water repellent for duck cloth

[hedgeapple]

I'm wanting to make a couple duck cloth/heavy canvas bags to hold my lures while I'm canoeing. They will be in small plastic boxes, but I need a way to keep the organized.  How does one "oil" the canvas to make it water repellant like the duster jackets?  My first thought would be to use beeswax.

[sonny]

You could paint the fabric with boiled linseed oil and then maintain with a coat of beeswax every so often.

[mullet]

you could spray it with Thompson Water Seal.

[hedgeapple]

Thanks guys.

[Mike_H]

Don't do boiled linseed oil.  It's acidic and will rot the fabric.  You cqn add an earth pigmenr to it to even out the PH.  But straight beeswax works just as well.  I've used on  knapsack not too pong ago.  Not really supple but very water proof.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Camp-dri is amazing stuff Dave. Its an aerosol spray.

[bowtarist]

I was gonna say camp-dri or scotchguard, but figured you wanted something more primitive.  Both those work ok and be readministered very easily.

[Hoarfrost]

I've had good luck on knapsacks with a 50/50 mix of beeswax and turpentine rubbed into the canvas and melted in with a heat-gun on low setting, (careful because it is very flammable). Basically the turpentine is just a solvent to keep the wax liquid enough to work in, and then it evaporates. I've always heard beeswax/turpentine/boiled linseed oil but I don't like the smell of BLO.

[sonny]

Don't do boiled linseed oil.  It's acidic and will rot the fabric.  You cqn add an earth pigmenr to it to even out the PH.

I've read plenty of accounts of using linseed oil to waterproof fabric, have never heard that.
any references to back up that claim ?? ....with absolutely no intention of being argumentative!


 

[JW_Halverson]

Boiled linseed oil mixed with iron oxide is a classic recipe for "oilcloth".  It was a staple for water resistant outerware for ages.  I remember being told once why they added the iron oxide, but for the life of me I cannot remember why.  Just remember that once you have treated canvas with any of these conpounds, beeswax, turpentine, oil, whatever, you have added an accelerant to a flammable material. 

Many an oilcloth shelter has gone up like flashpaper in a furnace when a candle strayed too close!  It's the reason why many rendezvous specifically require WHITE CANVAS ONLY in camp.  Yes, oilcloth was very traditional and period correct...so is dying tragically early in a horrible fire. 

[JW_Halverson]

Oh, and if you do make oilcloth from scratch, leave it out in the sun for a good two weeks after you thnk it is dry.  When you think it is dry, rub a white cotton cloth across it to see if you get much for transfer.  When you get very little transfer, it is dry.  Start your two week countdown. 

If you roll it up before it dries, it may spontaneously combust as the oils are reacting with oxygen. 

[Buck67]

You can just paint the canvas with acrylic paint.  Don't go too heavy on the paint, but do work it into the fibers.  Traditional paint colors are Rust Red, Ochre, Black, White.

[wildman]

paint canvas with melted parrifin ,then put in oven on lowest setting for 10 min.

[hedgeapple]

Thanks guys for all the ideas.  I had thought of many of them.  I had just wanted to get your all's opinion.  I believe any and all of them should work.  I'm kind of leaning toward acrylic paint so I can color code my tackle.  Then I might do the parrifin or beeswax over that.  I'm really not needing the pouch to  extremely water proof, just mostly splash proof.  And pretty is good also. 

[Danzn Bar]

Pretty   Come on Hedge your fish'n
DBar