Curbly

Jeesh Helen, Thanks for the warning. I hope everyone reads this and takes precautions. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

A word of warning about linseed oil - I just moved back into my house after 79 days in a hotel and $50,000 worth of repairs to my house from a fire caused by linseed oil on a rag.  Linseed oil is spontanioulsly combustible when it is on fabric that is folded over itself.  You must leave the canvas stretched until it is completely dry.  It does not matter if it is raw or boiled - they are both combustible.  Make sure you have a place to dry your cloth outside and that you clean all your tools carefully - you have to use detergent to get the oil out of brushes and cloth and dry them flat on a non-flamable surface (like concrete).  I have used linseed oil for years on my teak furniture but all it took was one time for me to get distracted and it was all over. 

LEATHER:

Works great for leather too. I am currently going through the second ot third month experimenting with how the mix i made compares to the leather conditioner and protectant I swear by. So far I have discovered that this works excellent as a way to make "patent" leather (which is what they call the shined, polished, hardened leather that commercially is now made out of petrochemicals). The leather is stronger, stiffer, resistant to scratches, and has a nice sheen, but also might be contributing to cracking on the toe ceases and is not nourishing the leather like regular leather dressing/conditioner/lotion/cream.

So to sum up, it will harden the leather which may or may not be what you are looking for, but if it is not something that is constantly creasing like the toe area of shoes, it will be great (though I recommend the leather be lotioned before-hand and always encourage maintainence of leather over time).

WOOD:

In addition to uses for cloth, these ingredients work great for coating wood (beautiful finish and protectant), metal. This stuff is more of a wood finish that happens to work on cloth.

-Carlos from Washington

Only thick applications of the solution will create a laminated effect. I have applied this to some cotton canvas and it just soaks into the fibers, but with heavier coats it will indeed "laminate."

The spontaneous combustion that you have heard warnings about are when the linseed oil is drying. Linseed oil gets warm as it dries IF THERE IS NOT PROPER VENTILATION. So if you throw it in a container it will slowly start to heat up which quickens the drying which raises the heat, and according to warnings it can spontaneously combust. Is this a danger? Not much, but just dont leave an item in an air tight container. I coat stuff, leave it in a room with a heater, have put it in the oven at 170F, put a heat gun or a blow dryer on it, heat the mix up in a double boiler, and none of these situations have made me worry about this.

However, I have felt this after applying it to one shoe that was insulated and had goretex lining. The item was not able to breathe much (and I was wearing around the shoe) so it was not able to ventilate. My foot started to feel warm and you could feel a difference in exterior temperatures between the shoe not coated and the shoe that was.

COTTON:

Canvas is usually cotton. Cotton will soak up the material and it will eventually harden and become like rawhide. If you try to make a stretchy cotton weave into rawhide, I think it would break the fibers of the cloth. A friend thinks it would work though so i will try it sometime.

Thanks for the super prompt reply!

Cee-I don't know about that. If you have small children that will be around it and touching it, I probably wouldn't use it.

I forgot to add that I think the fabric is cotton, or cotton mix.

I have a new ottoman that I would love to protect with this method (a four year old and a 3 month old in the house!). Do you think it would be okay to use on an already upholstered piece and let dry outside? How many coats would be effective...would one do it? Thanks for any help.

I would like to make a purse out of a cotton, quilting material and want to make it laminated like this.  Can I apply this to cotton or does it have to be something more durable like canvas and linen?  Also, I keep reading how flammable linseed oil is--when does that apply?

Thanks!  This is so helpful.

Carlos-Wow! Thanks for the information. You did all the lab work for all of us. Great job! I'm sure readers will be happy to find out these kinds of details.

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A little history: linseed oil used to be mixed with lead to form what they called Red Lead. They have also mixed it with iron oxide. These two mixtures are used as a primer and protecting barrier for steel. I believe there are still old bridges and structures painted red because of that. Ship keels (red) I think might still be, but I am not sure. You can also mix other metallic ores for different colors. Fishermen's oilskin or oilcloth linseed coats would eventually become yellowish because of the oil and still today, the traditional color for the plastic "oilskin" outerwear is a kinda flax-seed yellow.

-C

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I scoured the internet for information on oil cloth/tin cloth/oilskin/waxed cotton, linseed oil, etc...

Made up a batch for jackets (must be softer and more pliable than these table cloths). It dries in about a week, but if you put multiple layers before it dries, you can have minor problems. I borrowed a hair drier to help the absorption of the liquid linseed oil+ beeswax+pine tar+orange oil and was able to apply a second coat quickly afterward. If you heat it up (used a double boiler system) in boiling water for an hour (to multiple hours) it will help speed the dry time.

I chose to use RAW instead of BOILED linseed oil because I could control what additives were in it.

Boiled linseed oil, according to many is not actually boiled, but ACTS as if it was because it is mixed with chemicals or metallic ores that speed up the dry time.

Linseed oil is a slow drying oil that forms into a hard solid with exposure to air. After it dries it will no longer have an oily feel or rub off oil, but it definately does while it is drying!

The smell is hard for some people to get used to, but it smells while it is drying (or if you put too much and interior layers become exposed and start to dry).

Never wash it. Wipe or scrube with cold water. Soap, degreasers, hot rinses, etc will break down the oil or wax. It is less of a problem for thick layers of straight linseed on table cloths or floor cloth, but when mixed with beeswax and on a garment it is definitely bad to wash.

It works great for canvas hats! Will not be "drippy."  The dry linseed will give it strength, durability, and rigidness. It is safe for leather, though I am not sure about using it straight. Like I said above, I mixed it with some other stuff (primarily beeswax).

Interested in learning and sharing more about this stuff.

-Carlos from Washington

K-Isn't that weird how some people just fall in love with some material? I'll have to check it out.

(Warning: kinda off-topic but interesting): It's very interesting that you bring up linseed oil - there's a book called Ultimate Cheapstake's guide to living (or something like that). The author practically has an ode to linseed oil - apparently it waterproofs just about anyting!

I am wanting to waterproof my new canvas hat??? What about it can I do that?  Will the cloth trun out like the "outback oilskin duster, and Hat" or just be a dripy thing that will catch on fire in the closet when I least expect it.  What will it (linseed) do to leather (it has a leather band)???

regards 

I don't know what type of linseed oil to use.

raw?

refined?

boiled?

which is safe next to food?

thanks

Drying time will depend on the humidity, fabric absorbancy, amount of linseed oil applied with each coat and the air ventilation.

Oilcloth (both old fashioned and pvc, I believe) is not washable, just wipeable. You would only need to coat one side of the fabric. Remember, no one had vinyl tablecloths back then. This was what they came up with to make life easier. When my mom was a child, she used to spend her summers at Little Lake Chapman by Lake Wawasee in northern Indiana. Everyone's tables were covered in it. 

anyone know how long each coat of linseed oil takes to dry? and how many coats are recomended? thanx

Linseed oil will dry either one that is used it just takes one longer to dry than the other . It use to be used to mix with paint to make the paint last longer but it took almost forever to dry. Like up to a week you just had to hope it did not rain before it dried.

Beckie n Kansas