- DIY waterproof cement from 1881.

I was helping a Civil War re-enactor figure out how to seal his 1870's-style wooden water canteen so it was watertight and found this cement recipe in the 1881 Iowa Settlers Manual.

It's described as a cement for aquariums [Who knew settlers and pioneers had fishtanks?] and is waterproof and will harden even when immersed.  It was just a couple days later when I thought, "hang on....  I've used that stuff before!"

And then I felt a moment of sorrow.  You'll understand why in a moment.

To make this waterproof cement:

"Mix 10 parts litharge, 10 parts plaster of Paris, 10 parts dry white sand, 1 part finely powdered resin and add boiled linseed oil, mixing till it forms a stiff putty."

If you don't need to apply this cement underwater skip the litharge that is mentioned in the recipe.  It's also known as red lead and is not good for your health.  It's only there to help the cement cure when immersed.  If you do use litharge, once it's mixed into the paste it should be fine. But be careful, you don't want to breathe, swallow or get  red lead in your eyes.

The resin that's called for is dried pitch from a conifer - pine or fir.  You can collect that yourself.

When this cement sets it's exactly like sandstone.

Possible uses:  anything that needs to be sealed or made watertight, or needs a coating to protect it from the weather.  For anybody that doesn't want the expense or fumes of the complex plastic or rubber chemical solutions we use today.

If don't use the red lead, this cement is all natural and chemical free.

Ten years ago I used something similar to seal the roof of a replica settlers' cabin, modeled on the New Zealand Emigrants' V-Huts of the 1850s.

To be historically accurate we should have used tar.  But natural tar is impossible to get.  The stuff they use on the roads these days is not tar, but a type of plastic.  And when tar is hot enough that it can be painted on a roof, it is also hot enough that if it hits your skin, it will burn right down to the bone.  So we nixed the tar idea.

It was replaced by a recipe very similar to the one above, without the red lead.

And it worked really well.  Imagine a sandstone, water-repellent roof.

We thatched over it with native cabbage-tree leaves to protect the cement from the sun.  Part of the motivation was also to hide the fact that we hadn't been true history nerds and used tar.

With a few touch ups here and there the cement kept the roof from leaking for another few years at least. And then it was probably gone.

The V-Hut I helped build was in Christchurch, New Zealand and I don't believe it survived the big earthquakes there last year.  That part of town was hit really hard.  History has probably had her way...

These instructions can be found in the making chapter of the 1881 Iowa Settlers Manual.

For more free how-to and DIY from the settlers and pioneers of the 1800's visit www.PioneerHandbooks.com.

Even if you never expect to make your own waterproof cement, you can still hit the Facebook Like button below and save this how-to from disappearing into history

It's easy enough to do and a good way to keep this knowledge alive.

[Update:  The V-Hut survived the earthquakes!  See this post for photos and an update on the hut as well as an update on how its weatherproofing survived.]