Oilcloth, also known as enameled cloth or American cloth, is close-woven

cotton duck Cotton duck (from , meaning "cloth"), also simply duck, sometimes duck cloth or duck canvas, is a heavy, plain weave, plain woven cotton Textile, fabric. Duck canvas is more tightly woven than canvas, plain canvas. There is also linen duck, whi ...

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

cloth with a coating of boiled linseed oil to make it waterproof.

Manufacture

Boiled linseed oil was prepared by a long boiling of linseed oil with metal salts, originally lead dross. The modern oil is less toxic, but also less suitable for making oilcloth. Re-enactors may boil their own oil in the search for a correctly coloured oilcloth. Oilcloth used for weatherproofing may have used a mixture of

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

salts, the sienna and

umber Umber is a natural earth pigment consisting of iron oxide and manganese oxide; it has a brownish color that can vary among shades of yellow, red, and green. Umber is considered one of the oldest pigments known to humans, first used in the Ajant ...

pigments, to give a more humidity-resistant cure. The fabric was first stretched on a tenter frame and sized with animal

gelatine Gelatin or gelatine () is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also be referred to as hydrolysis, hydrolyzed col ...

. The oil was then applied and allowed to cure between coats. As the cure relies on oxidation by the air, thin coats and long cure times between are required. Overlaps between sheets of fresh oilcloth would amalgamate naturally when pressed together. This tendency also led to the cloth sticking together when folded. The cloth was waxed or dusted with pumice to reduce sticking when folding was required. Seams in traditional oilcloth could be coated after sewing to reduce leakage through their stitching. This was generally unsatisfactory for clothing though and so

overcoat An overcoat is a type of long coat intended to be worn as the outermost garment, which usually extends below the knee. Overcoats are most often used in winter when warmth is more important. They are sometimes confused with or referred to as #T ...

s of this era would incorporate one or more short capes over the shoulders. These capes were made in one piece and covered the inevitable shoulder seams in the main garment. These capes remain today in garments such as the

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

. In the 19th century, waxed cotton and Mackintosh developed and began to gradually replace oilcloth, especially for clothing.

Applications

Historically, pre-19th century, oilcloth was one of very few flexible, waterproof materials that were widely available. Leather was expensive—very expensive in large pieces and required regular maintenance if it got wet. Oilcloth was used as an outer waterproof layer for luggage, whether wooden trunks or flexible satchels, and for carriages and weatherproof clothing. The most familiar recent use was for brightly printed kitchen tablecloths. Dull-colored oilcloth was used for bedrolls, sou'westers, and

tent A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using g ...

s. By the late 1950s, oilcloth became a synonym for vinyl (

polyvinyl chloride Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons of ...

) bonded to either a flanneled cloth or a printed vinyl with a synthetic non-woven backing.

References

Woven fabrics {{Textile-stub

Manufacture

Applications

See also

References