Future Plans

One workshop. Many crafts. No shortage of curious ideas.

More Than a Mustache Wax

Wizard Oil & Wax may have begun with a mustache, but I never intended to build a company devoted solely to grooming. What I wanted to build was a workshop.

The sort of place where a good idea becomes an experiment, an experiment becomes a useful thing, and a useful thing earns its place on the shelf. A place for waxes, oils, resins, tools, and whatever else catches the attention of a fellow who would rather make something than wonder whether he could.

The mustache wax is my first finished creation, and right now it has my full attention. But I have other interests, other crafts, and a fair number of ideas waiting patiently at the edge of the workbench.

I have no interest in filling a catalog for the sake of it, or following another maker's footsteps simply because the path is already worn. I'd rather make things I know, things I use, and things I can stand behind.

Workshop illustration of an open sketch notebook, glass apparatus, and natural materials under a brass lamp.

Curled wood shavings on a weathered wooden workbench.

What's on the Workbench?

Not everything belongs in the same stage of an experiment. Here's an honest look at what is here, what I'd like to tackle next, and what might find its way out of the workshop someday.

Now — The Mustache Wax

One formula. Three ingredients. A good deal of work behind it. My attention is on bringing Wizard Oil mustache wax to market and getting that first undertaking right.

Next — Wood Care

I enjoy woodworking as much as I enjoy a good experiment, and a soft finishing wax for wood is the first new creation I'd like to explore. Something straightforward and useful in my own shop before it ever finds a place in yours.

No announced launch date. I'm hoping to make progress this winter, but it will be ready when it's ready.

Someday — The Rest of the Bench

Leather, cutting boards, tools, and cast iron all deserve a little care. I have ideas for them, too. Farther down the road, I can imagine making a few useful objects of my own, perhaps combs or other workshop goods.

For now, those are ideas, not products on the way to checkout.

The Craftsman’s Bench

There's a particular pleasure in taking care of something made to last: a well-used tool, a wooden countertop, a good pair of boots, or a piece of furniture with a few stories already in it.

The things I'd like to develop next belong to that world. Nothing especially flashy. Just practical preparations that help good materials keep doing their jobs.

A soft finishing wax for wood. The first candidate, born from my own interest in woodworking and my preference for finishes that are simple to understand and pleasant to use.

Oil for cutting boards and wooden countertops. A straightforward idea for the wood that sees regular use in kitchens. Any eventual formulation would need to be evaluated for its intended application before sale.

A leather conditioner. Something for boots, belts, straps, and the other leather goods we would rather care for than replace.

Care for tools, blades, and cast iron. A potential preparation for the steel and iron that earn their keep in the workshop and outdoors, developed with the intended use in mind.

These aren't four products I have hidden in a cupboard, awaiting labels. They're ideas I intend to earn through the same process as the first wax: research, experiments, failed batches, better batches, and real use in my own hands.

Whether you work with wood, leather, steel, or simply appreciate an object built to outlast its owner, there's room for you around this bench.

Workshop illustration of a forestry axe, claw hammer, leather, wood shavings, beeswax, and an unmarked wax tin.

Workshop illustration of a stone mortar and pestle, amber bottles, beeswax, resin, and botanicals by candlelight.

The Alchemist’s Cabinet

Not every curiosity in the workshop needs to become a product.

I spend a great deal of time reading, researching, and experimenting simply because I enjoy understanding how things work. Traditional materials, western herbalism, the natural world, and the long history of people learning by observation have all led me down some wonderfully strange paths.

Much of that belongs on my own shelves, in my notebooks, or out in the fields. It may influence the way I think, but it isn't a catalog of remedies, a promise of future products, or a claim that every old idea ought to be sold in a modern tin.

Some doors are worth leaving ajar. We'll see where curiosity leads.

Six Rules of the Workshop

1. Purpose Before Novelty

If it doesn't solve a real problem or serve a worthwhile purpose, it has no business taking up space on the shelf.

Whatever finds its way onto the workbench next, I intend to hold it to the same principles.

2. Simplicity Is a Virtue

Use what the job requires, and no more. A long ingredient list doesn't impress me nearly as much as a short one that works.

3. Experiment, Learn, Improve

Make the batch. Test the batch. Find out what went wrong. Make the next one better. I don't expect to stop learning, and I don't intend to stop improving.

4. Respect the Materials

Good beeswax, sound timber, sturdy leather, and honest steel all deserve to be handled with care. Work with the material, not against it.

5. Keep It Close to Home

I aim to source locally wherever practical and favor American-made materials. Knowing where things come from matters to me.

6. Remember the People

Good work becomes better when people share what they know. I want to hear from the folks who actually put these things to use.

A Word From the Other Side of the Workbench

Have an idea for something useful that deserves a place on the bench? A material that's hard to care for, a neglected old-fashioned preparation, or a craft I haven't mentioned? I'd be glad to hear it.

Send your thoughts to placeholder@wizard-oil.com. I can't promise I'll make every suggestion, but I do appreciate a good idea.

The Next Chapter Is Still Being Written

For now, the first task is plain enough: make the mustache wax as good as I can, and build this little enterprise on solid ground.

The rest will come from the same place it started: a useful problem, a curious mind, a few honest materials, and the willingness to get my hands dirty.

No grand prophecy. No promised dates. Just more things worth making, when their time comes.

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