If you love rustic decor with that warm, weathered charm, learning how to distress wood with candle wax is an easy way to get the look without spending a fortune. This simple DIY technique is perfect for creating that worn-in, vintage style that fits beautifully in a Texas home, whether your style leans farmhouse, country, western, or a mix of all three.

I really love the look or distressed wood and have done a few other techniques. Depending on what I am working on, I then decide on what technique I want to use.

Came across this one on Tiktok and just had to give it a try and now I am hooked.

How To Distress Wood With Candle Wax

This is a very simple way to distress wood and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Materials:

Piece of wood
Paint (I use chalk paint)
Pillar Candle (Has to be white and I got mine at Dollar Tree)
Paint brush or small paint roller
Scrapper
Hair Dryer or heat gun

Instructions:

Grab any size piece of wood that you like and either stain it or apply paint.

Let completely dry.

Take a white pillar candle and rub it on the wood where you want to distress. I normally do it around the edges and a few spots elsewhere.

Apply a layer of paint. Do not remove the pieces of wax, the paint will be applied over it.

Let completely dry before the next step.

The same as before, rub the pillar candle on the wood in all the places you want to distress.

Now you will be apply another layer of paint, any color you choose. I use white for the third color.

Let the paint completely dry.
Take a hair dryer of heat gun and put heat all around the wood to heat up the wax.

Take a scrapper (the one above is the one I had on hand) and scrape around where the wax is and it will start pulling the paint in those areas.
I then sand over this just to smooth things out a little before stenciling or applying vinyl.

The photo above and below are two pieces I have done this way. You can use any colors you want.

I like to go with what ever holiday, season or theme the finished project will be.

Below are the two finished products I have done.

The patriotic welcome sign was something I made in advance for myself.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to distress wood with candle wax.

Please share your projects with me over on Pinterest or Facebook, I would love to see what you have done.

xoxo,

How To Distress Wood With Candle Wax

Materials

Piece of wood
Paint (I use chalk paint)
Pillar Candle (Has to be white and I got mine at Dollar Tree)
Paint brush or small paint roller
Scrapper
Hair Dryer or heat gun

Instructions

Grab any size piece of wood that you like and either stain it or apply paint.
Let completely dry.
Take a white pillar candle and rub it on the wood where you want to distress. I normally do it around the edges and a few spots elsewhere.
Apply a layer of paint. Do not remove the pieces of wax, the paint will be applied over it.
Let completely dry before the next step.
The same as before, rub the pillar candle on the wood in all the places you want to distress.
Now you will be apply another layer of paint, any color you choose. I use white for the third color.
Let the paint completely dry.
Take a hair dryer of heat gun and put heat all around the wood to heat up the wax.
Take a scrapper (the one above is the one I had on hand) and scrape around where the wax is and it will start pulling the paint in those areas.
I then sand over this just to smooth things out a little before stenciling or applying vinyl.