Another DIY Tarp

[LostCause]

The tarp didn't turn out "sticky"? On my first tarp, a diamond style, I know I used way too much sil in the mix and the tarp will stick to itself. Its a different fabric weight from the grey tarp, but not by much.

Yeah, it's a bit sticky. I threw on some baby powder and that took care of most of it. I'm considering ways to remove a thin layer off the tarp but at least it works. V2 will be better.

Any ideas anyone?

[LostCause]

... I made a DIY tarp with homemade sil but I soaked the fabric in this product first.
UV-Block by ATSKO.
I washed the wally world $1 fabric with some fabric softener first to remove any coating that may have been on the fabric to begin with (in a front load washer with no agitation), then re-washed the fabric to rid the material of any residue fabric softener. I soaked it in the UV-Block (one of the larger bottles that I bought from there website. they have two sizes available) and let it dry then stuck it in a dryer to cure. I sewed the tarp, then treated it with the sil mixture. I probably used more sil than necessary, but I really wanted my first DIY tarp to work.

The UV-block is supposed to give the fabric an SPF of 50 or so, and also provide a lot protection against UV rot and fading...

Just an update on this for anyone interested...

I took a scrap treated with UV-block (from the tarp I made before treating it with silicone) and left it outside in direct sunlight for 2 1/2 months. No fading, no rot. I'm going to leave it out there until I see a change.

As I forgot to leave an untreated piece out there for a control , anyone know how long it would take before degradation takes place?

[LostCause]

Well.. I found a control test for UV block test. I bought one of those umbrella patio table deals about a month ago. My wife wanted to put up the umbrella to see how it looked. I never took it back down. It was supposed to be one of those UV resistant fabrics. It WAS brown. Now it's kinda purple-ish. The treated scrap is still showing no signs of fading or discoloring.

Test result: This stuff works.