Waxing canvas/cotton touring bags (How To)

make your own touring bags.  cheap, good looking, easy, waxed canvas (tin cloth) makes a good alternative to synthetic fiber (big oil) bags.  

pick up some old military bags at a local military surplus store.  all five bags, leather straps, and chord cost me less than $100.00 bucks.

stuff needed:  beeswax, turpentine (or linseed oil, linseed supposedly has less smell, but if you have ever used oil paints, you know the smell, and i cannot cope with it, so turpentine it is), cheese grater, large pot, smaller pot/coffee can, orange oil (i used some orange oil & beeswax stuff), paint brush, some kind of camp stove (do not do this inside as turpentine is combustible), heat gun (available @ harbor freight for $10.00 bucks).

first, fill your pot with water.  add water to fill up a few inches of the pot.  light the stove.

second, while the water is getting hot, grate your beeswax (with the cheese grater), the grated beeswax melts faster.  i used over half of a one pound block.  look for the beeswax online, it is cheap compared with what buying it at a hardware store (if available) will cost.  add the turpentine to the coffee can (full quart), the beeswax, and some orange oil (i found that the orange oil does not enough to change the unpleasant turpentine smell to really make it mandatory).  place the can into the large pan.  

note:  water does not have to be boiling.  the point is to gradually warm the contents of the inner can.  once heat is turned off, the wax can will be kept warm with water surrounding it.

 

let the wax melt in the coffee can, stirring it so that it mixes thoroughly with the turpentine.  

third, (wear latex gloves) start painting the beeswax onto your canvas bags.  pay special attention to your seams, and anywhere with stitching.

fourth, with your heat gun (from harbor freight), melt what you have painted on your bag.  with a crappy rag, wipe off any excess wax/oil that doesn't absorb into the material.  

if you feel you need to, you can do this process twice.  some sites that i've read suggest this, but through my tests (leaving my bags out in the rain) i've found one application is sufficient (just make sure you really get a good application of wax on the first time). 

done!  easy, cheap.  total process and materials cost me less than $150.00 bucks and just a few hours.  plus, you are repurposing something that is very well made and should see use another day.