CARE AND CLEANING OF CANTEENS

      Lets face it we all have been to a hot event before. At such of an event have you ever got a mouth full of rusty water? It’s not a pleasant thing to drink the brown water. There are ways to prevent your canteen from rusting.

You should always drain and let dry your canteens after an event. A quick rinse of hot water will help it dry faster. Then stick in a paper towel to wick dry it.

Buying a Hot tin dipped canteen. The hot tin dipped canteens have much a stronger resistance to rust. Plus it does make your canteen more authentic. But who wants to have to buy another canteen when they already have one?

Some reenactors say that they coat their canteens with olive oil after each event. This will help your canteen stay rust free. But leads to greasy water.

Last, but what suggest is to cure the canteen with melted bees wax

       It is strongly suggest that you to clean out the rust before being curing. To clean out the rust use a warm water and backing soda solution let soak for a few min then shake the canteen hard. Then rinse canteen with very hot water.

      I take about 1 and a half tablespoons worth of bees was put it in a cup that I don't mind throwing away. I melt it in the microwave. While I am doing that I have my canteen in the oven on a low setting. The object is to heat up the canteen. Not too much that you can't hold. But hot to touch. This opens up the pours in the steel. Be careful not to let the strap touch the bottom of the oven. That could start a fire. I then I pour the hot melted bees wax in to the hot canteen. I put the cork on and roll it around for a min. Once I think I got it all, I do it for a few more seconds. I then dump the rest of the bees wax in to the trash not the sink. You will be surprised how much of it drains out. Let the canteen cool. Note the canteen will have a slight honey flavor the first time or two of using it.

      It is strongly suggest that you to clean out the rust before being curing. To clean out the rust use a warm water and backing soda solution let soak for a few min then shake the canteen hard. Then rinse with very hot water.

After use drain out the canteen let set upside down

Mark Wadsworth

POSTED 24 Apr 2008