Historical Tarp Colors

[KezarWoodsman]

Hi all,

Im slowly building a general kit themed around the canadian fur trade for around the turn of the 19th century. Stuff similar to what the voyaguers or trappers for the HBC/NWC at the time would have had. However, i do not do any full on reenacting, so it doesnt need to be 100% historically accurate, but would prefer things to be more historically accurate then not.

So, i was wondering, for this time frame and region, what colors were the canvas tents/tarps? I ask this because i intend to make a tarp out a bedsheet i have, but at the moment it is a bright bleached white, so I will be dying it to a more historically accurate color. Were all the tarps that natural cotton off white, or were some dyed in different shades of solid color?

My first attempt at using Rit Taupe dye to try to make it look more like natural cotton has somehow made the tarp take on a pinkish hue, i think thats from the home depot bucket i dyed it in, but frankly im not sure. I have tried to fix it with a coffee based soak, which helped a bit, but its still not quite gone, so its currently soaking in a tub of borax, and im going to try sunbleaching it on the next sunny day. If that doesnt work then i have a backup sheet ready to go, but need to find a new way of dying it if so.

My eventual goal is to waterproof the tarp in some manner once i determine the sizing of the tarp is good for me, for that im currently leaning towards a 50/50 BLO/mineral spirits mixture, but I dont really have anywhere to hang it to dry for weeks on end outside without my landlord getting mad, so im also looking for possible alternatives for that even if the waterproofing method isnt historically accurate.

 

[1950DAVE]

I don't know what would be PC but I have some ground black walnut hulls. You can check process with them and color with a net search. I will send you some for shipping cost.
Dave

 

[appalichian hunter]

I dyed the one I use with walnut hulls, then when dry used camp dry too water proof it, also there is a product called canvac that is very good.

 

[tenngun]

Spanish red was used. Rusted metal and oil and produces a reddish brown, formed water proofing.
Painting canvas of any color is at least known back to the Bronze Age
Horde, as in large group comes from ord, the tent we like to call yurt today. The Golden Horde for Siberian/ Mongolian peoples was the mass of yellow tents seen in their camps.
Still what color for a tent in the north country?
Plain yellowed white and smoked canvas probably the most common

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Actually while oil cloth was "known" it was not used for shelters. Plain, tightly woven linen was used for shelters, and the steep angle helped the water move along to the ground instead of soaking through the fabric. The problem with stuff as thin as bedsheeting, is that the stress of a sudden gust of wind will cause it to tear.

Oil cloth in addition to being heavy, tends to be rather stiff in cold weather, which might be the reason why it didn't catch on for tentage, or perhaps it was the cost.

Natural linen is this color

You can find 7 ounce and 5 ounce linen here:
Fabricsstore.com Linen Canvas

LD

 

[flntlokr]

I got a few good tarps from Home Depot; look for painters' drop cloths, sometimes they are light unbleached canvas. Add some rope corner grommets, Fold a seam along the outside, an you are good to go. I would advise against BLO for waterproofing. I don't know how long you would need to dry it to make it safe; I had one tarp treated with it that was well on its way to spontaneous combustion frpm being folded and placed on top of the load in my truck on the way to rendezvous. Smoking hot when I discovered it; I just opened it up, and it cooled off ok, but it never got folded up again, or stored indoors. It also stiffened up, and became suitable only for floor covering. Find a modern waterproofing; I think many of them have fire retardant in them as well.

 

[MN284]

Pound of beeswax plus a pound of paraffin shaved into one gallon of warm turpentine. Brush or spray it onto the canvas on a hot day, let it dry in the sun for several days. Superior waterproofing. Odor is slightly pleasant.

Tom

 

[George]

Oil cloth in addition to being heavy, tends to be rather stiff in cold weather, which might be the reason why it didn't catch on for tentage, or perhaps it was the cost.

Boston Gazette
18 Apr 1757
New-York, April 14. Extract of another letter from Albany,
dated April 2:
"Every man in the French army that came against Fort
William Henry, was equipped in the following manner, viz.
With two pair of Indian shoes, 2 pair of stockings, 1 pair
of spatterdashes, 1 pair of breechees, 2 jackets, 1 large
over-coat, 2 shirts, 2 caps, 1 hat, 1 pair of mittins, 1
tomakawk, 2 pocket-knives, 1 scalping knife, 1 steel and
flint, every two men an ax, and every four a kettle and oyl
cloth for a tent, with one blanket and a bearskin, and 12
days provision of pork and bread; all which they drew on
little hand-sleighs."

