Linseed on linen

Prior to the introduction of plastics, fabric was rendered water-resistant by a few different means. The simplest method is to weave the material extremely tightly, packing the yarn close together to close up any spaces within the weave. Another option is to rub the finished garment with an oily substance to repel any water. Lanolin, the greasy material found on sheep’s wool, is the obvious choice here - we can use it to do the same as it does for them, protect them from the elements. A third option is to melt wax into the material. While these method are certainly useful they fall short of providing a truly impermeable finish. For that we require the assistance of a plant with remarkable properties.

Flax

The Common Flax is a tall, slender plant, the fibres of which are used to make thread. When these yarns are woven the resulting textile, seen to the right, is known as linen. The oil removed from the plant’s seeds - linseeds - have the unusual property of thickening when left in contact with the air. When freshly extracted the oil is smooth-flowing but after a period of days it becomes more viscous and over the coming weeks it continues to thicken as it polymerises, forming chemical cross-links within its internal matrix. When the process is complete what remains is a smooth film, dry to the touch, firm, flexible and completely waterproof.

Linseed on linen

Oil-painters have made use of this property, binding coloured pigments into oil and laying them on top of one another, layer by layer. In my experiments however the oil - and the pigment carried by it - is set into the fibres of the fabric itself rather than sitting on the surface. In this case the pigment is ‘vine black', a substance made by finely grinding scorched vines. The pigment acts to fill the holes within the warp and weft of the material. As the linseed oil ‘cures’ it locks the pigment safely away into the structure of the material and leaves a protective waterproof finish.

There is something satisfyingly circular in using a plant’s oil to preserve a cloth made from the fibres of the very same species.