Silicon or Wax best to keep the rain out ?

[J Stone]

Have an old wax jacket (not a Barbour but a similar type copy from Aldi
bought many years ago).

Its done a good job for years, but needs re-proofing a bit on the shoulders
and arms.

I have some silicon funiture polish in a spray can and some Waitrose Wax
furniture polish in a tin.

Wondering if either of them could usefully be called into service as opposed
to lashing out on a purpose made tin of wax or silicon spray. Which i'm
guessing might not really be that different from the two items i have
already? Grateful for advice, thanks.

[Nightjar]

You stand the Barbour wax tin in hot water and work the wax into the
cloth with a sponge. It is finished off with a hair dryer. You might get
a similar effect doing the same with a tin of good wax furniture polish,
but Barbour Thornproof dressing only costs £10 a tin and isn't scented,
as many furniture polishes are.

Colin BIgnell

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

On Wed, 2 Oct 2013 21:20:52 +0100, "J Stone" <258...@mail.invalid>
wrote:

Diy silicon re-proofing, or proofing from scratch, involves dissolving
silicone mastic in white spirit and painting it on.
Ultra-cheap if you have a tent to do.

[stuart noble]

Anything in a tin is almost certainly paraffin wax, so a candle would
cost even less. You might need to add a little white spirit

[Nick Maclaren]

In article <tfa3u.11120$je2....@fx14.am4>,

stuart noble <stuart...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>On 03/10/2013 09:02, Nightjar wrote:
>> On 02/10/2013 21:20, J Stone wrote:
>>> Have an old wax jacket (not a Barbour but a similar type copy from Aldi
>>> bought many years ago).
>>>
>>> Its done a good job for years, but needs re-proofing a bit on the
>>> shoulders
>>> and arms.
>>>
>>> I have some silicon funiture polish in a spray can and some Waitrose Wax
>>> furniture polish in a tin.
>>>
>>> Wondering if either of them could usefully be called into service as
>>> opposed
>>> to lashing out on a purpose made tin of wax or silicon spray. Which i'm
>>> guessing might not really be that different from the two items i have
>>> already? Grateful for advice, thanks.
>>
>> You stand the Barbour wax tin in hot water and work the wax into the
>> cloth with a sponge. It is finished off with a hair dryer. You might get
>> a similar effect doing the same with a tin of good wax furniture polish,
>> but Barbour Thornproof dressing only costs £10 a tin and isn't scented,
>> as many furniture polishes are.

And using your surplus earwax would cost nothing. Paraffin wax gets
brittle at even cool temperatures, so is unsuitable, and most
furniture waxes are relatively hard waxes softened by some agent
such as white spirit. They are also likely to get brittle as that
evaporates.

Any tent or similar reproofer should work but, as always, watch out
with white spirit and anything that might be made of many plastics
(which includes any materials based on polyethylene or polypropylene).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

[Artic]

J Stone scribbled...

http://www.barbour.com/anatomy/wax

might be cheaper

http://www.grangers.co.uk/product.cfm?cat=12&productid=10

If you're lazy

http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/productdetail.php?productid=71

[GB]

On 03/10/2013 10:16, Nick Maclaren wrote:

> And using your surplus earwax would cost nothing. Paraffin wax gets
> brittle at even cool temperatures, so is unsuitable, and most
> furniture waxes are relatively hard waxes softened by some agent
> such as white spirit. They are also likely to get brittle as that
> evaporates.

But earwax has no such solvents in, so does that mean it's perfect for
the job?

[Nightjar]

Candles contain a hardening agent, such as stearin. You can buy
unblended wax for candle making, but, for the small price difference, I
would still be inclined to buy the proper cloth dressing wax.

Colin Bignell

[stuart noble]

On 03/10/2013 10:16, Nick Maclaren wrote:

Actually, most furniture waxes are at least 75% paraffin, with varying
amounts of beeswax and carnauba, the latter being exceptionally brittle
and virtually insoluble in anything at room temperature.
The only natural wax which is more flexible than paraffin is
microcrystalline, but this is too cloudy for a polish. Might well be
used for tents etc though.

[polygonum]

On 03/10/2013 14:52, GB wrote:
> On 03/10/2013 10:16, Nick Maclaren wrote:
>
>> And using your surplus earwax would cost nothing. Paraffin wax gets
>> brittle at even cool temperatures, so is unsuitable, and most
>> furniture waxes are relatively hard waxes softened by some agent
>> such as white spirit. They are also likely to get brittle as that
>> evaporates.
>
> But earwax has no such solvents in, so does that mean it's perfect for
> the job?

Soft or hard? Yellow or grey?

--
Rod

[polygonum]

On 02/10/2013 21:20, J Stone wrote:

On the subject of economic use of wax, I was somewhat pissed off to see
a single tin of ordinary shoe polish at two quid in Tesco. OK - don't
actually need to buy it that often, but it seemed a lot. So I bought one
from an ebay seller at £1.39 including postage. Arrived in two or three
days and is fine.

(I know - surely wasted more than 61p worth of time and juice ordering
it, etc.)

