In the better class of preparations, good sealing-wax is used when the object is merely to ornament the cork. Where it is desired to close the pores of cork hermetically a softer and more tenacious cement should be used: Chemical or Glycerine are good. The following are well-tried recipes for bottle cement or bottle wax.
Shellac, 2 lb.; resin, 4 lb.; Venice turpentine, 1½ lb.; red lead, 1½ lb. Fuse the shellac and resin cautiously in a copper pan over the fire; when melted, add the turpentine, and lastly the red lead, which should be dry and warm. Pour into moulds, or make it into sticks by rolling on a marble slab. Care must be taken to have the red lead equally diffused through the melted mass by constant stirring, as owing to its great specific gravity it is apt to sink to the bottom.
Resin and beeswax, equal parts; melt together, and add sufficient Venetian red to give a good colour, and enough neat's-foot oil to prevent its being brittle when cold.
Sealing-wax, 1 lb.; resin, 1 lb.; beeswax, 8 oz.; melt together. Bottles may be sealed by dipping the corks in this melted mixture. If it froths, add a very small piece of tallow, and stir.
Resin, 15 parts; tallow, 4; beeswax, 2; melt, and colour with red ochre or ivory black.
Black pitch, 6 lb.; ivory black and whiting, each 1 lb. Melt the pitch and add the other ingredients hot and dry.
Maissiat's. Indiarubber is melted either with or without about 15 per cent, of either beeswax or tallow; quicklime in fine powder is gradually added, and the heat continued until change of odour shows that combination has taken place, and until a proper consistence is obtained. Used as a waterproof and air-tight covering for corks, bungs, etc.
Copal varnish made thick with zinc white, red lead, ivory black or any other colour, and applied like a paint.
A paste composed of a commercial silicate of soda and pulverised kaolin, with or without chalk, is applied to the corks, and left to dry.
1 lb. rosin, ¼ lb. tallow or suet, melted together, and sufficient colouring matter stirred in.
5 lb. rosin, 1 lb. beeswax.
To 1 lb. of (11) add 3 oz. finely powdered dry whiting, 4 oz. powdered burnt ochre (or sufficient red bole to produce the desired red tint).
To 1 lb. of (10) or (11) add sufficient ivory black to produce a black colour.
The balsam of Tolu, which has been used for preparing the syrup, has hitherto been utilised only in making a varnish for pills, and it therefore accumulates in course of time to a considerable extent.
A composition useful as bottling wax may be prepared by stirring into the melted balsam one- tenth its weight of levigated bole. It sets quickly, with a fine glossy surface, and is less brittle than the wax generally employed. A mixture of residual balsam, amber resin, of each four parts; Venice turpentine, vermilion, of each 1 part; melted together and well stirred, forms sealing- wax of very fair quality.