Spence

 

[Loyalist Dave]

WOW thanks Spence, I've been looking for an 18th century oil cloth shelter ref for many years now. !!
I wonder if the British didn't adopt oil cloth for tentage because it was "French" ??

LD

 

[tenngun]

What sort of oyl
Linseed makes it pretty stiff
Pine tar was used a lot at sea
And ships were painted in linseed. Vanishes?
We have recipes for waterproofing from the time but mixes that took some time to dry
And armies could be impatient
I seem to recall Napoleon making a complaint that tents sent to the army were leaking

 

[flntlokr]

Today at 5:11 PM

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I got a few good tarps from Home Depot; look for painters' drop cloths, sometimes they are light unbleached canvas. Add some rope corner grommets, Fold a seam along the outside, an you are good to go. I would advise against BLO for waterproofing. I don't know how long you would need to dry it to make it safe; I had one tarp treated with it that was well on its way to spontaneous combustion frpm being folded and placed on top of the load in my truck on the way to rendezvous. Smoking hot when I discovered it; I just opened it up, and it cooled off ok, but it never got folded up again, or stored indoors. It also stiffened up, and became suitable only for floor covering. Find a modern waterproofing; I think many of them have fire retardant in them as well.

 

[KezarWoodsman]

Its good to know that oilcloth was likely historically accurate (even though if the bedsheet didnt end up waterproof, id waterproof it anyways). Ive seen alot of people claiming it as such, but could never find an accurate reference. My thought is that once oiled, the bedsheet should gain some strength (it is plenty stiff, shrunk, and leak resistant already from the repeated boiling water washing and drying with a heat gun, although i did mistakenly burn a pencil tip sized hole into the fabric, but i can sew that up). I already use pillow cases coated in sno-seal as a waterproof liner for my pack basket.

Regarding the tarp, the borax didnt reduce the color much, but a 30 minute soak in rit stain remover brought it to a nice off white, which i think i will leave it at. My plan at the moment is to sew the top side of it down to make a double hem of sorts for added reinforcement at the top, then to add tieouts, check it for size/waterproofness/durability in the field, and then if i can secure a place to leave it to hang for 1-2 weeks this summer, give it a 50/50 mix in linseed oil when i oil the twin sized sheet i have as a bedroll liner that is getting waterproofed regardless of it i waterproof the king.

 

[KezarWoodsman]

Today at 5:11 PM

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I got a few good tarps from Home Depot; look for painters' drop cloths, sometimes they are light unbleached canvas. Add some rope corner grommets, Fold a seam along the outside, an you are good to go. I would advise against BLO for waterproofing. I don't know how long you would need to dry it to make it safe; I had one tarp treated with it that was well on its way to spontaneous combustion frpm being folded and placed on top of the load in my truck on the way to rendezvous. Smoking hot when I discovered it; I just opened it up, and it cooled off ok, but it never got folded up again, or stored indoors. It also stiffened up, and became suitable only for floor covering. Find a modern waterproofing; I think many of them have fire retardant in them as well.

For the drop cloth what OZ weight did you use, and how waterproof/resistant is it (if pitched at a angle)? I dont know where you are but here in Maine it can be pretty wet during a good portion of the year.

 

[KezarWoodsman]

What sort of oyl
Linseed makes it pretty stiff
Pine tar was used a lot at sea
And ships were painted in linseed. Vanishes?
We have recipes for waterproofing from the time but mixes that took some time to dry
And armies could be impatient
I seem to recall Napoleon making a complaint that tents sent to the army were leaking

What ive seen from non-reenactment based forums is that a 50/50 mix of BLO and mineral spirits doesnt stiffen it up the same as straight linseed oil (and also dries fully compared to the greasiness left behind with using only normal linseed oil). It still has the downside though of rotting the fabric over 3-4 years or so (ive seen some claiming that letting it get rained on while drying after the first day or so helps to thin the waterproofing mixture allowing it to survive even longer), but thats a non-issue for me as im only looking for a short term "fix" until i can afford to get a better alternative. Frankly i only "need" this to last 2-3 years or so with moderate usage of at most 5-10 nights per year (mostly during spring/fall, AKA the wettest times of the year up here).

