7 reasons waxed canvas makes great bags.

A Wildish Guide to Waxed Canvas

Making our bags from waxed canvas wasn’t an accident. Waxed cotton canvas is what makes our bags durable, water-resistant and almost entirely plastic-free. It’s super versatile too - it works for bags like the heavy-duty Jorvik 30L Backpack, to flexible totes like our Beck Bucket Bag and small pouches like our Zero Waste Wallets.

We spent months testing materials before settling on a dry-waxed canvas from British Millerain. It’s an incredible fabric with an awesome story that you can read about here.

Here are 7 reasons why this waxed cotton canvas makes great bags.

1. It has a 600-year history of durability.

Originally developed by sailors in the 15th Century, flax canvas sails were treated with linseed to prevent them from getting waterlogged. Sailors started to make water-resistant capes and outerwear from the off-cuts, and the waxed canvas industry was born! 

2. British Millerain are the best in the business.

British Millerain, our manufacturer, was established in 1880 in Halifax. 140 years down the line, they’re the world leaders in waxed cotton production, and they’re still based in the north of the UK.

3. It’s dyed and proofed locally in the north of the UK.

The GOTS-certified cotton in our canvas is grown and spun in India, then sent by ship to the UK. It’s dyed in Leeds and proofed in Rochdale, less than 2 hours down the road from our shop in Pateley Bridge. Our British-made backpacks aren’t only put together in the UK - most of their components come from local manufacturers too.

4. It’s water-resistant.

Wax and oil-coated fabrics are water-repellant. Many waxed cottons rely on a layer of wax on top of the fabric to keep the water out, but British Millerain bake the wax into their fabrics at high temperatures so that it binds to the fibre permanently. It’s not totally waterproof, but as long as it’s not totally submerged for long periods of time your stuff will stay dry inside one of our bags.

5. It’s plastic-free and biodegradable.

Our waxed cotton canvas is PFC-free. PFC stands for ‘perfluorinated compound’ - it refers to a group of man-made chemicals that are particularly good at repelling water. As a result, PFCs have been used for decades to waterproof fabrics for jackets, tents and gloves. 

However, PFCs have a downside. They’re a type of ‘forever chemical’, which means they can’t be broken down, and they can be harmful to human and animal life. They’ve been found in waterways, glaciers, and can even end up in the air.

British Millerain keeps its proprietary PFC-free formula under wraps, but we do know that it includes beeswax farmed from natural hives and other more environmentally-friendly materials.

The only plastic you’ll find in our bags is the recycled polyester thread used to sew them together. It’s stronger than cotton thread, and makes our bags much more durable.

6. It’s more sustainable than standard cotton.

The cotton used in our waxed canvas is GOTS-certified - it stands up to the Global Organic Textile Standard. It’s produced using 88% less water and 62% less energy than standard cotton, avoiding the use of any toxic chemicals.

7. It’s machine-washable!

Thanks to the waxing technique used by British Millerain where the wax is baked into the fabric of the fibres at 140℃, the waterproofing wax doesn’t come out in the wash. If your waxed canvas bag gets super dirty, you can throw it in the washing machine with a non-bio detergent at 30℃. 

We don’t recommend doing this more than once or twice a year, and handwashing or spot-washing your rucksack or tote will work well too

We love that the material for our bags is made from something that has been tested, developed and proven over 100 years. It’s designed to last, just like our bags.

You can find our full collection of organic dry-waxed canvas bags here.