Bob Smalser
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 139
- Location
- Hood Canal, Washington
Yeah, I know…nobody wears linseed/wax-impregnated cotton “oilskins” any more…they wear Goretex.
Well, that’s not entirely true. Those of us in the lumber and sawmill trades do, as do many outdoor and heavy construction workers. Why? Muscling around hundred-pound planks of rough lumber wear through expensive Goretex in a matter of weeks…even the heavy-duty Carhartt or GI Goretex.
Wearing PVC raingear while doing heavy labor in the rain and mud merely postpones your soaking…work for long enough in it and you soak from the inside. Goretex and traditional oilskins both breathe enough to postpone that soaking much longer. “Tin” cloth is 19th Century logger’s slang for how water repellent and stiff the cloth is. Here’s some history on oilcloth and waxed cotton clothing:
http://www.davidmorgan.com/waxedcotton.html
And while waxed cotton has always been popular in UK countries by manufacturers like Barbour of Scotland and Driza-Bone of Australia, it’s largely gone in North America. With the suburbanization of Eddie Bauer and L.L. Bean, who both used to manufacture their own distinctive gear for outdoor workers, Filson of Seattle remains the only major manufacturer of this type of rugged work wear. Filson’s gear hasn’t changed since the Klondike Gold Rush, but the prices these days for that kind of quality are high. But measuring cost per year of wear instead of merely purchase price still makes them the best value for some trades. The way to beat those prices is to buy seconds and used garments on Ebay. Insist on actual measurements, however, as maltreated cotton garments are subject to shrinkage, and avoid buying more garment than you need. The UK garments’ heaviest waxed cotton cloth is around the same weight as Filson’s lightest. Filson “tin” cloth garments are very heavy, extremely stiff and are best suited to use where abrasion is a factor. Many sportsmen and casual users will be happier with one of their lighter weight cloths.
Once a year these garments need their finishes renewed, and that’s what we’ll do today. If you allow these cotton garments to go dry, they’ll shrink on you after they get thoroughly soaked. But we won’t use the 8-dollar, 2-ounce tins of oil and paraffin wax blend sold in stores…we’d go broke quick using those and will make a whole gallon of an even better finish today.
Three of several family garments above that need work today are readied. A hooded tin cape coat, a pair of old tin double-faced pants that look like leather…the “character” the garment has gained in use. Well, folks…salesmen may call it “character”, but it’s really a vintage blend of old sawdust, rotted forest duff and Shelton Gravelly Loam worked deep into wax and cloth as these garments can’t be washed. Next to them is a tin double cruiser jacket off of Ebay for the youngest son that had been machine washed by some misguided soul and will need a good bit of solution to renew. Prep is merely a stiff brush and a strong blast from a cold water hose to remove the bulk of the mud.
Shown above are a new, empty gallon paint can with lid and some of the materials we’ll use. A visit to the local beekeeper netted 5 pounds of beeswax at 4 dollars a pound. This is a much better choice than petroleum-based paraffin…just make sure you get the beekeeper wax and not waste your money on the 12-dollar-a-pound food-grade beeswax. Yours doesn’t have to be that clean...even if you do like to chew it…the natural impurities of the hive are probably good for you.
You’ll also need a gallon of raw linseed oil, a can of pine tar, a can of turps, and I’m going to substitute some pure orange oil for some of the linseed to improve the aroma these garments bring to the home…especially after a bit of diesel fuel is slopped on them in minor refueling mishaps. Can’t find a can of pine tar anywhere? Your local farrier, large-animal Vet or farm supply will have it…it’s still used on horses’ hooves as a dressing. If you can find boatbuilder’s Stockholm Tar anywhere, that has a more pleasant smell.
Rig a large double boiler…this one is a large pail of water stuffed in a kerosene space heater. I prefer to do this outdoors, both for safety (our mixture is flammable) and to test the consistency of my wax brew in the actual temperatures it will function in. Simply set your stir stick down for a while and check how hard your solution gets outdoors.
Into the can goes a quart of linseed, a little turps to thin, and two to three pounds of beeswax shavings after the water boils and the oil gets hot. The easiest way I know to render hard blocks of beeswax into shavings is on the shaving horse with drawknife…makes short work of it. It takes a while for the oil mixture to heat sufficiently to thoroughly melt all the wax, so be patient. When the wax melts, I add a half cup of pine tar and fill the gallon can about two inches from the top with more linseed…my orange oil fragrance enhancer going in last.
Proportions aren’t critical…more wax nets you better water resistance and greater garment wear…but also more stiffness. More linseed achieves the reverse. The pine tar supples the hard wax some and gives it staying power. It also inhibits mold, which the linseed oil is subject to. If you store these garments in a damp, unheated open shed instead of a warm closet, adding a half cup of green copper napthanate wood preservative per gallon of linseed is a good idea. If you aren’t sure what your preferences are, cut the recipe in half using the same gallon can, and try it out. You can always melt and adjust the mixture again, adding more wax or oil to change the feel of the finish.
Application is simple…brush it on hot direct from the double boiler and play a heat gun over it as you brush it deep into the cloth.
Continued….
When complete, hang the coat up and go back over it with the heat gun to melt and smooth any remaining surface residue….and you’re done.
Careful with the heat gun. Use just enough light heat to smooth the wax finish. Too heavy a hand with it or too hot and you’ll shrink your cotton garment.
