Looking for some help, I started a wee blog on the pile of wax I seem to have accumulated, any feedback is appreciated
https://www.instagram.com/boot_wax/
https://www.instagram.com/boot_wax/
Boot Wax
- Thread starter johnnytheboy
- Start date
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Depending on how much random
Comb they build in places I don’t want it, and how many old frames I am swapping out (part of pest management) - this year I got about 1.5kg from 2 hives, last year about half that. Not expecting much more next year as I did some comb changes this year but we will see!
Any recommendations for traditional Swedish got wax would be appreciated, I searched about and found some made from bear fat, 100% lanolin, mink oil but I wasn’t sure what was the goto product used in Sweden? Any help appreciated!
That’s really interesting always fancied bee keeping, just don’t have the space unfortunately!
Lots of associations will allow you to keep bees at their sites if you join and pay a nominal yearly fee. Mine does.
Also landowners may allow you a small corner of a field or on the edge of a wood - pick somewhere not near a footpath (to avoid vandalism) if you pay them in kind (with honey etc)
http://www.fatbear.se/
https://www.jakt.se/nygammal-lädersmorning
https://www.kero.se/sv/shop/1--skor/33--tillbehor/249--ladersmorning
https://www.vildmarkshornan.com/produkt/nygammal-ladersmorning/
The last one I have used since decades.
The ingredients are very similar. Animal fat, tar, wax.
Traditional receipes that work.
https://www.jakt.se/nygammal-lädersmorning
https://www.kero.se/sv/shop/1--skor/33--tillbehor/249--ladersmorning
https://www.vildmarkshornan.com/produkt/nygammal-ladersmorning/
The last one I have used since decades.
The ingredients are very similar. Animal fat, tar, wax.
Traditional receipes that work.
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Another bee keeper here and I also have a fair bit of wax. It would be good to have a beeswax based recipe although I'd also be interested in a good recommendation for a commercial product. I tend to find the products I've tried almost seem to encourage water to be absorbed by the leather.
You need:
Fat ( lanolin, bear fat, lard, mink fat, whale fat, beaver fat, seal fat, badger fat)
Birch bark tar/oil
Bees wax
Proportions:
Fat 10
Birch oil 1.5
Wax 0.5
Melt fat, mix in melted birch oil and wax.
Cool. If to soft, melt again and add more wax and tar
If to hard, melt and add more fat.
I took it from a Swedish ancient crafts site, no doubt you can vary.
Fat ( lanolin, bear fat, lard, mink fat, whale fat, beaver fat, seal fat, badger fat)
Birch bark tar/oil
Bees wax
Proportions:
Fat 10
Birch oil 1.5
Wax 0.5
Melt fat, mix in melted birch oil and wax.
Cool. If to soft, melt again and add more wax and tar
If to hard, melt and add more fat.
I took it from a Swedish ancient crafts site, no doubt you can vary.
Slowworm, it is importsnt to not clean your boots too vigorously, or using soap and hot water.
Leather must not be totally dissicated or dried above room temperature.
Those electric heater thingies used inside the boots are a sure leather killer.
Optimally, the leather should be humid enough so it is pliable. Then apply a boot oil on areas whete leather is bent a lot, and on seams. Let soak in, then apply gently warmed boot wax.
Rub it in.
We taught the correct procedure in the force.
Wet feet was punishable.
Leather must not be totally dissicated or dried above room temperature.
Those electric heater thingies used inside the boots are a sure leather killer.
Optimally, the leather should be humid enough so it is pliable. Then apply a boot oil on areas whete leather is bent a lot, and on seams. Let soak in, then apply gently warmed boot wax.
Rub it in.
We taught the correct procedure in the force.
Wet feet was punishable.
Sno-Seal is the most effective boot wax for wet and winter I’ve ever found apart from the original Nikwax, one treatment lasts my boots a winter season. Effax is pretty good too, it’s for saddles, tack, and riding boots but is soft and needs regular application. My dad kept bees for most of my childhood and we used it mainly for wood and leather treatments. My dad put it in a tilted box lined with foil with a pane of glass on top and left all the wax out in the sun so it melted and slowly ran to one end. Genuine Turpentine rather than petroleum products as thinners makes a fragrant and really effective wax. There are loads of recipes for wood and leather mixtures on the internet. The turps or liquid paraffin takes the wax in nice and deep so it sets as the volatile compounds release.
