The Seam Grip product is good. REALLY clean the area you are treating before application....just like she does here. Not a bad idea to do a second cleaning with a new cloth. First one gets most contaminants. Second one gets the last 10% of contaminants. The "brush nozzle" is kinda useless. Use the small brush like she does here. Really smoosh the product into the fabric as you are brushing back and forth. Let it dry a full day at least. Assume you have your tent set up and you are inside sealing seams. Or the rain fly is laid out flat. Really let it dry. Especially in a tent where air circulation may not be even. After you let it dry ....sprinkle baby powder on all the treated area. Then blow off the excess. This will prevent the seams from sticking to themselves when folded. WHICH THEY WILL. Plus it makes the tent smell nice. Any unused Seam Grip, store it in the freezer. If you need to come back to the job later or do a second coat....your brush will have dried material and now be useless. So...you can get these little brushes at the hardware store. They are called acid brushes or flux brushes (for applying soldering flux to pipes previous to sweating them).
I saw another video showing how to remove the failed urethane coating on the inside of the rain fly. Wash it in 10 gallons of hot water with 1/3 gallon of ammonia. I did this in a plastic tote and worked it with a clean plunger. Then I rinsed it really good. Now ready for resealing
Well done video. Your information was clear yet concise. And, you didn't leave any unanswered questions. You have to love it when a company takes the time to do it right. Thank you. -John from Toronto | Canada
Rubbing alcohol is probably your best bet, but we didn't have any for this vid so white spirits was out best option. Our understanding though is that given White Spirits is a dry cleaning fluid it does not leave a residue, there's a bit of info here - www.recochem.com.au/index.php/products/consumer_products/solvents/item/diggers_white_spirits. ~ Ben
Thank you so much for this excellent video. Helped me understand why our 6 year old tent just leaked like a sieve on our recent trip and how I can fix it.
Should always do this first and leave it out a couple of days before you go out hiking or camping etc learn to set it up a few times and down so it's easier etc
Great video! Washing machine? Will a machine wash remove the inside waterproof of your rain fly? Maybe try a bus tub and a bit of Woolite? Best wishes! Tent Guy
Wouldn't recommend a top loader at all @Ten Minute Tent, but a gentle or hand wash cycle on the very odd occasion where you'd need to do repair work like this should be ok. Definitely not something to do on the regular, and hand washing or sponging is the best bet for general maintenance. ~ Lauren
Thanks! My 12 year old, 80 dollar aldi hiking tent has finally stopped keeping the rain out. I think it's also the companion 2 tent? I've since bought lighter tents for long hikes but it's been my favourite tent this whole time and I'm going to use it to try these fixes, plus the great tips in the comments.
Fabrics will eventually deteriorate to the point that it cannot be fixed, John, if the coating is coming off the inside then it may not be worth the effort. ~ Ben
Its the Oztent RS-1 swag and Stretcher @Brett S - both are the series II now, theres been an upgrade since we filmed this. www.snowys.com.au/rs1-swag www.snowys.com.au/rs-1s-king-single-stretcher-series-ii ~ Lauren
Do you have tips on rewaterproofing the floor of a tent inner? Restoring the PU coating? Or would Nikwax solarproof spray be enough? If Nikwax, should we spray outside or inside of the floor?
If the PU coating has deteriorated on a tent floor then you will never restore the full waterproof nature of the fabric. Sprays will have some impact, but given there is a lot of pressure on the floor fabric i.e. feet, mattresses, bags etc, it will keep leaking no matter what. If anything, I'd suggest a heavy duty silicone spray like this - www.snowys.com.au/silicone-water-guard-300g, but it still won't be a good as the original PU coating. ~ Ben
Will the stuff you are using to seal the tent also work against sun damage for both tarps and tents? In Canada, and North America we often get more damage from the sun wearing down the tarps and tents more than we get water damage. It would be nice to know which things you can use to get the tents to last longer. Thanks.
