Rewaxing the Sackville line of bags

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

I want to reapply wax to my Rivendell bags. Esp my BagBoy, which is 5 years old and probably needs it the most. Has anyone here done it? What product and what method did you use?

Thanks!

Leah

[Nick Payne]

Nikwax sell a couple of products: "Cotton Proof" and "Wax Cotton Proof". I've used the Cotton Proof on cotton japara tents and Carradice saddlebags - diluted it about 1:9 and brushed it on. Seems to work OK. I assumed that the Wax Cotton Proof was the same product pre-diluted in a hand spray bottle, but I haven't used that.

Nick Payne

[exliontamer]

I've used Otter Wax and a heat gun on everything from canvas backpacks to Sackville bags with great results. 

[Minh]

to tack on to this question, does anyone have tips on cleaning the bag before reapplying the wax?  i have a pretty dirty bag that needs a bit of deep cleaning.

[rlti...@gmail.com]

I’ve used the Carradice wax. I figure they would have a decent product for the job. I applied using their directions. Heat the tin in warm water. Rub on the softened wax with a rag and then finish with a hair dryer/heat gun to get it to soak in better.

https://carradice.co.uk/products/reproofing-wax?srsltid=AfmBOorD3JZiExtETBxwV8dCAuKMxIFxKzQGl6ST6tNoGmhHy0ytx6Pe

Filson carries waxes for their jackets and I bet that would work as well.

Robert Tilley

San Diego, CA

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 1, 2025, at 5:05 PM, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! <jonasa...@gmail.com> wrote:

I want to reapply wax to my Rivendell bags. Esp my BagBoy, which is 5 years old and probably needs it the most. Has anyone here done it? What product and what method did you use?

Thanks!

Leah

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[Ben Miller]

Oh, this is one of my favorite subjects! I have waxed many a fabric in my day! 

The best and least effort way to wax fabric involves dissolving the wax in kerosene and then dipping the fabric into it.... But this is advanced and I wouldn't recommend it for completed garments/items! 

The more common way to re-waxed something is as follows. It is a bit time consuming and can lead to some on un-evenness if you glob on too much wax in any one place. So going slowly will result in a better final product.

1. Clean the garment/item is a brush. I reckon a soft-bristle brush the best, if you have a horse-hair brush made for show polishing, that is the best choice. A thorough brushing of any areas you intend to apply wax is best.
2. Grab a good ol' bar of beeswax. Just straight beeswax, nothing fancy. I reckon you could use a beewax candle (if you are sure it's beewaxs and not petrol-based) But it's likely to break and what not, so bars are the best. I think Riv used to sell beeswax bars back when they had the Bike-Book-Camp store in downtoon Dub Cee, maybe longer? I think Grant used to use it to finish axe handles, amongst other things.
3. Now you's got rub that beeswax into the fabric, like a crayon! Engage your inner toddler. Again, take your time, do not go hog-wild and over apply or you might and up with patchey results (ask me how I know??) Thin, even coats of wax work best here.
4. Now you got to heat the wax! You got a couple of options: I find irons work best. I actually have a dedicated waxing iron (Did I mention that I'm into this???) But definitely do not use your good iron that you use on your Sunday best, that'll ruin it. But if you have an old iron that you want to dedicate to re-waxing, this is your chance! Alternative, or in conjunction, as mentioned previous you can use a heat gun or blow dryer. I say "in conjunction" because you might find cervices/seams that build up or otherwise trap waxed that the iron can not properly melt and require some forced hot-air. With either option of iron, blow-dryer, heat gun: start with low heat and go slow. Turn up heat incrementally. It should take time: you aren't trying to melt the wax instantly. Too much heat can warp fabric, damage leather, and potentially burn the fabric. 
5. At this point I like to give the item a good brushing again. Maybe it's not necessary? But it's how I learned. And to me, waxing fabric is like polishing a shoe and that's what you do after applying wax to a shoe, so I do it. But maybe its optional?
6. Repeat step 3-5 as necessary to achieve the desired finish. 
7. Once you got your got your Sackville bag/Filson Tin Cloth coat/LL Bean Waxed canvas backpack looking like new again, take a photo and post it up on the RBW Owner bunch for all of us to enjoy!

Ben

[Leah Peterson]

Wow! How did you get so into this? I’m kind of dreading it because I know it will be a big job. Going to be a winter project, I think. Right now I’m trying to hit 4,000 miles before the snow falls and I’ve got 410 to go. But this seems doable to me and I’m game to try. I’ll go see if I can find the brush and wax somewhere online. Do you have specific recommendations? 

I am planning on using the blow dryer as I don’t want to wreck an iron.

Thanks for typing all that out! Really helpful!

On Oct 2, 2025, at 12:30 AM, Ben Miller <ben.l....@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh, this is one of my favorite subjects! I have waxed many a fabric in my day! 

