The vintage canvas jacket that my mother gave me was the first item of clothing that really cemented for me how important it was to dress well for what you’re doing (I had just started riding a motorcycle, and would routinely return home drenched and chilled to the bone from a sudden spring rain).
For a couple of years and over 10,000 miles of riding, that canvas jacket was my surest protection against wind and weather—and I wore it everywhere I went. So when it started losing its color and protective qualities, I knew what I had to do.
Once I learned to re wax that canvas and give it a fresh coat of wind- and waterproofing, I also learned the importance of caring properly for the materials your clothes are made of. And today, I’m hoping to share a little bit of that knowledge with you in our GearMoose guide on how to re-wax your canvas jacket.
First Things First: What You’re Working With
In anything you do, any project you decide to take on, learning about the materials you’re working with should be your first step. Once you know the properties and principles behind any project, you’ll be well prepared to put that wisdom to use in other situations in life, too.
So what is canvas, really? It’s a heavy duty cotton cloth that was originally used to make sails for boats.
Cotton is a woven fiber material, and that weave allows air and moisture to pass through the cloth—perfect for breathable cotton t-shirts, but far from optimal if you’re looking for waterproof protection.
Applying wax to that same heavy duty canvas makes it water resistant by covering the “pores” in the cotton’s weave.
So what is wax? It’s a malleable solid with the important quality of being able to dissolve in fats, but not in water. Because it can dissolve in fats, we can use those carrier oils to distribute wax in our jackets; because it can’t dissolve in water, we benefit from wax’s water-resisting properties.
There are many types of waxes, but only a small handful that are appropriate to use for re-waxing your canvas jacket. We’ll cover that in a moment.
Alright, now you know everything that you’ll need not just to understand how to re-wax your canvas jacket, but why it works that way—and how you can troubleshoot based on first principles if anything doesn’t go to plan.
Get Ready: What You’ll Need
Before you get started, you’ll need just two main things: Your canvas jacket, and a compatible wax. Depending on how you’d like to apply your wax, you may also want a paint brush and/or nitrile gloves.
Paraffin wax is the most common wax used for re-waxing canvas, owing to its easy availability and affordability. I’ve had success with two brands:
- Otter Wax, especially their fabric wax bar. They also have a heat-activated fabric dressing that takes a bit more work and preparation but delivers very smooth, shiny results.
- Fjallraven’s Greenland Wax, made from beeswax and paraffin wax.
And to get a professional finish, you’ll need a heat source as well. A blowdryer will work (but take a while), but if you have a heat gun that’ll speed the process up nicely.
Step 1: Give Your Jacket A Rinse
Before you can apply a fresh coat of wax to your beloved canvas jacket, you’ll need to make sure it’s basically clean. Any dirt or grime that’s worked its way into the coat will prevent the wax from taking hold, leaving you with an uneven finish and incomplete waterproofing.
The easiest way I’ve found to do this is to simply hose off your jacket from top to bottom or give it a dip in the bathtub. That’ll get enough of the surface dirt off to make for a clean, smooth surface to apply wax to. Use cold water, and don’t even think about throwing your jacket in the washing machine instead.
After that, let your jacket fully air dry before moving on to the next step.
Step 2: Heat Up Your Wax
Remember how wax is soluble in oils and fats? That means that each wax has a temperature that it will be solid at, and that it can melt to a liquid state. And that’s exactly what we want: To use the carrier oil to carry the wax deep into the weave of the canvas jacket.
This next step differs based on whether you’re using a fabric wax bar, or a fabric dressing that you need to heat before applying.
A fabric wax bar is the easier of the two options. Your body heat will be enough to help it start to liquify for smooth application, and if you find parts that are solidifying again while you work all you need to do is press on them with your fingers to reheat them.
Fabric dressing usually comes in little pint jars, like paint cans but holding solid wax. You’ll need to half-submerse them in a pot of warm water, and let them warm enough to liquify before proceeding.
Step 3: Apply Your Wax
With a fabric wax bar, this step is as simple as rubbing the bar over your jacket in long strokes. You’ll be able to see where the wax is starting to soak in—it will change the color of your jacket.
Working in one section of your jacket at a time, press the bar into the surface of your coat just hard enough to leave some wax behind. Then look for spots where the wax appears to be solid, and work it into the jacket with your fingers (the added body heat will melt the wax). Work through this methodically, and pay special attention to covering the seams around any pockets.
With heat-activated fabric dressing, you’ll need a thick paint brush or spare kitchen towel to apply the wax. Dip your brush or the end of a clean towel into the dressing, and then paint it onto your jacket in even brush strokes. This method takes a fair bit longer, but can lead to even deeper saturation, top notch waterproofing, and a beautiful natural sheen.
Step 4: Apply Heat
To finalize the application of wax to your canvas jacket, you’ll want to apply heat. That’ll ensure that any last bits of solid wax have the opportunity to soak fully into the jacket, leaving it fully waterproofed.
A blowdryer on a higher setting will do the trick here, but it can take a while in comparison to the directed warmth of a heat gun. Work through a section at a time, and notice the change in texture and color; that’s your indication that the wax is working its way fully into the fibers of the cotton canvas.
On a personal note, I’ve also waxed a canvas jacket while staying out in the woods on an extended camping trip—and had no problem with waiting for a sunny day and laying my freshly-waxed jacket out in the sun to warm it. So even if you don’t have a blow dryer or heat gun handy, you can still get good results by using the natural heat of the sun.
Step 5: Hang Your Jacket Overnight
Now you need to let your jacket cool down, so the wax is fully impregnated into the cotton fibers. Hang it up overnight, and let it fully dry. Simple as that.
Step 6: Clean Off Any Excess Oil
In the morning, you may notice that your jacket has some oil on its surface. That’s only natural, since the applied wax was administered in a carrier oil. Simply wipe that off with a cloth—and maybe don’t wear your nicest shirts for a day or two, just to be sure all the excess oil has escaped.
Follow those directions to a T, and your favorite canvas jacket will have a new lease on life. And if you have any trouble with it, consider heading to your local outdoor goods store and asking for advice—many of the folks that work in those kind of stores have just as much fondness for a good waxed canvas jacket as we do.
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