De-waxing a waxed cotton jacket?

April 15, 2022 7:40 PM

How to make a jacket feel less waxy?

I bought a waxed jacket off eBay, that had been re-waxed, but it feels like it's been overdone - like if I wrung it out, I could make a few drops happen - also the flannel-like liner seems coated in it.

Is there a good method to make this less slimy inside & out? Let it cure in the sun? I know that washing or drycleaning will remove it, but I don't want to go that far, just tone it down a couple of notches.

posted by kilohertz to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (6 answers total)

I have over-waxed a few portions of a jacket before when I was learning how to do it; if you hit it with a heat gun or a hair dryer and re-melt the wax, you can wick some of it off with a paper towel or another cloth that you're willing to sacrifice. Unless it is actually flaking off, it may not wick away in the manner you are hoping for.

If actually seems like you can wring the wax out of it and it hasn't set; it may not have been properly waxed with the correct product.
posted by furnace.heart at 8:08 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also, please don’t wash it, I think that risks waxing everything else you wash and setting fires in your tumble dryer.

Can you take out the flannel liner? I don’t think that should be there while the jacket is transferring wax.
posted by clew at 8:29 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

Your key technique will be "blotting", not curing or washing.

I'd maybe wrap it in a light towel and press it. Something like a cotton muslin/flour sack type fabric.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:32 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I'd use paper towels or unpainted newspaper to stuff it and wrap it really well and maybe bake it in a low oven.
posted by theora55 at 8:06 AM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

You might try turning it inside out, buttoning/zipping it up, and putting it with a couple old towels or rags you don't care much about in the dryer on high. Enough that any wax that warms up and comes off will always hit a towel and not the edges of the dryer. You could even stuff one inside the jacket itself.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:13 PM on April 16, 2022

Response by poster: OP here. The jacket was so moist that the only thing that was going to reset it was drycleaning, and so that's what I had done. Doing that took it down to maybe 1‰ so I can re-wax it correctly now.
posted by kilohertz at 1:04 PM on April 29, 2022