Waxing boxes for rations and bandages is not particularly difficult, but it is something that few people attempt and more would if they had some sort of a guide.
Paintbrush (I use a 1.5″ wide brush and that works well for me)
Small metal mixing bowl (you will probably be better off designating this bowl to be used for waxing for the rest of its life so you don’t have to worry about cleaning it out each time)
Paraffin wax (Gulf Wax is readily available in most grocery stores and works well)
Knife
Wax paper
Paper towels
The Process (Click on a picture to enlarge and enter slideshow mode):
1. Set the stove to low heat and put the metal bowl on the burner. You will be melting the wax in the bowl and there are a few ways to accomplish this. If you have the patience to cut off chunks from the block of wax, that will work. Alternatively you could “whittle” the wax into the bowl, but this takes a while too. I will sometimes just put the entire block of wax in the bowl and let it melt down.
2. Put wax paper down on the counter and lay out the boxes you intend to wax. The closer you can stay to the stove the better. The wax melts at a fairly low heat thus drying time isn’t a big worry.
3. Once you have enough melted wax in the bottom of the mixing bowl, dip the paintbrush in the wax and use long, even strokes to cover the cardboard. Don’t get overly ambitious with trying to use up all the wax on the brush each time; it’s better to only get a couple brushstrokes out of each “refill.” There is a definite rhythm to the process that takes some time to find. You want to darken the cardboard but not saturate it and ideally you do not want to overlap strokes with the brush. As you can see in the picture, overlap and saturation leads to opaqueness as the wax builds up on top of previous wax. Don’t worry, we’ll get to how you can fix that. As for right now, continue waxing the boxes and expect your technique to improve as you go.
4. Wax will start to dry and build up on the brush causing irregular spreading of wax on the cardboard. I found that periodically submerging the brush in the melted wax or holding the bristles along the side of the bowl helps to keep the brush clear.
5. Once you have finished waxing the boxes you can start on perfecting the finish. Turn the stove up to medium heat and hold the cardboard as close as you can. Once the wax is hot enough, flip it over and use a paper towel to wipe off the excess wax. It might take a few tries of heating and wiping to get it right. I found it’s easier to heat only sections of the cardboard at a time and to use short wipes from the inside to the outside.
6. Now you can see a big difference between the finished box on the left and the box that needs a little work on the right.
That’s all there is to it! If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
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