Waxed canvas care

The one rule

Do not wash it. Not in a machine, not in hot water, not with detergent. Washing strips the wax out of the fibres and leaves an ordinary, un-waterproof canvas that will never quite take the finish back evenly. Everything else about caring for waxed canvas follows from that.

Day to day

• Dry dirt: let it dry, then brush it off with a stiff brush.
• Wet dirt: a cloth and cold water, wiped rather than rubbed.
• Creases and rub marks: these are the cloth's record of use and mostly settle with warmth and handling. A pale crease can be softened by warming the area gently — a hair dryer on low, held well back — so the wax around it flows.
• Storage: somewhere dry and cool, not folded hard for months. Wax remembers a fold.

Re-waxing

Over years the wax wears from the corners, the handles' contact points and anywhere the cloth folds, and the canvas there goes matte and dry. It is not worn out; it is ready for more wax.

Re-waxing is a slow, warm job: a wax made for the purpose is worked into the dry areas with a cloth, the piece is warmed so the wax spreads into the weave, and the excess is wiped off before it cools. The finish comes back darker and a little uneven at first and settles with use. It is worth doing on a warm day, outdoors or somewhere the smell will not matter.

What not to worry about

A waxed bag looks used within a month and that is its intended life. Marks, creases, a rubbed corner and a darker patch where it rests against a hip are all the cloth working. The leather on the same bag has its own page: Leather patina.