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1. The Ultimate Cheat Sheet on Wax Cotton Cords:
Waxed cotton is, as the name suggests, cotton impregnated with a paraffin based wax, woven into a cloth.
Widely used from the mid-19th century to the mid-1950s, the product, which originated in the sailing industry
in England and Scotland, became widely used by many for waterproofing. It is now replaced by more modern
materials but is still used by the country sports community.
Early mariners noticed that wet sails were more efficient than dry sails, but due to their weight slowed the
vessel down. From the 15th century, mariners applied fish oils and grease to their heavy sailcloth, out of the
worn remnants of which they cut waterproof capes to keep themselves dry, the forerunner of the fisherman's
slicker. The result was efficient sails in dry weather, lighter sails in wet weather, and drier sailors throughout.
From 1795, Arbroath-based sail maker Francis Webster Ltd had perfected the art of adding Linseed
oil to flax sails, creating oiled flax. Lighter than wet sailcloth, these started to be used by the Royal Navy and
the early tea clippers. As the tea races increased in competition, the clipper designers and captains looked for
weight reductions. As the clippers were often used to ship cotton from Egypt, experiments were started with
this lighter material.
The first waxed cotton products of Egyptian cotton with linseed oil applied, started to appear from the mid-
1850s. Tea clipper sails were made from strong two-ply yarns in both warp and weft, which provided lighter
cloth with extra strength for the larger sails. The recipe for waxing each cloth remained unique to that cloth, but
all cloths suffered the same problems: stiffness in the cold; and a tendency to turn a shade of yellow towards
that of pure linseed oil, creating the early yellow of fisherman's clothing.
In the mid-1920s, three companies co-operated to create paraffin-impregnated cotton, which produced a highly
water resistant cloth, breathable, but without the stiffness in the cold or yellowing with age. Woven by
Webster's, it was taken to Lancashire for dyeing (black or olive green), and then to London for
cupro–ammonia treatment. The cloth was then returned to Lancashire for waxing, and then back to Webster's
for storage, sales and distribution.
Webster's were cautious about disrupting their home market, and so sent the new product to another part of
the British Empire with similar climatic conditions and a love of sailing for testing: New Zealand. Given the local
name Japara, as the material proved a weather and sales success, it was adopted as the trademark by
Webster's.
Waxed cotton became an instant success with the commercial shipping industry, and Webster's as primary
manufacturers turned to thinking of alternate markets that the product could be used in.
One of the early adopters was J. Barbour & Sons in the outdoor industry, producing waxed
jackets for farmers and gamekeepers, and as motorcycling was then the predominant form of personal
transport, the new company of Belstaff also developed clothing.
Waxed cotton came in either black, or an inconsistent dark olive. Colors was controlled by the amount of
copper left from the cupro-ammonia treatment, and because of variability of the olive a complementary dark
brown corduroy collar was placed on dark olive jackets.

2. Barbour's entered the motorcycling market from the early 1930s, with the Barbour International motorcycle
suit, developing their market presence through sponsorship of the British competitions and teams in motorcycle
trials. Barbour International suits were worn by virtually every British International team from 1936 to 1977, and
in the 1964 International Six Days Trial, actor Steve McQueen and the rest of the American team.[3]
Adopted as the first choice waterproof clothing for the British armed forces during World War II, uses of waxed
cotton escalated in the late 1940s and 1950s as spare material and army-surplus was sold off cheaply.