DIY Greenland style Waterproofing Wax and waxing a canvas bag

[MrEd]

Ok some of you may already do this or may know of it but some of you may not know how to make greenland wax, or if you prefer, waterproofing wac. To buy waterproofing wax its around 7 quid for a small block which is quite a lot. its easy to make so save money this way! The paraffin was £1 for 400g and the beeswax £1 for 50g and this is enough to make a lot of greenland style wax - i have a massive block now and am prob not ever going to use it all up!

All you need is paraffin wax and beeswax


weigh it out in a 90% paraffin wax to 10% beeswax ratio (or thereabouts) I used 250grams of paraffin and 25g or beeswax. so i have some left over.

Just melt the whole lot in a bain marie, then pour it into a suitable mould - i used a flora pot lol


let it set and then its ready to use


it can be used on all kinds of cotton or polycotton clothes/bags etc.
I have treated my swede quilted trousers and my gas mask bag so far.

I love my gasmask bag its great for day trips but it is unbelievably not waterproof - in fact in a massive down pour water leaked in (a lot) and the leather base meant it pooled in the bottom of the bag. To rectify this i treated it with wax as below.

Rub the wax into the material


then heat it with a haridryer to melt it onto the material


this will need to be done a number of times - i did the top flap on my bag 4 coats and the back and sides 3 coats. the material becomes noticeably stiffer and darker but it flexes up after a while and use but it isnt really that stiff tho.

1st coat


3rd coat


and this is how it repels water now




so pretty good, will have to see how it works in a prolonged downpour but im sure it will be ok, i can always add a bit more wax.

and thats it, not overly interesting, but i thought it might benefit someone.

[scruff]

Nice work Ed. It makes the bag look much better too.

How is t for 'wearing', does the wax rub off any, on clothes etc?

[MrEd]

it hasnt so far, but i havent used it for more than about half an hour so far, im going fishing all day tomorrow so will give it a wear all day and see - its meant to rain to. it doesnt appear to rub off, its sunk in quite deep into the fabric, but im not sure about, say, wearing it all day in the height of summer - thats one of the reasons i didnt wax the back bit that goes against your body really heavily. i mainly concentrated on the top and front and sides

oh yeah and as for looks, yeah i agree, its darkened the leather and the amterial is more a dark green now like old 58 pattern webbing thats greened if you know what i mean

cheers

[scruff]

I'm sure it will hold up Ed. It is a lovely shade of green too....but its still fugly

[MrEd]

yeah its proper fugly but its perfect for a day hike and it made me minimise my kit so im loath to part with it

Im going to make my own one day out of heavy canvas etc in a duluth style but yeah i have enough projects on the go and neglect the missus enough lol

[Addo]

Good stuff Ed, I made some a while back and treated all my cotton gear. Does a grand job, not as breathable on clothing as nikwax but better than no treatment and very good on canvas bags. I still treat the fjallraven forester trousers with my homemade and its as good as the proper stuff they sell, and the iron works well too for melting it in

[MrEd]

i did think about an iron and tea towel method but wasnt sure if the wax would melt and just absorb into the tea towel, might try it.

for my troos i did what i did above then tumble dried them in a pillow case to see if it came out more even - which it did. i only did 2 coats up to mid thigh ( my jacket goes down that far) on them though as i didnt want them to stiff, just water repellant not completely waterproof! Hvent worn them in anger yet so the juries still out on them

bag gets abused today, its not coming under the tarp for anything lol

[MrEd]

oh and i love home making stuff like this that works well, gives you a good feeling inside

plus not all of us are mega shiny ££££ bushcrafters lol

[scruff]

Just a thought; if you do the iron method, can't you put a layer of greaseproof paper between the cloth and teatowel? That should 'repel' the wax from soaking into the towel....er...i think.

[Texan Man]

Originally Posted by scruff

Just a thought; if you do the iron method, can't you put a layer of greaseproof paper between the cloth and teatowel? That should 'repel' the wax from soaking into the towel....er...i think.

Only trouble with that is the chance the wax might 'pool' between material and the paper and you're left with little mounds of wax when you peel the paper off.

But if that happens just get out the hairdryer again