An Important Improvement in Shoes and Boots from the London Chronicle

Title: An Important Improvement in Shoes and Boots from the London Chronicle
Creator: London Chronicle
Date: 1694/1795
Description: A method for waterproofing leather shoes using wax, oil, turpentine, and burgundy pitch, used to soften and weatherproof.
Transcript: Take one pint of drying oil two ounces of Yellow wax two ounces of Spirits of Turpentine & one ounce of Burgundy pitch melted carefully over a slow fire: with this composition rub shoes & boots are to be rubbed in the sun, or at a distance from the fire with a sponge as often as they become dry. untill they are fully saturated the leather then is impervious to wet. the shoes & boots last much longer acquire softness and pliability, and thus prepared, are the most effectual preservatives against cold and chiblains.
The above method of preparing water proof leather at a very small expence will be found invariably to succeed
Subject: See all items with this value resin; See all items with this value wax; See all items with this value drying oil; See all items with this value turpentine
Contributor: Caylor, Karmen; Grimm, Stephanie; Bakir, Mehtap
Source: Elizabeth Fairfax cookbook, Collection #C0202, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.
Publisher: George Mason University Libraries
Rights: Public domain. There are no known restrictions.

Position: 400 (4 views)