Does tulle work for bug nets?

[motorgirl112]

I'm buying fabric today and am going back and forth between noseeum and tulle.

[Ramblinrev]

Depends on who you talk to and where you get it. I, personally, do not recommend tulle. I find it too stiff, too brittle and not small enough to work as no-see-um net. Having said that... Others here advocate it strongly and have had very good results with it. If _I_ were going to use an alternative bug net fabric I would look closely at organza. This is my recomme3ndation. But as I said... others are very satisfied with tulle. Pays you money and takes your chances.

[Brute1100]

I was told you have to baby the tulle because its kind of wimpy... That was from papa smurf, he only recommended it for ultra light people who are used to babying stuff...

I'm researching all this as well, and i still end up back at no see um net...

[MAD777]

I was told you have to baby the tulle because its kind of wimpy... That was from papa smurf, he only recommended it for ultra light people who are used to babying stuff...

I'm researching all this as well, and i still end up back at no see um net...

I agree! And I'll add that most tulle is too fragile for even ultralighters. However, JoAnn's "fashion tulle" has all the strength needed for a gram weenie (see warning above).

I use it on a regular basis but don't have many noseeums and I soak it in permethrin. It's so cheap ($0.79 / yd. when on sale) that you can consider it disposable after a couple of seasons.

But again, you have to baby this stuff to reap the benefits of it being 1/2 the weight of expensive noseeum and 1/3 the weight if the common noseeum that everyone sells.

[sr1355]

I found some soft tulle at wally world in $1.50 bin, might have been something else but it worked great for bugnets and was easy to work with...

[gmcttr]

...Pays you money and takes your chances.

I'm laughing because I just used that in another thread.

I like tulle because it restricts your view and airflow far less than other netting. However, as others have stated, think of it as disposable. I use it as a net when hanging at home but it wouldn't be my first choice for a multi-day trip although a 3 oz net is very tempting.

[Ramblinrev]

I found some soft tulle at wally world in $1.50 bin, might have been something else but it worked great for bugnets and was easy to work with...

Most likely chiffon or organza. Tulle is a "structural" fabric. Meaning it holds it shape for bows, veils, hat brims and such. Not as structural as buckram but I would not describe tulle as soft. For me chiffon is too saggy. Organza is somewhere in between.

[SlowSwede]

Never would I have thought to hear a group of grown men discussing the merits of chiffon, organza, et. al. That's OK… talk away, but I'm drawing the line at watching a video of a wood fairy trippin' the trail in a tutu.

[Ramblinrev]

a wood fairy trippin' the trail in a tutu.

that would be tulle.... lots of tulle.... lots and lots of it.

[grannypat]

Never would I have thought to hear a group of grown men discussing the merits of chiffon, organza, et. al. That's OK… talk away, but I'm drawing the line at watching a video of a wood fairy trippin' the trail in a tutu.

There has been much talk about sewing machines, errrr, I mean thread injectors, recently, but they qualify as power tools. I wasn't aware that so many men knew what chiffon and organza and the others were!