Has anyone waxed their cotton garments like jackets and hats and vests to provide a more durable heavy feel and some form of water resistance to them? I wear a waxed cotton cap 90 percent of the time in everyday life and it's really comfortable and nice to me. I think I will wax a camo hat for upcoming turkey season along with possibly a jacket or shirt. Anyone tried this with any positive or negative results?
I have re waxed my Filson and Barbour jackets before along with a McAllister hat, nothing to it. The only down side I can see is that it would make garments less breathable and would cause you to sweat more in hot weather. I prefer the "Barbour Wax Thornproof Dressing" over the Filson Oil Finish Wax. Plenty of videos on Youtube with how tos. A hair blow dyer makes it easy to smooth the wax out and get it into seams.
I have several Filson and Barbour waxed jackets and hats I hunt it and prefer them over "rain gear". They work great but are hot.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I used to wear a Barbour jacket when we were racing dirt bikes and after one hot and tough race when I loosened the sleeves about a 1/2 a cup of sweat ran out each sleeve! That was 50 plus years and several pounds ago.
No can't say that I've ever waxed my gear or cotton clothing. But I do the usual yearly spring spraying of Sawyers Permethrin tick spray on my clothing. If it's light rain / i usually will use rain wear or just wait for the rain to subside. Sometimes that day is what it is a washout ...
I have never done this nor thought of it. I could see it being useful with pants for walking through wet knee high grass/CRP/hayfield.
I have also re-waxed garments. Works well for moisture but as stated before, it does not breathe well.
Yep, I rewax my Filson work jacket every other year or so. My hunting jacket and tin cloth pants every 3-4 years as needed.
Another question ? What are y'all using to wax your clothing?
Never heard of it to be honest.
I lost my Filson packer hat last year. I been using the the Filson oil wax to put on a regular cotton hat I have. Seems to be working pretty good. Rub the wax on and let it sit in sun for a awhile or hit it with a hair dryer to get the wax to melt into the cloth. 1
Quote from: Greg Massey on February 19, 2024, 11:17:34 AM
Another question ? What are y'all using to wax your clothing?
The Filson wax. I tried to attach a picture but the file is larger than allowed and I'm not smart enough to resize it on the iPad since the latest software update.
Just put the can of wax in the sun to soften up first. Then use a hair dryer to help work the wax into the cloth & seams
Snowseal wax is much cheaper and made with bee's wax. No animal oils.
Heat the fabric with a dryer or heat gun and rub the wax on. Wax is good for sturdy hats, heavy coats and brush pants....it will add stiffness and weight to your garments.
None of my turkey hunting gear falls into that category so I would never wax any of it
I have a cotton jacket I'd like to wax to provide some water resistance. I also have a cotton hunting hat I'd like to wax to match the waxed cotton hat I wear day to day. The main item I'd like to wax is the hat to make it more like my daily hat. Trying otter wax out, should be delivered today. Will update
I wonder if waxing could interfere with the spraying of your clothing for ticks etc
Quote from: Greg Massey on February 20, 2024, 09:20:25 AM
I wonder if waxing could interfere with the spraying of your clothing for ticks etc
I think if you're just using a daily spray like OFF or something it shouldn't be a problem.
A heavy duty permethrin spray might not soak in like it should. I think you might also have a problem if you sent it in to Insect Shield for their treatment.
Edit: On the Insect Shield FAQ page it says they can't treat waterproof or hand wash items
https://www.insectshield.com/pages/insect-shield-your-clothes
I wear Filson waxed pants for duck hunting and quail hunting. They are warm. Light long johns and pants are good mid 40s down to the low 20s. Take off the long johns and comfortable to the upper 50s. Any warmer and I do not like them. I need to re wax mine this year, but they have been around the block and then some.
So basically this is the same as putting Mink Oil on your boots?
Pretty much
Quote from: Sir-diealot on February 20, 2024, 12:46:07 PM
So basically this is the same as putting Mink Oil on your boots?
Kind of. Mink oil needs frequent treatments where the oil wax only needs a little touch up every now and again if at all depending on use.
When I worked on Kodiak I wore my filson stuff fly fishing, and that was treated with filson wax. In a light rain it's fine, anything other than that... wear actual rain gear. You will be way happier and be dry.
My filson wax hats are treated with it as well. They get hot!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Not only is it not rain gear, but like any treated cotton, if you kneel or put pressure on the material when wet, it will wick through (but not as bad). Works pretty well in snow too.
I only have an oil cloth hat right now.
I used the Filson chaps quite a bit when I had a Brittany. I beat the snot outta them things. Great for briar patches and anything else that wants to poke you. I little stiff and a touch heavy. Kept the snow off and legs dry as g8rvet previously stated.
I wear the waterfowl hat while hunting duck and for general purpose frigid weather. It does a good job of keeping my head warm and dry.
Quote from: Sir-diealot on February 20, 2024, 12:46:07 PM
So basically this is the same as putting Mink Oil on your boots?
But there are various types of oil cloth clothing. Filson has a lighter weight line they call Otter cloth and it is very much like Barbour or Macalister ( think high end "gentleman's" stuff like you'd find at Orvis, Kevin's or Dunns).
The Filson Tin cloth line wears like iron. My hunting jacket is probably 35+ years old and still tough as nails. I've got a work jacket and pants that are at least 10+ years old and it gets worn digging ditches and drilling wells and while ugly they still do their job. They aren't lightweight, don't breath very well and as mentioned aren't totally waterproof.
This type of stuff is not quite like taking a pair of Carhart's and coating it with wax.
Quote from: Paulmyr on February 20, 2024, 01:09:23 PM
Quote from: Sir-diealot on February 20, 2024, 12:46:07 PM
So basically this is the same as putting Mink Oil on your boots?
Kind of. Mink oil needs frequent treatments where the oil wax only needs a little touch up every now and again if at all depending on use.
Quote from: 10th Legionaire on February 20, 2024, 07:42:26 PM
Quote from: Sir-diealot on February 20, 2024, 12:46:07 PM
So basically this is the same as putting Mink Oil on your boots?
But there are various types of oil cloth clothing. Filson has a lighter weight line they call Otter cloth and it is very much like Barbour or Macalister ( think high end "gentleman's" stuff like you'd find at Orvis, Kevin's or Dunns).
The Filson Tin cloth line wears like iron. My hunting jacket is probably 35+ years old and still tough as nails. I've got a work jacket and pants that are at least 10+ years old and it gets worn digging ditches and drilling wells and while ugly they still do their job. They aren't lightweight, don't breath very well and as mentioned aren't totally waterproof.
This type of stuff is not quite like taking a pair of Carhart's and coating it with wax.
Thank you both.
A waxed jacket is great for fall/winter hunting but for my purposes the waxed clothing is too warm for the run and gun style of hunting I usually do in spring turkey season.