Sealant For Leather Mugs/bottles With Hot Liquids

[Mrs Barry Hicks]

hmmmm.... I have been through this topic on many boards more than once. There is not one company that will stand behind a "food safe resin" for hot liquids. You won't find them. Leather workers won't tell you their secret because of legal issues (read first part of my blurb here).

I personally have been looking into food safe silicone for lining mugs. But keep in mind, whatever you use on the inside... the heat from the liquid will affect what is on the outside too. So you can't harden your mugs with bee's wax cause it will start to melt the wax in the leather. And make sure that the sealant you use can handle heat changes. Along with the colorants you might use.... stains may hold up, but does acrylic paint.... just sayin. There's a lot be thought about when it comes to making a "heat friendly" leather mug. You could just make ceramic mugs that look like leather ones... but that sort of kills the fun of working with leather doesn't it? If I find out something that works I'll be posting it. Good luck to everyones endeavors!

[jerelk]

Envirotex is food-safe for indirect contact only, which makes it suitable for counter tops and tables, but the company will not recommend it's use in food containers. If you are making mugs to sell, I would not recommend using it. That being said, it will work, and is readily available at Hobby Lobby, Menards, and several websites.

My own decade-old leather jack is lined with Envirotex, and after about 5 or so years of use with everything from coffee to rum and coke, the lining started to abraid and become "foggy".

The only epoxy I have found that is safe for direct contact with food, is chemically resistant, and can withstand high temps is a product called Max CLR, and is easily available on ebay (probably other places as well). I contacted the supplier, and they said that by the specs, it should work, but of course they would not give me a completely unqualified answer due to reasons mentioned in an earlier post. I have some sitting in the shop, but haven't had a chance to try it yet. I'll be sure to post the results when I do.

Envirotex is brought up in every thread of this kind that I have ever read, and it's food-safe properties are almost becoming urban legend. While it can be used with minimal risk, it should not be called food-safe.

[MojoGeorge]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EPOXY-RESIN-HIGH-PERFORMANCE-VERSION-OF-MAX-CLR-24-OZ-/310187764669?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4838a1abbd

polymer composites sells to the public in an ebay store, safe for direct food contact