Fabric Identification???

I have a bunch of fabric from wal-mart- I told everyone I know that if they saw sil-nyl there to pick it up for me- now I have at least three or four different types of nylon- how can I be sure what is what- Some of it seems very heavy and coated on one side-I was told that it is probably DWR-How can I be sure??? I did test it by cutting a swatch off and securing it over a large glass of water-then turning the glass up-side-down for 24hrs- there was no leak-thru - would DWR leak or not? and if it is DWR- does anyone have any suggestions on projects for it?? as for the other fabrics- I'll have to work on identifying them as well so that I cam make all kinds of things this winter!!!!

water test:

take the unknown material (not a swatch) and form a depression inside a glass. fill it with water, and see if it leaks. If not, empty the water and see if the water on the fabric is absorbed, or if it just beads off. If it beads off, congrats, chances are its sil or a REALLY heavy DWR.


Breath test:

take said fabric in question and hold it against your mouth. Inhale and exhale deeply. If you can breath barely, its a DWR. If it breaths easily, uncoated. If it does not breath, chances are sil.


burn test:

this is a great test, if you like fire. Cut a small swatch of fabric, and in a safe place lite it on fire. If it beads up into a black plastic and smells sweet, its polyester. If it beads white and smells like chemicals, tis nylon.


Fray test:

with a cut end of the fabric, pull it and mess with it and see what happens. Uncoated frays easily, heavy coated fabrics fray slower, and sil barely frays.

OK- started the stuff I have most of on fire in the basement- it turned into flaming droplets of black plastic and stunk up the house- guessing that makes it polyester????
the other stuff I have is much lighter-kinda opaque-as I can see my hand through it- the polyester has much bigger ripstop type squares- and the real light stuff has much smaller ripstop squares and is much crunchier than the supposed polyester

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Originally Posted by landcruzr

OK- started the stuff I have most of on fire in the basement- it turned into flaming droplets of black plastic and stunk up the house- guessing that makes it polyester????
the other stuff I have is much lighter-kinda opaque-as I can see my hand through it- the polyester has much bigger ripstop type squares- and the real light stuff has much smaller ripstop squares and is much crunchier than the supposed polyester

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Did you have a fire extinguisher on hand? DIY is not worth losing the house.:p

If you can see that one side is coated, it's not DWR. It's probably urethane coated nylon...good for backpacks but heavy for a tarp. Not that a heavy tarp is a bad thing, especially if you're just getting started. Much easier to sew that than 1.1 oz silnylon!

I can definately see that one side is coated- I also cant seem to blow air through it-and the idea of doing a pack has crossed my mind-I'll have to start looking for fairly simple plans and see how it goes- I'm all set for tarps right now-

this may not be true, but last year, when I was asking the same question, I was told the sil "crinkles" when you bunch it up. DWR doesn't.

I have a bunch of gray DWR that I thought was Sil. Couldn't blow through it. Sent half to another member who informed me it was DWR and told me the "crinkle" trick.

I don't think I've ever seen sil fabric in the flesh

Tom

Water test...
It might take quite a while for the water to leak through the material if it's not silnylon. Depends on how much of a DWR coating the material has. So be sure to give it some time.

I haven't tried any of the fire tests...

What does DWR look like and weigh? does it have a shiny(coated) side and have the ripstop pattern in it?-It does look like it would make pretty good pack material-but I dont know what to call this stuff-not sure what to call anything anymore:confused: - but I am going to turn some of it into a pack- cut out all the parts today- and when the snow lets up I will be off to the store to get some thread and webbing to put it all together- if it works out- I'm going to make some more for the fam- hopefully I'll have some pictures to share before Christmas
The pattern I picked is the "GV-4"
I think I found it through a link here somewhere-
thanks
Landcruzr