How to care for a wood pendant
A driftwood pendant has already survived years in a lake, so it is tougher than it looks. What shortens its life is not one soaking; it is repeated wet-dry cycling, which swells and shrinks the fibre until a check opens somewhere. Everything below is about avoiding that cycle.
The three rules
- Take it off for showers, swimming and hot tubs. Hot water and soap strip wax faster than anything else it will meet.
- Let it dry slowly if it does get wet — flat, at room temperature, away from a radiator or a hair dryer. Fast drying is what cracks wood.
- Re-wax it about twice a year, or whenever it starts to look thirsty and pale.
Re-waxing, which takes two minutes
Warm the pendant in your hands. Rub a small amount of pure beeswax over the surface — a solid block is fine, and beeswax-and-oil balms are fine too. Leave it a couple of minutes, then buff with a soft cloth until it stops feeling tacky. That is it. The wax fills the open grain, slows moisture movement in both directions, and deepens the contrast of the burn so the dark lines read properly again.
Do not substitute varnish, polyurethane or lacquer. A film finish sits on top, yellows, and eventually flakes off along the burned lines, taking a bit of the surface with it. Wax is reversible and repairable, which is the whole reason for using it. Mineral oil, walnut oil or a beeswax balm are all reasonable stand-ins if you have no beeswax handy.
The hemp lace
Hemp is strong and it likes being worn — skin oils keep it supple. It will fade slightly and soften over the first month, which is normal. If it frays through, that is a ten-dollar replacement, not the end of the piece: pop the pendant off and thread a new lace. Untie the buckle knot rather than cutting it and you will see how it goes back together.
Marks, dents and the honest version of ageing
It will pick up dings. A wood pendant worn daily against a zip or a desk edge collects small bright scars where the wax has been rubbed off, and those darken again with the next wax. Sunlight will gradually lighten the pale wood and slightly reduce the contrast against the burn; a windowsill is a bad place to store it, a drawer is a good one.
If a piece cracks badly, or the pendant snaps at the hole, email me. Most breaks can be re-drilled or re-hung, and I would rather repair a piece than watch it go in a drawer. If the wood came off Lake Erie by my hand, I will fix it by my hand.