Featured How do I polish this?

I would like to add a shine to this plant stand.
How do I do that?
Do I use an oil or do I use a wax?
I don't want to get anything caught in the grooves so whatever I use with need to be quite light I think but I don't know the first thing about polishing furniture.
Thank you for your help.

 

Nothing from the pics would seem to suggest you need more than a beeswax polish. Go for something creamy to the touch, and dilute it in white spirit if necessary. Go over it with a clean dry brush first, then apply two or three thin coats of wax, buffing some in between with a clean rag. Don't overdo the amount of wax of each application and you won't get the detail plastered. Give the wax time to dry and harden. A good deal of elbow grease will be necessary to bring up max shine, though, but you'll see it's totally worth it.
A very classy piece, by the way.

 

Do you mean give it time to dry and harden before buffing? What do I buff with?

 

soft cloth.........

 

Beeswax seems to be hard. How do I soften the beeswax?
Is a liquid beeswax less optimal due to petrochemical additives?

 

That is why
Fern77 said to dilute the beeswax with white spirits

 

Ok I have a block of yellow Australian beeswax. Can i melt that and put it on?
Is it necessary to use bleached beeswax?

 

Hello again, and yes to all of the above. I'll take you through the detail to make sure.
If you can't get a readymade beeswax polish, which will do, melt pure beeswax 50-50 with white spirits in a double boiler (balneum Mariae) and let it cool down until warm and not liquid anymore. Apply with a soft cloth covering all the surface (though I know some pros do use fine steel wool for this sometimes, you risk killing the patina), and remove excess wax with another rag while still soft. Let it dry a few minutes, go over the whole thing with a clean rag, but just until the dull is gone and you see a bit of shine. Let it dry some more and apply a second coat. After that, wait an hour or two--or leave it for the next day if not too impatient-- and buff vigorously with a clean cloth until really shinny. At this point you might determine you need to apply a third coat, or maybe not. Repeat once a year.

 

I would use black shoe polish applied with a toothbrush and buffed. Use the wax type. This works quite nicely to bring back the luster and cover up the blemishes. It also helps preserve the wood.