• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Blog
  • Exterior
  • Other Rooms
  • Decorate
  • The “Museum”
  • Be Safe/Renovate Safe
Retro Renovation
Retro Renovation

Retro Renovation

Remodel & decorate in Mid Century Style

  • Home
  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Blog
  • Exterior
  • Other Rooms
  • Decorate
  • The “Museum”
  • Be Safe/Renovate Safe
Home / Kitchen / Appliances & Decor

Liquid wax designed to mimic Jubilee kitchen wax — from Vermont Country Store

pam kueber - Updated: February 4, 2019

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

kitchen wax like jubilee

UPDATE: Jubilee is back — read our story here.

Is everyone signed up for the Vermont Country Store catalog? As regular readers will know, Vermont Country Store is a wonderful source for lots of old-timey, retro resources… lots of brands from the way back time machine that Vermont Country Store has dug up and revived. My spring issue arrived in the snail mail last week … which prompted me to poke around the website to see if I could figure out what was “new”. How about this: Old-Fashioned Kitchen wax sourced to help replicate Jubilee wax. Their website explains:

We’ve been inundated with requests for a kitchen wax that works just like Jubilee, the beloved liquid wax that vanished from supermarket shelves years ago. After lots of testing, we finally found one that will bring the shine you remember back to your kitchen. Great for cabinets, countertops and appliances. 16 oz bottle.

  • Vanquishes everything from grease and grime to fingerprints and food stains
  • Leaves behind a protective layer, making cleaning easier in the future
  • Nonabrasive wax formula will not scratch
  • Cleans, shines and protects kitchen appliances, bathroom fixtures and surfaces
  • Do not use on floors or in bathtubs. Do not ingest – Keep out of reach of children.
I am not an expert on where the heck you’re supposed to use kitchen wax. I know that our grandmothers and mothers used was prolifically in their vintage homes. For sure (I *think*) on true linoleum floors. Also on wood floors before there was polyurethane — and I’ve heard that waxed wood floors have a different, maybe even more beautiful luster.

Any experience on where we can really use liquid wax like this in vintage homes, readers?

Note, Grace Jeffers says do not use wax on laminate.

Link:

  • Old Fashioned Kitchen Wax designed to replicate Jubilee wax — $20 for two bottles – from Vermont Country Store. 

CATEGORIES:
Appliances & Decor Cabinets Kitchen

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

  • electro sink center 1963
    1963 Electro-Sink Center: The most wonderful kitchen faucet ever?!
  • be safe renovate safe graphic
    Make a resolution to: Be Safe and Renovate Safe!
  • steel-kitchen cabinets
    The Retro Renovation® Encyclopedia of Vintage Steel Kitchen Cabinets
  • raymond loewy American Kitchens sink faucet from Locke Plumbing
    Still available: American Kitchen brand faucet for Raymond Loewy sink
  • vintage kitchen by wren and willow
    Wren & Willow's little bit of perfection 1940s house remodel: Let's start with the kitchen

Reader Interactions

Comments are closed. 

32 comments

Comments

  1. Dee says

    August 26, 2012 at 4:26 pm

    Hi — in process of buying a cute 1954 ranch with the colonial wood cabinets and black iron hardware. Would love to use this wax on them to shine them up.

    Can anyone tell me about the scent/odor of the product and if it lingers? I have asthma and have problems with many chemicals with strong odors.

    Thank you!

    • pam kueber says

      August 26, 2012 at 5:01 pm

      Dee, I recommend you get in touch with the seller to get this info…

  2. Molly says

    June 10, 2012 at 10:12 am

    I really could have used this a couple years ago. I had some sort of vinyl-ish laminate counter-top in a rental that needed a wax coat every now and then (otherwise it tended to absorb spilled liquids that husbands don’t wipe up). It was an original marbled red with chrome edger. I loved that kitchen. Hopefully I can recreate something just as loveable in my new kitchen!

