DIY make your own SilNylon

[Knotty]

I think the best way to get the silicone solution into every fiber is the dunk and squeeze method. Put the solution in a 5 gallon bucket then dunk the tarp. Keep unfolding, squeezing and kneading the tarp to make sure the solution has been pushed through all of the material.

For the next step it helps to have a second set of hands. Have one person start pulling an end of the material up out of the solution while you squeeze the excess out of it. Then hang the tarp to dry making sure it doesn't stick to itself anywhere.

The idea is to have the silicone impregnate the nylon threads in the ripstop. Don't think of it as a coating, like poly urethane.

[bennyandthesets]

There have been a few people that have had success mixing silicone with mineral spirits and soaking fabric in the solution.

Here's a thread discussing it.

I plowed through this thread and did a test with sewing some rip-stop and applying a 5:1 sil/thinner to it after I stapled it to a frame. seems to penetrate and work just fine without any squeegeeing. It also appearers to have sealed the seams.
Can't decide if I try for a tarp first or a UQ.

[1022]

I plowed through this thread and did a test with sewing some rip-stop and applying a 5:1 sil/thinner to it after I stapled it to a frame. seems to penetrate and work just fine without any squeegeeing. It also appearers to have sealed the seams.
Can't decide if I try for a tarp first or a UQ.

I would think tarp, it'll be quicker,
also most folks seem to want their underquilt shell to be breathable to prevent condensation from reducing the insulating properties of their down, silicon treatment would not breathe

[bennyandthesets]

@1022,
Yeah, I wasn't going to make the UQ outa SilNylon, just deciding what project to start with. Thinking out loud, or in B&W as it were. Since I have a tarp that came with my HH the UQ seems like a better idea for now but I want to have both before the weather really turns.