Rewaxing dewaxed canvas stuff

Jan 13, 2019
291
144
55
Gallifrey
I’m looking for the best products with which to rewax canvas gear.

Martexin is recommended but it comes in a shoe polish sized tin and i’ll need more than that. Can anyone please suggest alternatives or tell me where I can get larger tins of Martexin from?

Best wishes,

Darryl
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,297
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
I revaxed several Barbours over the UK years.
The first one I totally screwed up, I applied waaaay to much wax.
So much thevlining got waxed. I had to send it back to Barbour to be fixed. Very embarrasing, and costly.
Remember, a little goes a long way!
I prefer the blocks, I bought the block of the Swedish superdupet wax. Easier to apply thinly. Rub on, use your bosses’s hairdryer. ( when she is out shopping, doing the dishes or hoovering)

I think the Barbour wax block is virtually the same.
English superduper wax.
 
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MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,148
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Surrey/Sussex
www.thetimechamber.co.uk
Make your own Greenland wax, it’s easy to do - google it, or I put up a recipe on the forum years ago

https://bushcraftuk.com/community/i...land-style-wax-for-waterproofing-stuff.53277/

I have done a couple of things with it now, with a smock I had I put it in a pillow case and tumble dried it after to get rid of the excess and to evenly disperse the wax in the fabric.

In fact my smock with a ruined dropliner might get this treatment.....
 
Jan 13, 2019
291
144
55
Gallifrey
BF10D8FE-15D9-49E4-B383-5124A745E8D2.jpeg
Make your own Greenland wax, it’s easy to do - google it, or I put up a recipe on the forum years ago

https://bushcraftuk.com/community/i...land-style-wax-for-waterproofing-stuff.53277/

I have done a couple of things with it now, with a smock I had I put it in a pillow case and tumble dried it after to get rid of the excess and to evenly disperse the wax in the fabric.

In fact my smock with a ruined dropliner might get this treatment.....

I like the sound of that. I have some old canvas stuff to test it on. May I borrow your mobile home?
 
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Ascobis

Forager
Nov 3, 2017
146
77
Wisconsin, USA
> I had I put it in a pillow case and tumble dried it after to get rid of the excess and to evenly disperse the wax in the fabric.

Did the household Launderer-in-Chief get word of that? Fire-safety lessons say never put anything inflammable into the dryer. People who wear clothes don't want carryover. May I suggest a boot-sale hairdryer for your next re-wax? Not saying that the pillow method doesn't yield excellent waxed-wear. But.

A hair dryer and some homemade Greenland wax yield excellent results. Stay dry, have fun. Cheers.
 

MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,148
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Surrey/Sussex
www.thetimechamber.co.uk
> I had I put it in a pillow case and tumble dried it after to get rid of the excess and to evenly disperse the wax in the fabric.

Did the household Launderer-in-Chief get word of that? Fire-safety lessons say never put anything inflammable into the dryer. People who wear clothes don't want carryover. May I suggest a boot-sale hairdryer for your next re-wax? Not saying that the pillow method doesn't yield excellent waxed-wear. But.

A hair dryer and some homemade Greenland wax yield excellent results. Stay dry, have fun. Cheers.

Didn’t run the tumbler on the hottest setting, it doesn’t need to be hot hot.

Pillow case absorded any excess - we aren’t talking about loads of thick layers of wax though that ‘sloughed’ off the coat or anything. I just found it hard to get the wax ‘evenly’ spread using a hairdryer. Tumbler evened it up nicely. Also I kept checking it as I wasn’t sure how long it would need, so it was having maybe 10min bursts?

But. Yes good point, careful attention and vigilance required.

I did not ask permission from SWMBO. I didn’t ask her permission before putting a bunch of aluminium car parts through the dishwasher either - got away with that aswell :D
It’s all in the timing (ideally when she is at work!)

My downfall was using the oven to bake paint onto something - the smell gave me away when she got home :(
 

Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,774
Berlin
I was told, Barbour jackets which had been rewaxed with Swedish wax, became yellow.

And the guys who did it became green ore blue.

I am not sure, if this was a joke.
May be. But perhaps not.

But I have seen yellow.
G1000. That's sure!

I think, It's better to avoid Swedish products.
I bought sweet cheese there and chocolate pudding where was blood in....
 

Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
4,831
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Exmoor
I've just tried to rewax my pretend barbour. Barbour won't touch it at all so I went to the gun shop to ask advice. I was sold a can of spray on wax which I was assured would do the whole jacket. It only did half so had to go get another. £14 lighter it's still not waterproof and doesn't have the feeling of a waxed jacket at all. If I can find my Greenland wax I will use that as I know it works. The way I do it is to warm the jacket up first with hairdryer. Rub on wax . Then use hairdryer again.
Ps get your own hairdryer !!!!!!
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,774
Berlin
Isn't the wax mixture totally identic?

I think there isn't a big difference, should there be a difference.

The cross country ski wax glues like honey, That's somehow totally different.

Spray? How should a spray enter the fabric? Fjällräven shops iron the wax in.
That is surely the best way to do it.
 
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Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
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Exmoor
Yes the spray wax is totaly useless. I've thrown the cans away now so I can't give details of it. I won't be using it again ever. Total waste of money. Shame, as my gun shop is usually pretty spot on with this sort of thing. It's the first time I've ever tried to rewax a jacket, but I was very excited at the thought of just spraying it on instead of all the work involved doing my Fjallraven trousers. Nowadays I just wax the knees and seat on them.
 

Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,774
Berlin
They sell us totally useless shoe sprays since 50 years.
Even the shoes, that should be treated with it are totally useless.

Leather boots like waxed fabrics are used since thousands of years, and how to tread them is well known.

The outdoor industry loves to betray the client. It isn't so intelligent to trust in every nonsense they try to tell us.
 

MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,148
1,059
Surrey/Sussex
www.thetimechamber.co.uk
Yes the spray wax is totaly useless. I've thrown the cans away now so I can't give details of it. I won't be using it again ever. Total waste of money. Shame, as my gun shop is usually pretty spot on with this sort of thing. It's the first time I've ever tried to rewax a jacket, but I was very excited at the thought of just spraying it on instead of all the work involved doing my Fjallraven trousers. Nowadays I just wax the knees and seat on them.

Couldn’t agree more, I tried ‘fabsil gold’ in a spray can and, while the t went into the fabric , it didn’t list that long after application.

I made my own Greenland wax, and although it’s harder work to apply it gives better results.

I am not aiming for full waterproof, but just rain resistant for short periods.

Good thing is about Greenland wax is you can build it up in layers until you get the water resistance you want without the material going stiff.

I put mine on dry, I rub it in on a flat surface and aim for a uniform ‘white’ colour then melt it in with a hairdryer then repeat, then tumble dry to disperse evenly

I have found 2 coats to be good. It’s easy to add more but hard to remove excess.
 

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