  3. Susie C. says

    June 7, 2012 at 5:44 pm

    I can remember my parents using Jubilee to clean the telephone. Really made the phone sparkle.

  4. CC in Virginia says

    June 7, 2012 at 5:34 pm

    Please take note from an old fogy (me!) – Do not use this wax on floors or bathtubs as there is a very real danger of slipping, falling and maybe breaking bones. Works wonderfully, however, on toasters, coffee makers, range hoods, refrigerator, kitchen sink, etc.

  5. amy pie says

    June 7, 2012 at 12:25 pm

    Finally! I have been jonesing for my Jubilee for years! One word: Leather! Use it to clean leather. My sister bought a full length vintage pink leather coat in the early 80’s and it was filthy gray, you could barely tell it was supposed to be pink but she only paid $5 for it so she figured if she couldn’t clean it no biggie. Some girl we knew from the bar we hung out in told her to use jubilee and a little elbow grease. The coat looked (and still looks) amazing. Completely clean and and restored to like new condition. After that we used it on any leather clothes and shoes and upholstery and on the vinyl/faux leather too. I used to use it on my appliances back when I had the ambition to clean my house on a regular basis, lol. I am ordering my now 🙂

  6. Morag says

    June 7, 2012 at 5:04 am

    It’s not for floors at all. Do not use it on floors.

    It’s great for counters, painted, wood, or steel cabinets and appliances. It may seem strange to wax a refrigerator, vintage or contemporary, but it makes it much easier to keep clean and wipe fingerprints/smudges.

    • adarc says

      May 11, 2015 at 5:50 pm

      My mom always used it on her unsealed wood floors. The wax from the jubilee was the only thing that protected them from 7 kids running through the house.

  7. CindyD says

    June 6, 2012 at 10:50 pm

    I miss Jubilee! I used to use it on my sinks – it prevents water spots so your sinks stays nice and shiny longer. They’re right about the bathtubs, though – makes them too slippery, though I have used it on the sides of the tub, but never in the bottom! Thanks for sharing the substitute. Hope it’s just as good.

  8. midmichigan says

    June 6, 2012 at 10:40 pm

    I’m with lynda on the Gel-Gloss. It works fantastic! Very close to Jubilee but better results, IMO. Pics of “before” and “after” of some of the items I’ve used this on would be jaw dropping. It even works on stainless steel. Not very expensive (5 or 6 bucks), takes very little elbow grease to use and no smell on top of that.

  9. Chutti says

    June 6, 2012 at 10:04 pm

    Wow- Jubilee! I vividly remember chore time with a bottle of Jubilee growing up. I was just thinking about it, as there was a vintage commercial for it on Roku’s Pub-D-Hub channel.

    I dunno if anyone else is as addicted to the old commercials, TV shows and educational shorts there as we are, but it’s a gas.

    Going to get some Jubilee substitute for my pink bathroom right away.
    Thanks for the tip!

    • nina462 says

      June 7, 2012 at 12:35 pm

      Chutti – I, too, am addicted to old time programs (radio & tv). I’m very lucky in my job, that I can listen to the radio/internet all day long while working – I have several favorite websites with old time radio programs. I’ve always thought there must be more people like me 🙂

  10. Jen says

    June 6, 2012 at 8:06 pm

    Oh, cool! I think we’ll have to order a bottle or two for our kitchen cabinets. Good to know it doesn’t work on laminate.

    Curious about other uses for it myself, though. To be honest, I make the majority of my cleaning supplies…I”m a big fan of multi-taskers.

« Older Comments
Newer Comments »

Primary Sidebar


Footer

Follow Along

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RENOVATE SAFE
  • About
  • Blog
  • The “Museum”
  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Exterior
  • Other Rooms
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Notice
  • Disclosures
  • Contact

© 2026 Retro Renovation® • All Rights Reserved • Website by Anchored Design
Please do not use any materials without prior permission. Portrait by Keith Talley Photography