Making Waxed Cotton Less Oily?

[Nomad]

I just got some waxed cotton for some projects, and it's quite oily feeling - a little comes off on the fingers if I rub it.

Is there anything I can do to give it a more dry feel?

 

[sunndog]

Washing machine.....certainly worked on one of my waistcoats when her indoors decided it was too dirty

 

[Toddy]

Shove it in the tumble drier with an old towel.

....and when you're done, scrub out the tumble drier with something that'll de-oil it. Meths works, so does fairy liquid on a damp cloth.
The towel's dead, but awfully good for polishing boots

M

 

[Janne]

Sandwich the oiled fabric between two layers of non oiled fabric you do not mind throwing away and iron.

 

[santaman2000]

All the above will work. The problem is that by making it less oily you're also basically removing the wax (defeats the whole purpose of having waxed cotton)

 

[Robson Valley]

I would do nothing. Many of my bigger wood carving tools are wrapped with #18 tarred nylon seine cord.
Ever so slightly sticky. Ignore it.
The oily waxed cotton might be dry rubbed with paper towel to speed up the wear and tear.
But you compromise the durability.

 

[Janne]

And I hoped our favourite Canuck would recommend something cool, like soaking in Avgas...

 

[santaman2000]

I would do nothing. Many of my bigger wood carving tools are wrapped with #18 tarred nylon seine cord.
Ever so slightly sticky. Ignore it.......

Ignore it and actually rewax when it starts to get less oily.

 

[Janne]

And I hoped our favourite American would recommend something interesting to remove the stickiness, like covering the fabric in fine beach sand and leaving in the hot Florida sun......

 

[santaman2000]

And I hoped our favourite American would recommend something interesting to remove the stickiness, like covering the fabric in fine beach sand and leaving in the hot Florida sun......

It's really not "sticky." Oily and "slick" if anything.

 

[Janne]

Sorry, misunderstood. The 'oiled' clothes our family had in the past were in fact waxed. I assumed this was the case here too.
But fine sand will also wick away the oil. Same principle as when people used fine sand to dry the paper/pergament after writing on.

As it is a thick oil ( or wax?) it needs a bit of heat to get runnier/softer for a better wicking.

 

[Toddy]

That's why I suggested the tumble drier. It heats the jacket and the wax/oil and the two soak up much more effectively. A good sunny day works wonders, but it's October, in the UK....hot sunny days are a rarity.

You can do some with an iron, but unless you've a sleeve board, and you don't mind your ironing board being saturated with wax too, then the tumble drier works really well

 

[Janne]

I had to clean my wife's ( she is the sole permit holder to use the washing machine, tumbledryer and Ironing system )
tumbledryer from underseal ( a wax product for vehicles) I had messed up my clothes with. Badly, Container tipped over me when I was on my back under the car.
It was pure hell. Inside of the tumbledryer drum was OK to clean, I used Petrol, but the rest.....


Yes, a waxed jacket feels oily. Sticky oily when cold.
A hellish Paleo product.

The Ironing Board needs to be properly protected. Thick bin bags. old bed sheets or towels on top. Same between fatty fabric and iron.

I had a tendency of being overenthuastic with the wax application, so poor wife had to remove the mess.

 

[Robson Valley]

Give it to the elephants. They can use it for dental floss.

 

[Toddy]

A wax jacket that has been worn for a few times is no longer 'sticky', it may feel oily or rather like very soft warm leather if worn in the heat.
New ones, of middling and downwards quality, do rather smell of petroleum products, but even that eases off. I bought as cheap as I could find one for digging, and it's lasted just as well as the expensive one I had. Latterly I made my own. The cheap one's still wearable, the expensive one is only fit for gardening.

In our climate, if one is not terribly sweatily active, they're very good indeed.

M

 

[Janne]

My best one was a Barbour Beaufort ( I think the model was called). It has a very useful pocket in the lower back.

Lasted for years and years. The seams on shoulders needed impregnating from time to time.
I had cheaper ones, that (visually) did not look so fantastic, but just as good to wear. The fabric in those was 'hairier'.

again, shoulder area needed reproofing.

The negative was that on a windy/rainy day out with the two energetic Cocker Spaniels, they all get quite sweaty.

 

[Robson Valley]

I think that when they get warm and then dusty, all the "sticky" goes away.
I wear an Outback Trading 'Kodiak' hat. Beautifully waterproof waxed canvas, stiff as a door.
It was kind of sticky new. Years later, it's now just hard, dry and dirty. in my avatar.

 

[Nomad]

Tried it with an iron, with the waxed cotton between some curtain lining (plain cotton). It pretty much sooked all the wax out of the fabric - a little spray of water from a scoosher bottle, and with a rub with a finger, it was starting to soak in on the ironed bit, but was clearly beading on an untouched area. That was with an old Morphy Richards iron set to cotton. I tried a few more patches at lower temperatures, but it didn't seem to make a lot of difference (the iron maybe hadn't cooled down enough, though). At the moment, I think it takes too much out, but worth another try starting with the iron at the coolest warm setting, and working up.

For the record...
It's not a jacket, it's just plain fabric for some projects (like stuff sacks).
The tumble dryer bit of the washing machine packed in ages ago, and I'm too lazy to do anything about it.
The ironing board is a cheapo that's only used for ironing stuff for sewing. That said, there was only a little bit of bleed-through onto the cover.

A rub at room temperature with something absorbent is appealing. I really just want to get the oiliness off the surface.

 

[Robson Valley]

Little bit of trivia: All waxes, both petroleum-based and plant-based, melt in the range of 50 - 60C (about 150F)
Test your iron with a piece of a candle as it warms up. Too hot and it flows too fast.

I still say do nothing.

 

[Toddy]

Nomad ? the easiest way is just to wipe it with a cloth soaked in meths, and then air the fabric to dry off.
The meths will also degunk your sewing machine after you've finished.

M