I’m currently enjoying, and equally annoyed by, an experimental tache that is getting longer. I’ve tried various waxes to stick the thing in place, and beeswax is the absolute key to fixing it. There’s a very healthy market out there for natural tache and beard products at the moment, so invest in some 10ml tins, nicely designed stickers and sell a niche product on the Bay? The cool and keenest shiny bearded hipster doesn’t want petroleum products in the mix. I’ll add that I’m not cool or keen, or shiny bearded, but I’ve looked at the market and it’s selling for silly money. Capt Fawcetts Expedition Strength Moustache Wax 15ml tin costs about a tenner or more and uses liquid paraffin as a thinner. Lanolin and Shea butter are better ingredients. There’s a diy guide here.
https://beardoholic.com/diy-homemade-mustache-wax/
Also, good quality beeswax that has the honey scent can be hard to find and fetches a premium. There are a lot of blocks of very standard light yellow rubbish out there.
3 am! I’m off to the Insomniacs Unite thread.
I’m currently enjoying, and equally annoyed by, an experimental tache that is getting longer. I’ve tried various waxes to stick the thing in place, and beeswax is the absolute key to fixing it. There’s a very healthy market out there for natural tache and beard products at the moment, so invest in some 10ml tins, nicely designed stickers and sell a niche product on the Bay? The cool and keenest shiny bearded hipster doesn’t want petroleum products in the mix. I’ll add that I’m not cool or keen, or shiny bearded, but I’ve looked at the market and it’s selling for silly money. Capt Fawcetts Expedition Strength Moustache Wax 15ml tin costs about a tenner or more and uses liquid paraffin as a thinner. Lanolin and Shea butter are better ingredients. There’s a diy guide here.
https://beardoholic.com/diy-homemade-mustache-wax/
Also, good quality beeswax that has the honey scent can be hard to find and fetches a premium. There are a lot of blocks of very standard light yellow rubbish out there.
3 am! I’m off to the Insomniacs Unite thread.
Yeah bottling up honey is one thing you can do easily. Making what is classed as cosmetics is much harder and you have to be licensed iirc - my other half looked into, but has shelved it for the moment due to the regulatory hoops involved in making your own cosmetics
Yeah bottling up honey is one thing you can do easily. Making what is classed as cosmetics is much harder and you have to be licensed iirc - my other half looked into, but has shelved it for the moment due to the regulatory hoops involved in making your own cosmetics
Ah, never thought of that aspect but it makes sense I suppose.
Remember, ideally, you need a different boot wax summer and winter. Winter wax is softer.
Can be used summer time, but then your boots will have a sticky surface.
Use a harder (summer) wax in cold weather and it will crack.
Today the manufacturers like to do 'one product for all applications' .
Cheaper and easier for them.
I put a little bit of Mink Oil in the 'universal' wax in winter.
Can be used summer time, but then your boots will have a sticky surface.
Use a harder (summer) wax in cold weather and it will crack.
Today the manufacturers like to do 'one product for all applications' .
Cheaper and easier for them.
I put a little bit of Mink Oil in the 'universal' wax in winter.
When I fish in Norway, I use pure lanolin on my hands, specially wintertime.
It goes harder in winter of course, but is still soft enough.
You can buy hand creams ('Norwegian formula") with added lanolin, but my old friend ( 92 years old two weeks ago) introduced me to pure lanolin. Much better.
I do not know if pure lanolin is good enough for boots though. Might need a harder, protective layer on top.
It goes harder in winter of course, but is still soft enough.
You can buy hand creams ('Norwegian formula") with added lanolin, but my old friend ( 92 years old two weeks ago) introduced me to pure lanolin. Much better.
I do not know if pure lanolin is good enough for boots though. Might need a harder, protective layer on top.
Not sure if i posted this before but
I bought a big tub of leather grease (high beeswax content) i believe is for leather horse saddles and a big bottle of pine tar resin.
The grease is brilliant for soaking in to the leather and keeping it supple and the pine tar is a brilliant and durable layer for keeping the water off.
