourth piece of wood, use a commercial beeswax.

3. Compare and contrast the results. Take a close up photo of each piece of wood - which do you think has the best result as far as:

a. Shine

b. Ease of Application

4. Work out the cost of each Furniture Polish - which is the cheapest? Which is the most expensive?

5. Ask another pair to look at your results and you look at their results. Is there a difference?

Discuss

Beeswax and Furniture Polish

Middle  Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Australian Curriculum Cross Curriculum Priorities: Sustainability Priority

Cooperative Learning Activity

1. With a partner, read the following article about beeswax and write down as many facts as possible to share with the class:

2. Look up the information from Wikipedia about Beeswax and add to your fact list. Did you find something that you found very interesting?

3. Watch the following YouTube video: Showing some NATURAL BEESWAX and how its made in a nutshell (https://youtu.be/p2KA4aLLS_g ) and add to your list of facts

 4. Teacher - Optional Extra

Science Experiment Demonstration time! This needs to be carried out by a Teacher unless otherwise instructed by them.

Make sure that you are VERY careful as you are dealing with flammable materials.

Look at the following website to get instructions on how to make furniture polish

5. After your teacher [or you] have made the furniture polish, you are now going to experiment using it on different pieces of wood.

If you made the Olive Oil furniture polish, compare it with the beeswax polish. Any better? Why?

6. Do you think we should use beeswax at all after learning about the origins of this wax? Is it a good sustainable product?

Discuss as a class.

7. If you want to read more about bees and Beekeepers, click here