None of your beezwax!

[RedDun]

When gluing I use plastic wrap so to keep the glue from sticking to my bags of rice that I use as weights. Yes, I know the rice is in a plastic bag already but I may need to eat it later, wouldn't want my rice to be too sticky. The rice forms around whatever I'm gluing nicely. I use the thin insert between the layers in my cases of diet Dr Pepper for dying, small patterns and writing notes or measurements.

Great topic Mjolnir!

[farmersracer]

On 2018-03-03 at 3:07 AM, Jake907 said:

I actually didn't know the history on it, thats cool, maybe I should google it too! LOL

They do, and thats one of the reasons that I want to try this tin cloth recipe, because carhartt and others are a lot more affordable but close in quality, if they only made tin cloth items.... all you need is a cotton garment to start with and paint this mixture on it. 

 

Maybe @farmersracer could add something to this part of the conversation, I believe his bags are very similar to tin cloth, its basically waxed cotton.

Hi All

There are many companies out there claiming the invention of tin-cloth or waxed canvas:) What I have heard is that the origin is cotton canvas soaked in pure linseed oil. After a few weeks of oxidation the oil will dry and the textile is water proof. The downside is that the clothes also become stiff as cardboard. Eventually sailors and forest workers added fat and waxes, to make the original linseed recipe more comfortable.

The recipe I see in posts above are all wet waxes. They will in most cases create a oily surface to the cloth, and the ingredients are quite difficult to mix. In addition to this, a wet wax will melt during the summer time if you leave your cloth in the sun.

There is a simpler way to make cotton water resistant. A Swedish company, Fjallraven, has invented a dry wax with only two ingredients. It is called GrenlandWax. It is hard as a brick, and is applied by rubbing the cloth with a GreenlandWax block, and heating the surface with an iron or hair dryer. The recipe has been known for decades in Sweden:

100g parafin

10g beeswax

That is all. Add a few layers of this and the cloth will be water resistant. If you are aiming on water proof - use the wet waxes, and apply with a brush.