Ammonia in wax

Roger Allen

Active Member
I see where people are like “don’t use wax compounds w ammonia” but why would there be ammonia in wax

Ammonia is a wax stripper. Why would it be used in conjunction in its ingredient package .
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I have never seen that warning.
Only ammonia containing wax compounds I can find reference to are used to coat citrus fruit for shipping.

Buy wax froma reliable source and there will be no issues. I have a feeling that many of these types of warnings are passed on from person to person by those not in the know.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Well that's settled, there will be no more citrus fruit in my bullet lube. :confused:
 

Roger Allen

Active Member
Right. A little fear mongering.

I believe almost all car compounds would not have that mix, counterintuitive
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
As a rule avoid "wax compounds". JPW is fine, as is the no longer made One Step, but otherwise I prefer to stick with pure wax sources.
 

Dusty Bannister

Well-Known Member
Maybe the statement is meant to be "do not use wax compounds and ammonia" (at the same time because the ammonia removes the wax)? Some folks tend to talk like they text.
 

Roger Allen

Active Member
Maybe. For bullet lube and case media additive it seems that your safe using most of not nearly all car wax finishing products.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
How does one control the contents of an organic wax ? Bees for example .
Only a 70% SA question . The basic structure will be the same I'm sure but wouldn't there be subtle differences from particular bee clans (regional sub species groups) or even by flower source ? I can't imagine that honey and wax sourced from potatoes , clover and pines from Wa,Or, and Id would be much like CA or Florida sources from citrus and sweet fruit trees or the plains grains .

Ok all done with the pot stirring I wonders . Carry on .
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I would do that by buying a large quantity from a single source at one time. Ten pounds from a single place is likely all from a single batch.

Key is, do the differences matter? I doubt it.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
the structure of the wax is still the same.
the honey will taste different.

I have heard of guy's cleaning BP guns with ammonia type stuff.
but that stuff will chew up brass cases in a hurry
 

Ian

Notorious member
the structure of the wax is still the same.

Ya. The bee's bodies produce the wax, so it's as similar as, say, human ear wax from one person to another. Other than differences in contaminants introduced from region to region or in refining processes, European honey bee wax is all the same stuff. Honey is concentrated nectar and varies by plant source.
 

pokute

Active Member
Beeswax is remarkably stable stuff. I did some tests comparing the ability of various coatings to preserve paper/phenolic machine tool profile models exposed to wind, rain, and sun. Beeswax beat out everything else, including urethanes and epoxies.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I had this brilliant idea to seal the wounds on some pruned live-oak trees with beeswax/Vaseline bullet lube. It worked...for about two days until the wild honey bees found it and recycled every speck and left the Vaseline behind. How they sorted the petroleum out, I'll probably never know.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I don't know how they do it either.
melt some good wax outside and you'll be swarmed by bee's from every direction.