Beeswax is a versatile material that can be used for various purposes, including waxing clothing and gear. However, it can be dangerous when heated up, so it’s best to melt it down slowly using low heat. To achieve the best results, you can use a double boiler, crock pot water bath, or solar oven to evenly warm up your beeswax. Select natural fabrics like cotton or linen, ensuring they are clean and untreated for effective waxing. Pure beeswax works in a double boiler or microwave.
To maintain the waxed denim fabric, it’s essential to avoid washing the fabric in hot water as it can cause the wax to melt. You can do your own waxing at home for about $15 and create windproof and waterproof clothing and gear. The first step is to choose the right type of beeswax for your project. Beeswax comes in different forms, each with its own melting point. This technique works best on thicker fabrics like heavy denim.
Beeswax begins to melt around 140-150 degrees Fahrenheit, and it should stay around this temperature. It may lose some properties, like aroma, when it reaches 170 degrees. Avoid getting it to an even higher heat.
Beeswax doesn’t work as well as synthetic waxes for waxing cloths due to its lack of flexibility when dry. To prevent cracking, try putting down several thicknesses of newspaper, greaseproof paper, small pieces cut from a sheet of beeswax, and a piece of denim. Wax can be applied to cloths in various ways, such as melting beeswax in a pot and scooping it over the cloths or distributing small pieces of wax on the cloth. Wax isn’t flammable, so a thin coat is applied during calendering.
📹 How To Wax Denim | DIY Tutorial
Thanks for watching! Follow me on Instagram @nathanfelstein https://www.instagram.com/nathanfelstein/?hl=en. In today’s video I …
📹 How To Wax Canvas/ Tutorial
I was kindly gifted a few canvas items and I thought I’d better get them sealed up before use. Note that the wax will change the …
Hi. To help prevent the wax from setting so fast, I use my heat gun to preheat the canvas in small areas. I find it makes applying the wax easier and a bit faster because the wax does not set as fast on the cold tarp. If there is a seam, be sure to heat it enough for the wax to penetrate all the way through the entire seam especially into the thread holes. Be careful not to melt the thread if is synthetic. Cheers.
Put your wax in the freezer for about 20 min. to harden it then grate it or use a chisel or similar to shave it down so it’ll melt faster and more evenly and prevent scorching it. I also add some coconut oil and/or olive oil at about 10:1 to keep it softer and from being so crumbly after it’s applied and help it set into the fabric a bit better, IMO. Plus you can use the leftover wax for you tool handles, boots, sheaths and anything leather and as a chapstick or for dry, cracked hands and it works as a lube for squeaky hinges and whatnot and as a fire starter/extender. I put mine in little tins and keep them in my packs
I eyeball a 3:1 wax to turpentine mix (adding turps to wax after melting) so that the fluidity isn’t completely dependent on heat while still applying plenty of wax to the surface. It definitely helps with evenness and saturation. Yes, it does mean you have to wait for the turps to evaporate, but still seems to speed up the whole process and produces good results with less time and less heat, especially if doing several pieces together.
I wish I came upon this article a while ago. I do something similar for fire starter (wax and gasoline with cotton pads) but now I’m going to wax everything!!! One question, I have an oil canvas with wool blanket sewn into it. Do you recommend adding a waxed layer for a ground sheet or is oil cloth good enough?
If the wax is hard (frozen) you might want to use an old cheese-grater – works wonders and makes the melting more even. For melting – pre-heat the wax if you can. Like lettings it sit on a radiator (in the cold times), or toss it in the oven after using it. You can even use the microwave but be warned it is dangerous: only for a short time and only to get it a bit warm and softer – you do not want to melt it unless you know what you are doing (or you are fine with an exploding wax-fire). The wax can be mixed with other things depending on the needs or what you like: Parafine-wax is really cheap and more slippery, pine resin (sticky, smells nice), tallow ( supple), turpentine (better spreading). It helps if you can pre-heat the fabric and the surface you are working on – if you have a work-table you can just use a hair-dryer or hotgun to heat up the surface and then heat up the canvas – this will make the wax stay liquid for longer so it can penetrate the fabric far easier, faster and more evenly. once you are done you can leave the wax in the melting-container if you do not need that for anything else. Otherwise make sure to pour it out while it is still hot.
