Wax meets Flax

Waxed jackets as living craft

Waterproof textiles today are almost exclusively made from synthetic fabrics, often coated with PFAS and PTFE: chemicals that have significant impacts on health and the environment. At the same time, the craft of traditional wax jackets is fading, despite its sustainable benefits. Wax jackets are designed to last generations if regularly maintained (“reproofed”). In collaboration with master reproofer Peter Bon van Zoelen, Anna J. Wetzel explores how waxing locally sourced and deadstock linen can be reapplied for clothing and other products using locally available and renewable materials like beeswax, linseed oil, and natural resins. While linseed oil is still used in paints, linoleum, and varnishes, its application in wax jackets (historical oilskins) has nearly vanished. Commercial examples of wax textiles made from local linen and linseed oil currently do not exist, making this development unique.

The material as inspiration

More than sixty biobased coatings were tested on linen, using local and natural ingredients such as beeswax, linseed oil, lanolin, resins, plant-based dyes and naturally occurring pigments. Each sample was carefully documented with precise measurements to ensure reproducibility. Two main methods emerged during the experiments: a cold coating (without heating, for oils and alcohol-soluble resins) and a warm coating (where wax, oil, and resin are heated to seep deep into the fabric). Linseed oil proved suitable for cold applications, providing flexibility to the linen; wax offered stiffness and an effective water-repellent layer.
Instead of targeting a specific application, the focus was on listening to the material: what does it allow, and when does it work? By viewing linen and coating ingredients not as separate elements but as interacting factors, new methods and formulations emerged from the logic of the material itself. Several coatings were selected for their technical and aesthetic qualities, resulting in prototypes such as hats and accessories made from waxed linen fabrics.

An open end

During Dutch Design Week, the material research will be presented to the public for the first time. Visitors can see and touch the various samples, experiencing firsthand the texture, scent, and properties of the bio-based coatings.
This presentation marks the beginning of a new phase: a deeper exploration of application methods and design strategies. What impact does the choice of a biobased coating have on the design process? Can this material simply replace fossil-based solutions in rain jackets or shoes, or does it require a rethinking of form and function?
Further research invites us to look again: what happens when you start from the material’s inherent properties, rather than treating the coating as an afterthought?
In this way, the presentation not only shows an interim result but also serves as an invitation to think along, feel along, and collectively imagine how designs with bio-based coatings could look.
The project was made possible with support from Groeispurt and Creative Industries Fund NL.