oilskin tarp

[jrbaker90]

I been wanting to make a oilskin tarp and I can't figure out how to waterproof it I know how fireproof it. I have watch video on you tube but I cant find some of the ingredients for it any ideas?

 

[Rod Lassey]

Go to a farm supply store, and get a bucket of red barn paint, the kind that is a rusty red color. Look at the ingredients, they should be linseed oil, iron ochre pigment, and some sort of drier, and little or nothing else.

Rod

 

[jrbaker90]

My problem is I cant find it I was told by a painter that is not put in paint anymore. Only farm supply store I have around is tractor supply co I will check there sometime soon. If I got some red paint and that didn't have linseed oil could i mix the linseed oil in with the paint would it work?

 

[tenngun]

You may be able to get the iron ocher base at an art supply and mix it with your own linseed oil. I have learned on the forum todays linseed oil is not the same as old. I have about a pint of 60
+ year old lso That my grand father used in the late 50s. Found it in the 60s and : I used on little project as a teen. My dad gave me a can of white lead that I made my own paint for my wooden 'westren' models I used to make :shake: Well I dont seam to have been poisined ( although I am dyslexic, near sighted in one eye, bald ,and eat grits)
Another option is the dry cement tinting color powders used for garden cement paving that are mixed in to wet cement before casting the walk way form. They make a dull brick color and it will mix with oil for paint.

 

[George]

I made a tarp using this method several years ago, and was able to get the iron oxide at a pottery shop. They use it in the glaze for pottery before baking it in the kiln. I was able to get yellow iron oxide very cheap, and it worked well.



Spence

 

[Loyalist Dave]

METHOD #2

Order four yards of natural color, linen canvas, from Fabrics-Store.com. Cut the piece into two parts and sew together, and hem the edges, then wash in very hot water and dry in the drier.

After that, simply hang up and paint with boiled linseed oil and allow to dry and cure for two weeks in the shade. Some folks cut the boiled linseed oil with turpentine 50/50, to reduce the weight of the finished product and to get better penetration of the boiled linseed oil and a more complete drying of the item. I never had a problem with penetration but straight boiled linseed oil will be heavy and may remain "tacky". No pigment needed.

LD

 

[jrbaker90]

Thank you I got to calling pottery shop and they told me that a place in Nashville has it it only like 4$ a pound. I've heard about mixing the red and yellow iron oxide what is this for does it give it more a tan color? Loyalist Dave I looked at the fabric store on the link I might just get the canvas from them but i want the tan color thanks for the link though

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well the pigment was to color bleached canvas... but the question is... would they have spent the money to for bleached canvas, then spent more money to paint the canvas?

:hmm:

The color I linked to is "natural" linen color, and when you use Boiled Linseed Oil it will darken, plus the BLO tends to go darker with age. Mark Baker in one of his early videos uses straight iron oxide aka Spanish Brown as a pigment... but I have often wondered if he should've used a more natural fabric from the git go...just my opinion....

Why don't you email them for some color swatches of different colors of the canvas, and then apply BLO to one bit, and 50/50 BLO/turpentine to another bit... and see what the end result will be??

LD

 

[jrbaker90]

I order some free samples two of them andi will treat one with straight linseed oil and ill do one with 50/50 turpentine thanks

 

[Nomadnailer]

Boiled linseed oil

 

[George]

Well the pigment was to color bleached canvas...

I believe the pigment is there for more than color. It fills the empty spaces in the weave, helps with the waterproofing.

jrbaker90, I used my tarp quite a lot, and it does a good job of keeping you dry. There are disadvantages to tarps made this way, though. They are bulky and heavy. Made of canvas, 8' x 8', mine weighs 6 1/2 pounds. Not a problem if you are just going to use it at rendezvous and only have to carry it from the parking lot, but on a trek they weigh you down. Also, anything treated with linseed oil is very flammable.

Spence

 

[druid]

I been wanting to make a oilskin tarp and I can't figure out how to waterproof it I know how fireproof it. I have watch video on you tube but I cant find some of the ingredients for it any ideas?

1 lb pure/filtered beeswax
8 oz turpentine
8 oz boiled linseed oil

melt wax in a 2lb coffee can.
pour in EXACTLY 8 oz turp and 8 oz linseed oil.

Stir well and let cool into a creamy paste.

Wipe onto canvas, leather, cotton cloth in a circular pattern and use a heat gun to force absorption into the material.

Done.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I know how fireproof it

That's a different problem. The majority of fire retardants out there are for indoor use only, especially the DIY Borax based stuff. Washing or rain will remove them. The all weather retardants are so costly... you might as well order fire retardant canvas in brown.

LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

Does any body have any testing data on the flammability of properly dried cloth treated with linseed oil (oil cloth) to the same cloth untreated.????

Yes we know that linseed oil o its own is flammable, and the oxidation drying process of linseed oil is exothermic.

But just how flammable is properly dried and polymerized linseed oil fabric in comparison to untreated?

 

[druid]

I've used my recipe [noted above] on everything from leather, to wood to canvas [sheaths, axe masks/handles, gun stocks and haversacks] which includes my 10 x 14 canvas tent.

Nothing I've ever treated with my recipe sustained additional "damage" or flammability with that treatment. Damage? yes...but nothing 'extraordinary.'

 

[Loyalist Dave]

But just how flammable is properly dried and polymerized linseed oil fabric in comparison to untreated?

That's a pretty good question!

LD

 

[Brian Heap]

Go to a website and type in oil skin tarps, it'll take you to a place where they sell these things, way expensive, scroll down and theres a site called, HOW TO MAKE LIGHT WEIGHT OIL SKIN TARPS,FROM BED SHEETS. It'll save you a lot of money, it's easy, uses boiled linseed oil and miner spirits, complete instructions on how to, I'm in the process of following the instructions now