Recommendations for re-waterproofing a nylon tarp?

[traycer]

My My MEC Silicone Guides 10'×13' silnylon tarp is about 12 years old now, and while I normally only go winter camping with it, last weekend's trip was rather wet. We didn't have heavy precipitation, but it did rain for what felt like 24 hours straight. I noticed my tarp was weeping water on the inside, and occasionally dripping down on my top quilt. Water hasn't beaded up on the surface for years, but since I usually only have it out in sub-zero temperatures, it was never an issue.

What's the consensus on rejuvenating the water-repellent coating on this type of tarp? I have two bottles of NikWax TX.Direct (one spray-on, one wash-in) already. Would their SolarProof be better? I don't need it to be breathable. Any other products I should consider, or DIY options? I live in a condo, so my options are limited/non-existent when it comes to being able to conveniently string up a tarp for treatment and subsequent drying.

[LearnedHat]

outside of the products made for that purpose, i have heard of people using Aerospace 303 Fabric Guard.

Knew a guy that swore by food grade silicon spray - that stuff is a little messy though. You can also take a hair dryer to it to revive the DWR but 12 years . . . may not be much to revive.

[MagicPaddler]

http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/Silnylon1/index.html

[traycer]

You can also take a hair dryer to it to revive the DWR but 12 years . . . may not be much to revive.

Yeah, I'm going on the assumption that by now, the silnylon is just plain nylon. �� 303 is popular with the boating crowd since it works great with marine fabrics. It's a bit expensive for the coverage I want, although still cheaper and less wasteful than buying a new tarp...

[traycer]

http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/Silnylon1/index.html

Same process to add water resistance to canvas if you're making your own hot tent and don't want to buy the fancy (expensive) stuff. The issue I have is the smell, even with low-odour mineral spirits, the fumes in enclosed spaces (I don't have a backyard or balcony or deck where I can just hang something for a few hours to dry), and how the resulting fabric tends to stick to itself. This guy uses a much weaker concentration than I'm used to, though... I might give this a try on a small patch to see how it works out on nylon.