I am a huge fan of using this brush to spread Otter wax all over my favorite raincoats.

As temperatures drop its time to get ready for the wet. It has certainly already arrived elsewhere. One of my two waxed-cotton coats was leaking last winter. The sleeve started to absorb water instead of beading.

Heating up the wax and lightly brushing it on is cathartic. The results look better than spraying on Nikwax and last a lot longer. I also think the thicker wax helps protect the fabric, the Nikwax goes on near invisibly and the wax is a barrier.

Round Paint and Wax Brush for Furniture Handcrafted by Stay Fine via Amazon

Previously on Boing Boing: Otter Wax, for reproofing your waxed cotton Read the rest

Aww, look at him having the best time! Read the rest

“Maximus the Akita refusing to come inside yet again,” or COCAINE'S A HELLUVA DRUG, you pick. Read the rest

Having a great time, wish I was there!

This video produced the NRK TV-program "Nordlandsbanen Minutt for Minutt", which shows ride on the train cabin driver's view through beautiful Norwegian landscape.

(via Kottke) Read the rest

This year's snow cyclone led to an ocean phenomenon called slush waves, or slurpee waves. A few hardy souls decided to try to surf them. Read the rest

Spring has finally arrived, and JF1LMS is celebrating by releasing a hyperlapse of some great footage shot all winter in the Slovak village where he grew up, all shot manually in bitter cold. Crank it up to 4K. Read the rest

Storm Emma, a massive weather system that brought bitter cold and snow to the U.K. this past week did a lot of damage to power grids, forced the closure of schools and caused havoc for anyone looking to travel anywhere in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland (the Republic of Ireland took its share of knocks, too.) Perhaps worst of all, was the destructive effect the drastic drop in temperature had on sea life in the water surrounding the United Kingdom. This YouTube video shot at Ramsgate Beach in Kent, illustrates what a change in temperature can do to a delicate species of animal--if this isn't a prime example of why climate change is such an important issue, I don't know what is. Read the rest

Lake Silvaplana has breathtaking views year-round, but in the winter there's another delightful experience to be had: walking on transparent ice that allows visitors to see all the way to the lakebed. Read the rest

With winter officially here, it’s time to revisit the unique practice that is “Chicago dibs.” Read the rest

On a brisk wintry day, this clever moose decided to use a car's exhaust to get a faceful of warm air. The best part is the car owner who keeps scraping his windshield. Read the rest

The gentleman in this video claims to hit 30 mph while sledding down Birmingham's Crestwood Boulevard. I have no idea whether or not this is true, but knowing the intersection he's sledding past (I used to live right near there), it would certainly be a hell of a ride down a long stretch of steady grade. Other context that makes this video more fun: Crestwood is (as the "boulevard" implies) a multi-lane, divided small highway that's usually filled with cars going 55 mph in a 40 mph zone. The fact that this man is not hit by a car is a testament to how much the city has been shut down by the recent snow and ice.

Oh, and, finally, all those people going "wooo!" as he passes are standing outside of the neighborhood bar. Natch.

Video Link Read the rest

For the first time since 2009, the coastline of Lake Superior has frozen hard enough that people can venture out onto the ice and into the sea caves that line the shore near Wisconsin's Apostle Islands. Like the Lake, itself, the sea caves are frozen and covered with sparkling icicles — from dainty needles to thick, massive stalactites.

These are different caves from the ones I went through in a dinghy in the summer a couple of years ago. Those caves were at Devil's Island, about 6 miles from the mainland. The caves you can see in this, and several other videos taken by YouTuber Shannon Kowalski, are right up along the mainland shore, at the base of some steep sandstone cliffs. The cliffs themselves are the remains of a sandy river basin and chains of shallow ponds that dotted the landscape here a billion (yes, with a "b") years ago. The caves are much more recent, forming as waves from Lake Superior slowly erode holes in the sandstone. Read the rest

In Minneapolis, an estimated 4000 people ride their bikes as part of a daily commute — year round. (The number doubles for the non-winter months.) At the Pedal Minnesota blog, you can see some of their happy faces. Or, anyway, happy eyes. The rest of their faces tend to be hidden under balaclavas. Like you do. Read the rest

Redditor Unspeakablefilth lives in northern Ontario, where December was plenty cold (daytime highs of -25C!). He made the best of an icy situation by freezing blocks of coloured ice in shifts, a new batch every 12 hours, ending up with hundreds of them, which he used to piece together a gorgeous ice-fortress that he opened up to his neighbours. The Imgur set does a great job of showing off the build process and the ensuing enjoyment.

It's a great variation on last winter's coloured ice igloo from Edmonton. Can't wait to see what next year brings! Read the rest

It's a pilot program, and admirably thrifty and ingenious. Provolone or mozzarella have the saltiest brine and are best for clearing the ice. Brine is mixed with salt to make it into a wet, sticky slurry that substantially reduces the overall amount of salt used. (Here's Maggie' Read the rest

Back in September, the city of Milwaukee announced that it would be spreading cheese brine on its streets this winter in a pilot program to see whether the salty liquid could reduce the amount of rock salt necessary to de-ice roads. Now, it looks like the plan is working out well. In fact, there's not even a smell to the streets. Read the rest