Whereas the grease alone works well for waterproofing, because its not very thick stuff it will be displaced fairly quick in very bad wet conditions and so need reapplying fairly regularly but theres lots of it and it works out rather cheap and goes very far.
The pine tar once dry acts as a durable barrier and is like super water resistant skin on the leather and so mixed with the grease makes a wonderful concoction.
The grease is for nourishing and protecting the leather and the pine tar is a barrier and works well on its own for the main areas of water entry, like the stitching, heel, toe and where the upper meets the sole.
If you mix them together about 50/50 you get a really nice waterproofing and nourishing treatment for leather boots that lasts a long time and protects your footwear very well.
I got the idea for the mixture from a finnish army surplus website who had the materials for a very nice price and it works very well. I use it on all my leather footwear apart from my oxblood dr.martens
When i first got the stuff i treated some work boots generously with the mixture a few times during my time off.
a new coat every 24hrs or so for about 3 days and left to soak it in before wearing them.
when i went back to work we had rain and mud up around our ankles for 8 hours a day for weeks and and the water just seemed to roll off, feet were always dry.
I remember not doing my boots for months afterwards (i usually do my dr martens with a different treatment(dubbin) atleast every week ir two) until i could see the ever present layer of mud and constant being wet and drying out had started to dry the top layer of leather ever so slightly.
Another quick, not so thorough, treatment and they were good as new, i now just apply every now and then after the boots have had some hard use or theyve been neglected for a bit to keep em in good nick.
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I bought a big tub of leather grease (high beeswax content) i believe is for leather horse saddles and a big bottle of pine tar resin.
The grease is brilliant for soaking in to the leather and keeping it supple and the pine tar is a brilliant and durable layer for keeping the water off.
Whereas the grease alone works well for waterproofing, because its not very thick stuff it will be displaced fairly quick in very bad wet conditions and so need reapplying fairly regularly but theres lots of it and it works out rather cheap and goes very far.
The pine tar once dry acts as a durable barrier and is like super water resistant skin on the leather and so mixed with the grease makes a wonderful concoction.
The grease is for nourishing and protecting the leather and the pine tar is a barrier and works well on its own for the main areas of water entry, like the stitching, heel, toe and where the upper meets the sole.
If you mix them together about 50/50 you get a really nice waterproofing and nourishing treatment for leather boots that lasts a long time and protects your footwear very well.
I got the idea for the mixture from a finnish army surplus website who had the materials for a very nice price and it works very well. I use it on all my leather footwear apart from my oxblood dr.martens
When i first got the stuff i treated some work boots generously with the mixture a few times during my time off.
a new coat every 24hrs or so for about 3 days and left to soak it in before wearing them.
when i went back to work we had rain and mud up around our ankles for 8 hours a day for weeks and and the water just seemed to roll off, feet were always dry.
I remember not doing my boots for months afterwards (i usually do my dr martens with a different treatment(dubbin) atleast every week ir two) until i could see the ever present layer of mud and constant being wet and drying out had started to dry the top layer of leather ever so slightly.
Another quick, not so thorough, treatment and they were good as new, i now just apply every now and then after the boots have had some hard use or theyve been neglected for a bit to keep em in good nick.
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One more thing, you can buy big 500ml tubs of leather grease, or saddle grease for about 5 quid from all sorts of different brands on the internet.
Might work out cheaper n go further than ya normal tins of shoe polish/wax/dubbin.
Id recommend any that has a high beeswax content. Beeswax is lovely stuff.
Youll also want the liquid version of pine tar resin as it comes in various forms. Liquid be better for mixing and applying to footwear, it will dry solid after a while but will soak in a bit better too.
Can also get 500ml-1L bottles of it for about rhe same price from garious brands on the internet.
Usually a good shout to look for equestrian related products.
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Might work out cheaper n go further than ya normal tins of shoe polish/wax/dubbin.
Id recommend any that has a high beeswax content. Beeswax is lovely stuff.
Youll also want the liquid version of pine tar resin as it comes in various forms. Liquid be better for mixing and applying to footwear, it will dry solid after a while but will soak in a bit better too.
Can also get 500ml-1L bottles of it for about rhe same price from garious brands on the internet.
Usually a good shout to look for equestrian related products.
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
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