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oil cloth
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Free Trapper
posted
hey guys got a question for any of you who might know, I am in need of recipe for making my own oil cloth,no not waterproofed canvase
anybody out their know know the recipe or it?
 
Posts: 196 | Location: kenai peninsula alaska | Registered: 09 April 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Factor
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There is no real "recipe" per se... more of a technique.

You need a good piece of cloth that is strong, for oilcloth in cooler temps can get brittle, and you are going to add weight to it. Some folks have tried to short-cut the process by using oil based exterior paint, or even rustoleum... but these have chemical drying compounds added... and the fabric gets very hard, and easily tears, while not folding well.

Some folks use cotton canvas, as it's easy to find and pretty cheap, plus it's strong. Others like to use hemp canvas, but it's a bit on the expensive side, though it's a very correct fabric. Some go with a 7 oz. - 8 oz. linen canvas, as it's lighter and a correct fabric, but there is less durability in it than say a cotton canvas of 10 oz. Most folks pre-wash the fabric in hot water and use a hot drier to get the weave as tight as possible.

Then you have coloring. Boiled linseed oil (raw linseed oil is NOT what should be used) will give an item a natural "manila folder" tint, which will gradually darken over time. Some folks add brown pigment, either oil based from the art supply store, or actually using iron oxide. Some folks pre-dye the fabric to the desired color, dry it, and then apply the Boiled Linseed Oil.

The fabric needs to have one side painted, and then be allowed to dry by hanging it in the shade, where there is good air flow, for otherwise, in direct sunlight, OR where the airflow is restricted, the fabric may spontaneously combust. Eeker After 10 days to two weeks the cloth will have "cured" and a coat of Boiled Linseed Oil may be applied to the other side...again then left hanging in an airy, shady spot, for about 10 days...perhaps longer... this is basically a month long project.

Folks use straight BLO or they cut it 50/50 with turpentine to give a thinner coat and to speed curing. This will give a lighter product, put a bit less water proofing...but not bad. It really smells when curing so definately applied and allowed to cure away from a dwelling.

LD.


It's not what you know, it's what you can prove
 
Posts: 3843 | Location: People's Republic of Maryland | Registered: 10 November 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Free Trapper
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thank you very much loyalist dave.
I did find a place on the internet that,talks about making oil cloth, and the difference between the old way versis the modern,and the modern so called oil cloth that you can buy has a plastic polymer in it.
not what I was wanting.
 
Posts: 196 | Location: kenai peninsula alaska | Registered: 09 April 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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I also did my own very much what Dave said. I tacked it up to my shop and painted one side. I however didn't go period for water proofing to make it less flammable.

BC


"Better fare hard with good men than feast it with bad."
Thomas Paine
 
Posts: 649 | Location: Oregon | Registered: 27 June 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Free Trapper
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my main interest in oilcloth is as a faver to a local lady friend, she was wanting some original style of oilcloth for her to use as a table cloth in her home she has a lot of antque furniture.
she is wanting a oilcloth made with a fancy print on it,flowers etc.
so I told her I would try and help her make one.
in the information I have found so far I found out they would use a heavy weght cotton fabric ither with the print already on oe side or would paint on the design on one side their self using an oilbased paint.
then would only paint on the printed or painted side the linseed oil.
gonna give it a try,love to try to do things the old way.
 
Posts: 196 | Location: kenai peninsula alaska | Registered: 09 April 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Factor
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Sounds interesting. Let us know how it goes,please.


Beer is proof that God loves us,and wants us to be happy-B. Franklin
 
Posts: 2014 | Location: Oreegun Territory | Registered: 24 March 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Factor
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OH you were looking to make a "Floorcloth", not a shelter.

You are right, they are simply canvas painted with oil paint. Rather than going to a lot of trouble mixing paints, you'd probably have very good success with actual acrylic artists paints, if not actual oils... though the oils would take a good long time to cure dry as they are thicker than simple Boiled Linseed Oil.

LD


It's not what you know, it's what you can prove
 
Posts: 3843 | Location: People's Republic of Maryland | Registered: 10 November 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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