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[Leah Peterson]

Well, this option looks good, too. I wonder what ingredients are in that wax…

On Oct 2, 2025, at 12:00 AM, rlti...@gmail.com wrote:



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[ascpgh]

I've kept my waxed cotton Carradice Nelson Longflap going since 2002, in daily commuting use since 2006, with periodic cleaning and rewaxing. I am glad it is black, so discolorations didn't drive me to stain removal efforts.

 I've used the Carradice wax and Martexin, which is pretty thoughtfully created without hazardous VOCs, and requires lower heat to seat your application. Patagonia has an alternative one from Halley Stevenson that's on sale now. I've found that if you need high heat to finish the application, the finish is more brittle and likely to crumble off, starting at flex points. If it takes less heat to seat after application, the finish is more likely to evaporate over a shorter time, especially on the top where exposed to sunlight. Life is too short to document and optimize the cost/benefit of the variety of things like this, so I've stuck with Martexin since it's MUSA and just clean and recoat on the interval it presents me in my use. 

Deep cleaning waxed cotton items is a challenge since the wax holds dirt with both weak forces and chemical bonding. The previous can be removed with a brush or microfiber cloth; dry first, then wet with water. 

The dirt that's stuck more firmly will need a surfactant or detergent that may also remove some of the wax product itself. A recoating is more necessary after that sort of cleaning. Getting dark spots or stains out of light colors might not be possible and may be too damaging to the underlying cotton. 

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[ian m]

On Thursday, October 2, 2025 at 7:28:31 AM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote:

Well, this option looks good, too. I wonder what ingredients are in that wax…

On Oct 2, 2025, at 12:00 AM:



I’ve used the Carradice wax. I figure they would have a decent product for the job. I applied using their directions. Heat the tin in warm water. Rub on the softened wax with a rag and then finish with a hair dryer/heat gun to get it to soak in better.

https://carradice.co.uk/products/reproofing-wax?srsltid=AfmBOorD3JZiExtETBxwV8dCAuKMxIFxKzQGl6ST6tNoGmhHy0ytx6Pe

Filson carries waxes for their jackets and I bet that would work as well.

Robert Tilley

San Diego, CA

Sent from my iPhone

+1 for this method over rubbing on hard wax and melting it, which takes way too much time and effort. If you're looking for something not petroleum based go for Otter Wax dressing in the tin: https://www.otterwax.com/products/fabric-dressing

[Will Mill]

I just wanted to say thank you for this very helpful thread.  I rode the NYC Half-Century in a monsoon in Sept. 2023, and while I was one of the few participants with a smile due to his fenders, by the end, my 2013 Sackville small trunksack on a rando rack was holding at least an inch of standing water inside.  It was a swimming pool!  I'd been wondering what solutions are out there (aside from the obvious "bag yer stuff inside"). Otter Wax fabric dressing to the rescue.  --Will M in NY   

[Leah Peterson]

I’m doing it!!!! This worthless, rainy day has been good for cleaning and conditioning of allllll my leather boots. And now I’ll try my hand at re-waxing this poor, abused BagBoy.

On Oct 8, 2025, at 10:52 AM, Will Mill <wpm...@gmail.com> wrote:

I just wanted to say thank you for this very helpful thread.  I rode the NYC Half-Century in a monsoon in Sept. 2023, and while I was one of the few participants with a smile due to his fenders, by the end, my 2013 Sackville small trunksack on a rando rack was holding at least an inch of standing water inside.  It was a swimming pool!  I'd been wondering what solutions are out there (aside from the obvious "bag yer stuff inside"). Otter Wax fabric dressing to the rescue.  --Will M in NY   

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[Leah Peterson]

Ok, I did it. And it was messy and not all that enjoyable. I have more things I could wax but after that pair of Backabikes and BagBoy, I’m gonna be done for now.  The gray bag feels wet with wax. I don’t know if that’s a good thing. It just really soaked in and sat on top of it. The blue bags were dry - not sure if they were ever waxed or just only lightly. The blue bags look messy now and are definitely darker.

Forgot to take true “befores” of the blue bags…

Gray bag:

After:

These books all have the wax better massaged into the cloth but I’m bored with this project and have moved on to books and puzzles and making a chicken and wild rice chowder. It has been raining for THREE DAYS and I’m in a mood.

L

On Oct 22, 2025, at 3:52 PM, Leah Peterson <jonasa...@gmail.com> wrote:



I’m doing it!!!! This worthless, rainy day has been good for cleaning and conditioning of allllll my leather boots. And now I’ll try my hand at re-waxing this poor, abused BagBoy.

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[Ginz]

You may have already done it but try using a hair drywr to melt and evn out the wax  

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

Ginz, I did and this was the AFTER. I would never dare show you the before! I’m sure the gray bag will collect dirt more easily since it is so saturated with the wax. But my stuff will stay dry! I don’t make it a habit of riding in rain but bike touring makes it unavoidable. We got caught in showers both on the rides and overnight as we slept in our tents. There is no shelter for the bikes and I just prayed my bags would hold and they did!

[Ben Miller]

Leah, 

I think they look great! With a bit of use it'll work in and develop nicely. Sorry about all the rain! Chicken n rice stew sounds like the perfect thing for that weather 😁