Not even 2 mins in the article and I already have in my head my grandma doing running commentary. No idea why, I’ve watched many other articles of people doing stuff, but mayde because this one started with something she would say, I spent all the article with her voice in my head nagging you for every single mistake you made 🤣 (kudos for NOT editing them out) “Parafin wax, regular? No! That would be bees wax! All other waxes are the ones than aren’t regular wax!” “What do you mean, it’s difficult to get wax out of stuff? Scrape the most, melt the part you dodn’t scrape into a blotter papper and clean the rest with alcohol!” “I didn’t teach you to cut with your fingers in the way of the blade, young man!” “You know, wax is better cut on smaller chunks or with a heated knife” (yes, I know you got told that a lot, why wouldn’t my grandma’s voice in my head NOT tell you that, too?) Gonna spare you the rest, but rest assured it was constant. 😆😆 Again, kudos for not editing out the little things that went wrong.
Super cool. Seems easy enough if you have the tools. I have wax I never used that came w/my Fjallraven jacket. Wonder if that’s the same type? I never even looked how to apply it. I suppose I should have lol. Good vid. These kind of articles are very helpful to people I think. You’re a good teacher. I will try on my jacket. Thanks.
Thanks. I saw on another bu man’s bushcraft article where he made a sleeping bag out of a painters canvas drop cloth that he folded over and sewed together. He had waxed it so it is waterproof. Today I bought a canvas and am planning on doing the same. One question, why the beeswax rather that just paraffin? Is there a tactical advantage?
I wish I had a spare, clean brush the last time I was waxing fabric! Had to settle for a plastic spoon. 😅 Per breaking the wax up, rather than getting one big chunk in one fell swoop, I’d whittle a bunch of wax on to a newspaper which I could then use to funnel the shavings into a jar for future use. Yeah, it’s a little time intensive, but the resulting wax flakes melt pretty quickly.
I’m just wondering is the purpose of mixing the two kinds of wax so that it’s more pliable after applying and because it’s cheaper? I’m thinking of waxing the outside of my canvas 10×12 tent, but I’ll probably have to do it while the tent is up because I don’t have a large enough space to do it otherwise. Unless I just do a little at a time.
why do you not use the technique of rubbing the cloth with the wax then use a hot clothes iron to set it into the item? i will say that your technique really gets the wax into the weave where as the ironing practice allows the cloth to expel body produced moisture (thus for material to be worn) if desired yet can also completely water/wind proof if needed. no open flame and can be done in the home. i do like your method for items that must be moisture/wind proof. i live in north eastern Nebraska. the wind is evil especially in the winter. we have had sustained winds of 35 with gusts up to 50+ mph…nothing like getting hit by a freak blizzard with temps down to -50f and that wind. last big one like that people lost their cows….one lost 10k head…up to 50k head were lost. they tried to donate the cows to whoever needed them (insurance paid out) but there were so many and the roads so blocked they buried at least 10k in mass graves once the first thaw. i cried. what a horrible way to go. the ranchers and farmers couldn’t get to them in time. rip poor bessies. they would have tasted so good, though.
Is this the same procedure you would have used on that oiled tarp you did? I looked for the 2nd article and couldn’t find one. Well crap. I just got to the part of the article where you explained that you didn’t want to redo the oilskin tarp. So not the question is which method would you use for a tarp that you intend to throw into your bushcraft bag for a shelter?
I have a couple of fishing satchels from my late grandfather that he and his dad (my great grandfather) used in Montana for 70+ years. They are worn out, but in tact. Would you recommend oiling them with linseed oil? or beeswax? or a combination? There’s no leather, just old zippers and canvas webbing/straps.
Another excellent article my friend. Here is a fun story, I dont know if you have ever heard of frog lube. Long story short, you rub it into your gun barrel for example, use the heat gun and melt it into the metal wipe of the excess etc, good lube stuff,. I took it to work and a buddy of mine may or may not have melted some components on the desk at work. hehehe. DOnt tell on me. Thanks for sharing this article with us and I hope you have a blessed week. Dale
Hi, im wanting to make a DIY cowboy style bedroll and am looking into making it water resistant. I want my cotton canvas to be water-resistant but am very concerned about breathability. Should I do wax or oilskin with breathability in mind, or should I use a different waterproofing/resisting method? Can I still use the wax method but maybe apply thinner layers in order to maintain breathability? Looking for feedback from anyone.
Would a toilet wax ring work with this process? It’s already a bit softer than the solid beeswax and probably wouldn’t need to be cut like you did with the paraffin wax. Plus wax rings are super cheap and available at any hardware store. My grandpa used to use melted wax rings to waterproof his hunting boots and keep the leather soft.
Hi this is very interesting. Just some questions, other use a 1 to 10 ratio for beewax to parafin do you have an idea why and the importance of ratio between the two waxes? Also, do you think your method is better than the one using turpentine and boiled lin oil? Can you tell if using only waxes has a better waterproffing than the method with turpentine and lin seed oil? Thanks for you article.