 

[KezarWoodsman]

Its good to know that oilcloth was likely historically accurate (even though if the bedsheet didnt end up waterproof, id waterproof it anyways). Ive seen alot of people claiming it as such, but could never find an accurate reference. My thought is that once oiled, the bedsheet should gain some strength (it is plenty stiff, shrunk, and leak resistant already from the repeated boiling water washing and drying with a heat gun, although i did mistakenly burn a pencil tip sized hole into the fabric, but i can sew that up). I already use pillow cases coated in sno-seal and mink oil as a waterproof liner for my pack basket (i thought about doing that for the twin sized sheet, but after the pillowcase took a whole can of snowseal, and most of a can of mink oil i decided that doing a twin in that manner would be too expensive).

Regarding the tarp, the borax didnt reduce the color much, but a 30 minute soak in rit stain remover brought it to a nice off white, which i think i will leave it at. My plan at the moment is to sew the top side of it down to make a double hem of sorts for added reinforcement at the top, then to add tieouts, check it for size/waterproofness/durability in the field, and then if i can secure a place to leave it to hang for 1-2 weeks this summer, give it a 50/50 mix in linseed oil when i oil the twin sized sheet i have as a bedroll liner that is getting waterproofed regardless of it i waterproof the king.

 

[KezarWoodsman]

I dyed the one I use with walnut hulls, then when dry used camp dry too water proof it, also there is a product called canvac that is very good.

Canvac is one ive seen mentioned elsewhere that i should really look into. So far all for the modern stuff ive looked at is nikwax, which from reviews ive seen elsewhere have claimed a king-sized sheet could take 3 cans to cover, which at a total csot of 45 for waterproofing would work out to more than the 25 for enough BLO and Mineral spirits to cover both the twin and the king. Although i am looking at more fire resistant treatments for the bedroll liner (but from what ive seen on youtube oilcloth appears fireproof enough as long as you dont put it directly in the flame)

 

[Loyalist Dave]

What sort of oyl
Linseed makes it pretty stiff
Pine tar was used a lot at sea
And ships were painted in linseed. Vanishes?
We have recipes for waterproofing from the time but mixes that took some time to dry
And armies could be impatient
I seem to recall Napoleon making a complaint that tents sent to the army were leaking

Boiled Linseed Oil, and a lot of folks cut it 50/50 with neutral mineral spirits, to keep it thin, and to get a better "dry".
It must cure 1 to 2 weeks before applying the coat on the inside, and that then must cure. The inner coat goes on much faster than the first coat. It should cure in the shade, as in sunlight it can combust, if the ambient air temp is high, and humidity is low.

WARNING if you want a really durable product, you need to boil the linseed oil with something to modify the pH, as BLO sold over-the-counter normally has a low pH and thus over a few years or less, it can rot a linen or cotton cloth, and the item then is easily torn. I think you boil it with limestone chips, but can't recall. It REALLY STINKS when you do this..., so this is an outdoor project for sure

I've used oil cloth straight and cut BLO that wasn't pH fixed, i cut it with mineral spirits, used either way to water proof containers and protective covers, just not for a whole shelter.

LD

 

[Old Hawkeye]

All the HC/PC stuff mentioned for waterproofing is highly flammable. It just doesn't make any sense to take that kind of risk. BLO mixed with turpentine is like asking for a fire. Would be much safer & smarter to use a modern fire resistant waterproofer. Risking your life for HC/PC seems a little extreme to me. Nobody will know or care what waterproofer you use anyway. Just my two cents.

 

[Boatncamp]

Search YouTube for Townsends oilcloth. He does a video on this where he uses BLO and mineral spirits and iron oxide as a filler.
Caution, it is flamible

Woody

 

[KezarWoodsman]

Yeah the dry time, and possible ease of catching fire are my main reasons for looking at other possibile treatments, especially for the twin as i will either be wrapped up in it, or laying on it using it as a groundcloth. Although i have found some videos online of people using ferro rods, and holding matches up to fully cured oilcloth with no ill effect. But yeah, until it fully cures that thing will 100% be like sitting on a barrel of gunpowder (which is another reason i gave the sheets a borax soak).

Infact, i just got two cans of camp dry, im going to test that on a few pieces of scrap cloth to see what that does in regards to stiffness/waterproofness/fire resistance.

Also, sunbleaching has pretty much removed all the hints of chemical yellow from the sheet bringing it to what appears to me as about as close to an unbleached cotton look as i will be able to get it.