Cob: Cob failure problems

[Shannon C. Dealy]

On Wed, 21 Aug 2002, John Fordice wrote:

[snip]
> A conversation with a paint chemist said that adding bees wax after the
> linseed oil will prevent the surface from being able to absorb any
> subsequent applications of linseed oil sealant.  This is assumedly
> important because, linseed oil being organic will deteriorate ( from
> oxidization if I recall correctly ) % will need periodic renewal.
[snip]

I can't speak to the chemistry, but for retreating/sealing an older cob
floor, we used a mixture of heated, thinned linseed oil with bees wax
melted into it (be careful heating, and use a double boiler, this is
highly flamable), it seemed to work well.  My guess is that the only areas
that will have problems absorbing such a mixture would be ones that still
have a good bees wax seal and therefore probably won't need the additional
coating, though probably if the mixture is hot enough, it will melt any
residual bees wax on the surface allowing the new mixture to penetrate
somewhat.

FWIW.

Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
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