Paste wax experiment (update 2/19/20

[Mesophilic]

I decided to do a little experiment with some homemade paste wax.  I don't have the ability to make this scientific so I'm just looking at tacky-ness after it's applied, and maybe set the samples out in the weather to see what happens.  Would be open to other suggestions.

I made a base from bees wax, paraffin, carnuba, and turpentine.  Roughly equal portions of the last three and a double portion of bees wax.

Sample A is just the base.
Sample  B has flax oil added
Sample C has BLO added.

I rubbed a bit from each sample in to some popsicle sticks and sat them aside for a day.  The thermostat is set at 64°.  So I'm sure these will behave a little differently when the weather warms.

Sample A feels like quality finished leather.  Hard to describe, but I dont get any waxy residue on my finger when I touch it, and has a good feel.

Sample B is tacky and I get an oily waxy residue when I touch it.

Sample C is somewhere in between.  Has a good feel, but slightly tacky and I do get a little oily waxy residue

I'm going to let these sit for a week to give the driers in the BLO a chance to do their thing and see if the flax oil will cure at all on its own.  Then I'll reevaluate the feel and move them out doors to weather.

ETA: I think I'm going to treat some leather samples with each one as well, and see how it goes.

[Hawkdancer]

Waiting for the results - interesting test!
Hawkdancer

[Mesophilic]

I rubbed some of each sample in to three half inch wide leather strips.  Let them sit for a few hours then buffed with a cloth.

Sample A looks shiny/glossy, has a lovely finished leather feel.

Samples B and C are glossy, but are tacky/sticky when I touch them.  Don't feel at all like a quality finished leather right now.

I'll let them sit for a week along with thr popsicle sticks and see how it goes, followed by putting them out in the weather.  Wish I could do something with pictures, but there's really not much difference to show photographically yet.

Honestly,  I'm at this point wondering why oil of any kind is added.  The turpentine makes sample A creamy and easy to rub in, but not at all sticky when it dries. 

[Mesophilic]

Sorry, I'd updated the wrong thread, so moved it here where it goes.

We have some fresh snow falling so I decided to go put these samplea out in the weather to see how they do.  The samples with BLO are less tacky now,  but the samples with the flax oil is still sticky feeling.

We'll see how it goes and I'll update in a few days.

[Mesophilic]

Interesting.   After a couple of hours of light snow fall, the leather strip with the wax containing  BLO is the only one still repelling water.  All three stick still look good and are beading water.

[Mesophilic]

After about a week in the weather here's what the samples look like.  I added a strip of leather with Renaissance Wax just to see how it holds up.

The leather is still supple and show white crusty wax on the surface.  The popsicle sticks look virtually unchanged.  None have the tacky feeling that they did initially.





I spritzed with water and all samples show initial beading.





After a few mins only the two leather samplea that had oils in the mix show any signs of tryjng to repel the water.  The popsicle sticks still show beading and only absorb the water where they weren't treated.