anyone know how to make natural oil cloth?

[moon mountain mama]

I know oil cloth used to be made quite a bit with beeswax and oil? I'm looking for a recipe. It would make a great fabric for lunch bags,baby bibs, etc...

[leighi123]

I made some, but I just used flax-seed oil, I just coated both sides of the fabric with one of those sponge brush things and then hung it on the line to dry for a while. Then I put them in the wash. I havent done anything with it yet, but Im going to make some snack bags and sandwitch wraps. I've dripped water on it to see what happens, it just rolls right off, so It seems to have worked out.

[Pumpkincat]

I have been wanting to make oilcloth myself. I am aware that what is marketed as oilcloth is actually coated with PVC, and we all know that is nasty to have by your food.

The old ways of doing this have been with linseed oil (flax oil) or with paint and linseed oil. It is used in woodworking. There is boiled, or rather double boiled linseed oil that is aparently what is supposed to be used. It is called double boiled because an agent is added to make the oil dry. Thing is, it is a chemical process and not actual boiling.

I called the company who makes the linseed oil i bought at home hardware (do not use the food grade stuff as it will not dry according to the wisdom of someone else) and they said the agent used is called cobalt dyson. I am waiting for them to send me their lab information on this. From what i can tell, it is not toxic in small amounts. It seems that is the answer of the whole chemcial industry out there: "not toxic is small amounts." What about the cumilative effect of all these "small amounts?" grrrr

I also read something about rags soaked in linseed oil are prone to spontainous combustion. I am seeking more information as I have been wanting to make lunch bags myself. I want to make sure 100% that they are not only the best eco and health choice, but that they are also very safe.

So if you ladies learn anything, please let me know as this is very important to me.

[moon mountain mama]

Leighi123. Does the oild come off of the cloth at all? Did it dry properly?
Pumpkin Cat great info!! Thank You.
I wondered about flax seed oil, I know for eating it, it goes rancid so fast so I ruled it out. However, given this info. I wonder if you could take the food grade flax seed oil and mix it with a bit of beeswax, maybe some vit. E. Which would preserve it and help it be more dry than oily.
I suppose we could experiment but it would be great to have a tried and true recipe.

[ratlover]

Funny you should use the phrase "tried and true" because there's a company that makes completely natural (as far as I can tell) wood finish by that name. They use linseed oil and beeswax. Here's a link to their environmental standards: http://www.triedandtruewoodfinish.com/standards.htm
As for spontaneously combusting, that only happens when a finish hasn't completely cured (dried). It's very rare, but if you have oily finish rags laying around bunched up, it's possible that they'd spontaneously combust while still damp. When I was a woodworker, we'd always lay or damp rags out flat to dry and then throw them away when dry.
Janine