make your own sil.

[GaHammockGuy]

sounds like an ok plan.

i'd consider wringing out any excess as soon as you pull it out of the bucket,

Good point

I need to have my ridgeline ready to attach to it and start wiping ASAP.... ringing out and rubbing off as much excess as possible...THEN hang up and continue wiping...

the tarp is 10X10ISH and will be tough to manage.... put I will do my best.

[Albert Skye]

Soaking seems wasteful and I'm doubtful that it's necessary (but that comes without specific personal experience).

I'd pitch the tarp and paint it, rubbing it in as necessary. If the viscosity is low enough it should saturate the fabric easily, and I imagine this would consume at least an order of magnitude less silicone mixture, not to mention much less mess.

[Hawk-eye]

How's the smell after this has dried?

[GaHammockGuy]

Soaking seems wasteful and I'm doubtful that it's necessary (but that comes without specific personal experience).

I'd pitch the tarp and paint it, rubbing it in as necessary.

I had thou0ght about taking this route, but my only concern is that since the tarp is so large (10x10) that the mineral spirits would evaporate giving me a thicker concentration of mixture near the end of the painting.

The last area that I paint would have a different level of saturation than the first area I paint. if I soak it, the level would be more equal across the board.... um... across the tarp as it were.

But then again I have not figured the rate of evaporation against the time needed to paint which I think the formula would be:

e/s + (s-P) + D

e= rate of evaporation
s= saturation level
P = painting time
D = Drying time

LOL
Dontcha just love math?

Any rocket scientist out there with a more accurate formula????

[Albert Skye]

I had thou0ght about taking this route, but my only concern is that since the tarp is so large (10x10) that the mineral spirits would evaporate giving me a thicker concentration of mixture near the end of the painting.

Good point; maybe Frawg will crunch some numbers.

In any case, I suppose one could carefully fold and roll the tarp to fit into a cylindrical can; that would reduce waste. One could even cap it and shake. Perhaps easier to squeeze out when rolled up too.

Or get some friends over for an ultra-fast tarp painting party!

[GaHammockGuy]

...Or get some friends over for an ultra-fast tarp painting party!

HEY I LIKE THAT......

ANY excuse to have a party.

Tarp Painting party at my house
Bring your own alcohol stoves and freeze dried food and clifbars.

I have some trees outback so if you get to where you cant drive.... um.... bring your own hammock as well.

Hey Shug!!! no need to bring the cold-weather gear... its only 40 here now and the low will only get down to 25 tonight. so leave the down at home...


I actually just finished testing a small splotch of nylon and am letting it dry now. I will post the results on youtube tonight or tomorrow so keep an eye out for the video.

[ikemouser]

I used silicone caulking to treat heavy paper mailing tubes to seal and make waterproof. Worked great.

Mixed 3 to 1 low odor mineral spirits to silicone caulking by weight. Wasn't real accurate, didn't need to be. Mixed it up in small batches using only 1 oz of silicone caulking. Found out that a little bit goes a long ways.

I've read where commercial 1.1 oz silnyl is actually 1.3 oz per yard. So figure 0.2 oz per yard silicone. That's 5 square yards per oz of silicone. The JRB 8x8 tarp is slightly over 6 square yards, so 1 oz of silicone will just about do the whole tarp. Figure 1.5 oz would be more than enough.

As warbonnetguy says it takes a long time to mix it thoroughly. Once mixed I simply used those foam brushes to paint the inside and outside of the tube. Hung in the basement to dry. Took about 24 to 48 hours to cure really good. Tried a second coat on one, but the second coat ended up peeling off in some places. The first coat penetrated far enough in the heavy and dense paper and prevented the second coat from penetrating real good.

Did the same on some heavy cordura fabric. Same mixture. 2 coats worked real well. Again just mixed and painted using foam brushes and allowed 48 hours to cure thoroughly.

Water just beads up and rolls right off.

With the low odor mineral spirits, neither my girl friend (whose nose is very senistive) nor I could smell anything in the house at all. Also, don't worry about time. It took a long time, many hours, for it to dry and cure. Even the excess left in the tuna fish mixing can.

Can this be done on a backpack, or would it be better to just buy nikwax.

[cwayman1]

Can this be done on a backpack, or would it be better to just buy nikwax.

I don't see why not. You WOULD want to make sure that as it dries you keep it from folding in on itself. If it does, you will end up with 1) the fabric sticking to itself and 2) uneven sil coating. Other than that, go for it, just keep it held open and up -maybe coat hanger circle frame? Update us if you do!

-Clint

[KerMegan]

this is excellent news- I have a venerable pack (Yak-pak; anybody remember those?) that has lost it's internal PU coating- and I was leery of taking naked cordura out where it might get rained on.
Yea, new project !
KM

I think it might be adviseable to turn the pack inside out for this procedure- then stuff it full of shipping peants or the like..and finally, hang in Garage to dry/cure.

[cwayman1]

- then stuff it full of shipping peanuts or the like...

I might be wary of packing peanuts. Don't they melt, or disintegrate or something when they get wet ? Or so I've heard... could be completely wrong . I know you mentioned "or the like" and I think stuffing it to keep it open might be a good idea. I am just saying be careful what it is stuffed with