A soft tool roll made from cloth is a great way to store tools. I learned a number of things while sailing aboard Challenge Accepted in the 2022 Newport-Bermuda Race. Among those things was the creative use of household wall-mounted flexible shoe racks to store various and sundry tool items. And how a roll with zippered compartments makes the best possible tool storage solution.
I’m away from the boat right now so can’t put up the shoe rack, but I did order two cloth tool rolls online and one will be used here while the other will go aboard Zanshin.
I couldn’t just leave well enough alone with the roll, though. I decided to weatherproof the canvas material, hoping to stave off rust formation aboard and make the tool roll more durable in the process. Waxing canvas has been used for centuries and the wax is generally a mix of beeswax and paraffin and sometimes contains other hardening oils such as Tung oil or linseed oil. I thought about mixing my own concoction together but after visualizing the mess in my kitchen I opted to get a bar of waterproofing wax made by Dr. Gee in Germany.
Application to the soft tool roll made from cloth is quite simple. Put the object on a flat surface and rub the bar firmly across all surfaces to get a layer of wax on top of the canvas. Then use an iron or a hair dryer to melt the wax coating into the fabric. Repeat until the desired level of waterproofing is reached.