--
Rod

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo <tfa3u.11120$je2....@fx14.am4>, stuart noble
<stuart...@ntlworld.com> escribió:

>Anything in a tin is almost certainly paraffin wax, so a candle would
>cost even less. You might need to add a little white spirit

I'd been thinking about rubbing a white candle lightly over the soft top
on my car to waterproof it, anyone see any drawback in doing this?

--
(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

[stuart noble]

It isn't transparent, so it may give a cloudy appearance. A hair dryer
would help it penetrate

[Nick Maclaren]

In article <rFv3u.46207$ku4....@fx25.am4>,

stuart noble <stuart...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>On 04/10/2013 07:15, Mike Tomlinson wrote:
>> En el artículo <tfa3u.11120$je2....@fx14.am4>, stuart noble
>>

>>> Anything in a tin is almost certainly paraffin wax, so a candle would
>>> cost even less. You might need to add a little white spirit
>>
>> I'd been thinking about rubbing a white candle lightly over the soft top
>> on my car to waterproof it, anyone see any drawback in doing this?
>
>It isn't transparent, so it may give a cloudy appearance. A hair dryer
>would help it penetrate

Not greatly. It doesn't melt properly until rather above the
temperature of well-regulated hair-dryers, and doesn't flow well
into most synthetic fabrics. Also, its brittleness at low
temperatures will cause it to flake off; you can remove candlewax
from clothing by freezing and flexing (and you don't need more than
-5 Celsius).



Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

[stuart noble]

Interesting. I wonder if they are synthetic fibres. Finding something to
cope with the extremes of temperature on a car roof might be a challenge.

[Nick Maclaren]

In article <L3y3u.36798$zv7....@fx04.am4>,

stuart noble <stuart...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I'd been thinking about rubbing a white candle lightly over the soft top
>>>> on my car to waterproof it, anyone see any drawback in doing this?
>>>
>>> It isn't transparent, so it may give a cloudy appearance. A hair dryer
>>> would help it penetrate
>>
>> Not greatly. It doesn't melt properly until rather above the
>> temperature of well-regulated hair-dryers, and doesn't flow well
>> into most synthetic fabrics. Also, its brittleness at low
>> temperatures will cause it to flake off; you can remove candlewax
>> from clothing by freezing and flexing (and you don't need more than
>> -5 Celsius).
>

>Interesting. I wonder if they are synthetic fibres. Finding something to
>cope with the extremes of temperature on a car roof might be a challenge.

Almost certainly, unless the car is very old. No, it's not a problem
in the UK, because both nylon and polyester can handle boiling point,
and we don't get enough sun for even a black roof to exceed that.

Unless you park in the wrong place in London :-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23930675


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

[Bill Grey]

"Nick Maclaren" <n...@needham.csi.cam.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:l2jckq$j0d$1...@needham.csi.cam.ac.uk...

As the efficiency of tent waterproofers, they probably work well, but
beware, I tried to waterproof a hat using a well known spray after which the
hat stank to high heaven :-(

Bill

[meow...@care2.com]

On Thursday, October 3, 2013 7:53:15 PM UTC+1, polygonum wrote:


> On the subject of economic use of wax, I was somewhat pissed off to see
> a single tin of ordinary shoe polish at two quid in Tesco. OK - don't
> actually need to buy it that often, but it seemed a lot. So I bought one
> from an ebay seller at £1.39 including postage. Arrived in two or three
> days and is fine.
> (I know - surely wasted more than 61p worth of time and juice ordering
> it, etc.)

I opened a tin today to find it gone hard. Is paraffin suitable to soften it?


NT

[Mike Tomlinson]

In article <e12c7a88-6605-4782...@googlegroups.com>,
meow...@care2.com writes

>I opened a tin today to find it gone hard. Is paraffin suitable to soften it?

Put the tin on the hob on a low heat, heat gently until the polish
melts. Let it cool, and it'll have recovered its softness.

[stuart noble]

or will have caught fire, or will have set harder than ever as more
solvent will have evaporated

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo <F0h5u.179$5Z1...@fx05.am4>, stuart noble
<stuart...@ntlworld.com> escribió:

>or will have caught fire, or will have set harder than ever as more
>solvent will have evaporated

For you maybe. Works for me.

If you can't warm up a tin of polish without setting it on fire, maybe
you're posting in the wrong group.

[stuart noble]

Easier and safer to put the tin in hot water, especially as polish tins
typically have wax smeared round the rim which tends to run down the
outside when heated.

[stuart noble]

On 09/10/2013 22:07, Huge wrote:

> On 2013-10-09, stuart noble <stuart...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>> On 09/10/2013 15:40, Mike Tomlinson wrote:
>>> In article <e12c7a88-6605-4782...@googlegroups.com>,
>>> meow...@care2.com writes
>>>
>>>> I opened a tin today to find it gone hard. Is paraffin suitable to soften it?
>>>
>>> Put the tin on the hob on a low heat, heat gently until the polish
>>> melts. Let it cool, and it'll have recovered its softness.
>>>
>>
>> or will have caught fire,
>

> BTDT.
>

Me too, and no naked flame either. Hotplate, wire wool, static
spark.....whoosh