Rubbing Candle wax on writing to make waterproof?

[AnotherOrthodoxHousewife]

Many of the inks I enjoy using are not bulletproof. Some of them I made even less bulletproof by adding a few drops of glycerin to the bottle of ink (because I've found that it makes super cheap Chinese pens with EF knibs that normally write too dry actually work well).

 

However, to protect against the occasional ink smear from water damage, after the ink has dried, I've taken to rubbing the whole thing with the end of a white tapered candle. This is especially useful for my 3x5 recipe index cards, which are prone to get a little wet in the kitchen while I'm cooking.

 

I feel like this is such a simple solution, that it must have a drawback.  

 

Has anyone tried this? Does the coating of wax mess up the paper or the ink over time?

Edited June 30, 2022 by AnotherOrthodoxHousewife

[Sailor Kenshin]

Since I only use the wax trick on envelopes, I have no way of knowing if anything bad happens over time.  😐

[inkstainedruth]

I remember some threads in the past where other people talked about using white candlewax for protecting addresses on envelopes, but I've never tried it myself (for stuff like that I tend to use inks that are water resistant/waterproof and/or "permanent").

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[A Smug Dill]

Welcome to FPN.

 

7 hours ago, AnotherOrthodoxHousewife said:

I feel like this is such a simple solution, that it must have a drawback.

 

Inconvenience, for one.

 

I don't have a white stick-shaped candle at home, and I'm not going to buy one, just to bring it out only as a means to selectively apply waterproof coating to paper on which I've written. There are also other means of applying waterproof coating, such as using some sort of fixer (spray?) used by artists, or laminating the sheet.

 

Then there's the issue of sheen from the ink possibly getting obscured, or even dislodged and smudged, when rubbed over with the end of a candle. After all, that specifically employs sufficient friction to remove wax from the candle; whereas a fixer liquid or lamination wouldn't.

 

Good pigment inks are largely waterproof. Even (some of) the sheen component from Sailor Seiboku and Souboku inks survives a 60-minute bath in water, in my testing.

[Pfire84]

One thing I can see being a problem - the wax coats the front but not the back of the paper.  I think to achieve true waterproofness you'd have to submerge the entire paper in melted paraffin. 

 

I'd honestly say if you have something you want waterproof you should not try something gimmicky.  But rather a waterproof ink.  

[LizEF]

My recipe cards are mounted on the cupboard door when I'm using them, and stored safely away when not.  No need for them to be waterproof.

[Pfire84]

3 hours ago, LizEF said:

My recipe cards are mounted on the cupboard door when I'm using them, and stored safely away when not.  No need for them to be waterproof.

Oh wow!  I love the cupboard mount idea!  

[inkstainedruth]

50 minutes ago, Pfire84 said:

Oh wow!  I love the cupboard mount idea!  

I do too.  In fact, depending on the length of screws, that might also be good for a magnetic bar for kitchen knives (I had wanted to put one on the outside of the cabinets flanking the back window, but my husband was afraid that the screws would go all the way through into the cabinet.  So we put it on the wall underneath one set of cabinets, only it's an awkward reach, and a bit too close to a four plug electric outlet for my liking (plus one wasn't long enough for all the chef's knives... so at some point I'm going to have to see if IKEA still carries them and get a second one.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

Y'all are thinkin' too Martha Stewart.  Me, I'm thinkin' simple:

 

[inkstainedruth]

Guilty as charged....  And I'm not even a fan of hers, particularly (especially not after her doing the recipe from some employee's aunt for making red velvet cake and it involved a bottle and a half of liquid icing color 

For me, if I'm working on some recipe, I either have it on the counter by where I'm working or clipped to the fridge with a magnet, right across from the peninsula in the kitchen.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Enkida]

I mean if you don't have a waterproof ink, rubbing a candle seems a little excessive.  When I (used to) have those sorts of emergencies I (would) just stick some scotch tape over what I wrote.  Done.

[mhwombat]

Seems like a clever idea to me. I think a lot of people have white candles at home for electricity outages. Most people's recipe cards aren't works of art with sheening/shimmering/shading inks that they're trying to preserve the look of. Even if you have a nice out-of-the-way place to put your recipe card while following it, it would be an easy mistake to have slightly damp hands while selecting the recipe you want to use.

[Licue]

I've not tried it myself, but it sounds quite decent.

 

I don't think I would use it for waterproofing recipes tho. Not because my recipes don't need waterproofing (they do 😶), but because 

a) occassionally I want to add some additionally notes/corrections to a recipe later. I guess this would be difficult on 'waxed' paper

and

b) it seems a bit impractical to rub a larger area with candle wax - my cooking recipes are usually about 1-2 DIN A5 pages long.

 

For smaller areas, like the address on an envelope it might be a good idea tho 🙂

[Runnin_Ute]

I have received letters from pen pals who have done this to the address on the envelope. Only issue I see, is you can't write on the area that has been waxed.

[Uncial]

I use a candle for envelopes.  Never used it for anything else though. One letter got to someone so soaked through storms that the contents turned to mush and the inks bled everwhere and it was all unreadable, but the address survived. I don't do it for postcards, but I have had a great many of those disappear in the post.

[Carrau]

Using wax seems about as simple as it gets.  Putting tape over an address seems like asking for trouble.  It might interfere with the optical scanner reading the postal code, or get caught in the sorter if the edge of the tape lifts, possible ripping the whole address from the envelope.  If it can go wrong,…

[InkyColors]

I keep a white tea candle in my desk drawer and use it to protect envelopes on the rare occasion when I haven't used waterproof ink.  It's a very simple fix.  For recipe cards I just pop them into a ziplock bag to protect them from wet hands and splatters.  I keep a couple of empty bags near my recipe card box.

[gerigo]

The candlewax is a great idea and something we used to use in art school. Otherwise you can use a can of spray fixative that would be sold at any art store.

 

[Licue]

I think for address-waterproofing I'd prefer to use candlewax instead of fixative spray.

A candle is easier to find, cheaper to buy, has less enviromentally unfriendly packaging, and no risk to accidentally breathe in the stuff.

[Linger]

Never to old to learn…until now i wrote the envelope with a ballpoint…i am no candle-expert though so please enlighten me: will any old white candle do the trick? And is “white tea candle” the same as “white tea light candle”?