Oh…and while you’re at it, you can do your work boots with the same brew…only much gentler with the heat, please.
Well, that’s not entirely true. Those of us in the lumber and sawmill trades do, as do many outdoor and heavy construction workers. Why? Muscling around hundred-pound planks of rough lumber wear through expensive Goretex in a matter of weeks…even the heavy-duty Carhartt or GI Goretex.
Wearing PVC raingear while doing heavy labor in the rain and mud merely postpones your soaking…work for long enough in it and you soak from the inside. Goretex and traditional oilskins both breathe enough to postpone that soaking much longer. “Tin” cloth is 19th Century logger’s slang for how water repellent and stiff the cloth is. Here’s some history on oilcloth and waxed cotton clothing:
http://www.davidmorgan.com/waxedcotton.html
And while waxed cotton has always been popular in UK countries by manufacturers like Barbour of Scotland and Driza-Bone of Australia, it’s largely gone in North America. With the suburbanization of Eddie Bauer and L.L. Bean, who both used to manufacture their own distinctive gear for outdoor workers, Filson of Seattle remains the only major manufacturer of this type of rugged work wear. Filson’s gear hasn’t changed since the Klondike Gold Rush, but the prices these days for that kind of quality are high. But measuring cost per year of wear instead of merely purchase price still makes them the best value for some trades. The way to beat those prices is to buy seconds and used garments on Ebay. Insist on actual measurements, however, as maltreated cotton garments are subject to shrinkage, and avoid buying more garment than you need. The UK garments’ heaviest waxed cotton cloth is around the same weight as Filson’s lightest. Filson “tin” cloth garments are very heavy, extremely stiff and are best suited to use where abrasion is a factor. Many sportsmen and casual users will be happier with one of their lighter weight cloths.
Once a year these garments need their finishes renewed, and that’s what we’ll do today. If you allow these cotton garments to go dry, they’ll shrink on you after they get thoroughly soaked. But we won’t use the 8-dollar, 2-ounce tins of oil and paraffin wax blend sold in stores…we’d go broke quick using those and will make a whole gallon of an even better finish today.
Three of several family garments above that need work today are readied. A hooded tin cape coat, a pair of old tin double-faced pants that look like leather…the “character” the garment has gained in use. Well, folks…salesmen may call it “character”, but it’s really a vintage blend of old sawdust, rotted forest duff and Shelton Gravelly Loam worked deep into wax and cloth as these garments can’t be washed. Next to them is a tin double cruiser jacket off of Ebay for the youngest son that had been machine washed by some misguided soul and will need a good bit of solution to renew. Prep is merely a stiff brush and a strong blast from a cold water hose to remove the bulk of the mud.
Shown above are a new, empty gallon paint can with lid and some of the materials we’ll use. A visit to the local beekeeper netted 5 pounds of beeswax at 4 dollars a pound. This is a much better choice than petroleum-based paraffin…just make sure you get the beekeeper wax and not waste your money on the 12-dollar-a-pound food-grade beeswax. Yours doesn’t have to be that clean...even if you do like to chew it…the natural impurities of the hive are probably good for you.
You’ll also need a gallon of raw linseed oil, a can of pine tar, a can of turps, and I’m going to substitute some pure orange oil for some of the linseed to improve the aroma these garments bring to the home…especially after a bit of diesel fuel is slopped on them in minor refueling mishaps. Can’t find a can of pine tar anywhere? Your local farrier, large-animal Vet or farm supply will have it…it’s still used on horses’ hooves as a dressing. If you can find boatbuilder’s Stockholm Tar anywhere, that has a more pleasant smell.
Rig a large double boiler…this one is a large pail of water stuffed in a kerosene space heater. I prefer to do this outdoors, both for safety (our mixture is flammable) and to test the consistency of my wax brew in the actual temperatures it will function in. Simply set your stir stick down for a while and check how hard your solution gets outdoors.
Into the can goes a quart of linseed, a little turps to thin, and two to three pounds of beeswax shavings after the water boils and the oil gets hot. The easiest way I know to render hard blocks of beeswax into shavings is on the shaving horse with drawknife…makes short work of it. It takes a while for the oil mixture to heat sufficiently to thoroughly melt all the wax, so be patient. When the wax melts, I add a half cup of pine tar and fill the gallon can about two inches from the top with more linseed…my orange oil fragrance enhancer going in last.
Proportions aren’t critical…more wax nets you better water resistance and greater garment wear…but also more stiffness. More linseed achieves the reverse. The pine tar supples the hard wax some and gives it staying power. It also inhibits mold, which the linseed oil is subject to. If you store these garments in a damp, unheated open shed instead of a warm closet, adding a half cup of green copper napthanate wood preservative per gallon of linseed is a good idea. If you aren’t sure what your preferences are, cut the recipe in half using the same gallon can, and try it out. You can always melt and adjust the mixture again, adding more wax or oil to change the feel of the finish.
Application is simple…brush it on hot direct from the double boiler and play a heat gun over it as you brush it deep into the cloth.
Continued….
When complete, hang the coat up and go back over it with the heat gun to melt and smooth any remaining surface residue….and you’re done.
Careful with the heat gun. Use just enough light heat to smooth the wax finish. Too heavy a hand with it or too hot and you’ll shrink your cotton garment.
Oh…and while you’re at it, you can do your work boots with the same brew…only much gentler with the heat, please.
