Oiled Linen

So, why would you want to make oiled linen?

At reenactments I usually portray the president of a local Soldiers' Aid Society. I like bringing a display to engage the spectators and help them understand some of the items that were collected and sent to the armies. I also find that I learn a lot when I research and then recreate period items.

The Annual Report, Issues 1-4, of the U.S. Christian Commission issues directions for packing supplies to be shipped. It mentions, "Stone jars of jellies should be corked and firmly bound with oiled linen or leather over the cork...."

The Kentucky Housewife, by Lettice Byran, a cookbook published in 1839 suggests that many jars of food, especially pickles, be covered with leather.

While I had already used leather as a cover for many of my jars, I wanted to add oiled linen for variety.

First, I had to make oiled linen. Researching oiled linen, I learned that it was used in window panes as a substitute for glass, as an early umbrella (with rattan sticks), in medicine (among other things, as a layer in bandaging), rain resistant capes, and roller window shades. It was itemized on tariff lists as a packaging material, which was in agreement with what I wanted to use it for. There were various recipes for oiled linen, most of them being more complicated than I wanted. The American Family Encylopedia of Useful Knowledge of 1856 explains that oiled linen is made with linseed oil, sugar of lead, finely powdered pumice stone, pipe-clay, and glue. Not something I was going to undertake at home!

Then I found this reference in The Antient Bee-Master's Farewell by John Keys, published in 1796.

The oiled linen is prepared by soaking linen in linseed oil, and then squeezing the superfluous oil out, and drying it two or three weeks. The process is then to be a second time repeated.

Boiled linseed oil alone was something I could handle at home quite easily.

For my fabric, I used a coarser natural colored linen from an old linen jacket. I rationalized that linen destined for packaging would not be high quality bleached linen, but more akin to tow linen. I cut pieces of fabric large enough to cover my bottle tops, leaving sufficient overhang to tie down properly. I then brushed each piece front and back with boiled linseed oil and hung them on my clothesline to dry. I chose to use only one coating, since I was only using my pieces for demonstration.

It did take a while for the linen to dry and it was somewhat pungent while it was drying. Hanging it outside was a good decision.

Once the pieces were dry, I tied them over my bottles with cotton kitchen string. The oil changed the consistency of the linen, making it heavier and stiffer. Untreated, the linen had a drape; treated, it no longer draped, but wanted to remain flat. It was difficult to mold the oiled linen over the bottle tops. Water does indeed bead up on it.