It won't help with UV light, but there are products that are designed as such. Nikwax make this Tent & Gear SolarProof product that may meet your needs - www.snowys.com.au/tent-gear-solar-proof. ~ Ben
This video is super helpful - thank you so much!!! I´m just wondering whether the 2nd technique (the fabric sealant on the underside) should be done as a maintenance thing or only when it is peeling. I have a mont moondance that has mostly coped really well with the rain but I´ve been getting leaks from the top of the tent near where the ventilation zipper is. I think this is partially because that panel is hard to fully tension out properly, or maybe because there are more seams vulnerable to water ingress since there is a zipper etc. There is no obvious damage and the tent is only about 2-3 years old but I´m wondering whether I should do all 3 steps just in case, or just DWR spray the top
With the 2nd technique - only when its peeling or degraded @user-rd1vd1cb4i. Excessive waterproofing coating can effect the performance of the materials generally, so best practice is to just revamp the original coatings. It sounds to me more like seam issues, or even just water ingress through the zip itself. The Moondance has been known to have abit of an issue with water around the vent in wind driven rain - it just gets pushed up and through the vents space. Its an awesome tent though, not knocking it at all. Best bet is if you're expecting rain, just check the forecast and wind direction, and set up the tent orienting the vent opening away from the wind. In term of washing, you should be able to but I would recommend doing it by hand, not in a machine. Hope that helps! ~ Lauren
I imagine the groundsheet waterproofing is similar to the internal coating on a tent fly, so it would be the same process. It depends on how much product is required, and the cost of that vs replacement ~ Lauren
Hi, I want to know if is it a must to remove the deteriorated coating first before applying the tent fabric sealant ? I have a naturehike tent and it started leaking from the bottom of the tent everytime a heavy rain hits. But there's no deteriorated/broken coating to be seen on the bottom of the tent, should I try to remove/clean it with alcohol first or can I just straight applying a new tent fabric sealant?
Doesnt sound like recoating it will make much difference - the water ingress might be coming from seams, etc instead? The waterproof coating will bond to fabric, but wont be super effective layering over existing coating ~ Lauren
It depends on how bad the floor is leaking/how deteriorated the fabric is. Nikwax have this product - www.snowys.com.au/tent-gear-solar-proof, which will help with water repellency but if the PU coating on the fabric has deteriorated then it may be hard to bring it back to the original waterproof levels. ~ Ben
Stupid me decided to wash my bivy in the washing machine. The coating on the floor flaked off all over. The coating on the roof did not. Hoping I could do something like this to recoat it.
You can use the same process for a jacket and you'll see some improvements. But, if it is a breathable laminated fabric such as Goretex, Pertex, eVent etc then you won't be able to restore it to the original breathable performance levels as there is a bit more going on with these fabrics. You'd be best maintaining the DWR treatment on jackets, but if laminated fabrics start leaking then it might be time for a new jacket. ~ Ben
The tube of seam grip is now done after that use. Unless you have anything else that needs repair at the same time. The stuff sets solid in the tube even when your careful to put the cap back on immediately. The Nikwax is the worst DWR in the world. Shame you didn't talk about the spray can you had, as that stuff is the best for tents and Gore Tex jackets. It gives a factory like or better DWR.
Store the Seam Grip in the fridge, or even better the freezer, The English Trucker, it lasts loads longer. As for the silicone spray in the vid, we don't recommend this for laminated breathable fabrics like GoreTex as it negatively impacts the breathability of the fabric. The re-application of a DWR is never as good as the factory applied treatment simply because the dirt and grime in the fabric, even after washing, as well as the surface being a little more worn,. Regular treatments is best to maintain DWR effectiveness. ~ Ben
Nice video, but I think it should be more precise as to what sort of fly, what sort of tent floor etc. It is not indifferent as to what material and what treatment is done. Please expand on that. So, for example some tents are siliconized on the outside of the fly and ditto on the inside. Some are siliconized on the outside, but PU treated on the inside. Similar to tent floors. What to do with different floors? Also, I think you should explain why or why not to remove old taping and reapply new similar tape. Kind regards.
It won't restore it back to factory standards, it's more of a maintenance thing, it really depends on what condition your old tent was in as to whether these measures would have made a difference. ~ Ben
예를 들어 www.snowys.com.au/silicone-water-guard-300g와 같이 3-4캔이 필요할 것 같습니다. oyur 텐트 바닥이 새는 경우 방수를 공장에서 적용한 PU 코팅과 동일한 수준으로 복원하지 못하므로 접지 시트와 트레트먼트를 함께 사용하는 것이 좋습니다. ~ 벤
There will be some point at which the fabric is too old or deteriorated for any sprays or applications to work, Ahmad, I'd need to see the fabric in order to make a judgement here. ~ Ben
Hose ya tent, awning, whatever off. 250ml of non acid cure silicone and 1 litre of white spirit mixed thoroughly will seal everything. Paint it on with a cheap shit brush, done. Won't need to trim off bits .....pin holes or puncture marks (a hole). Enough for a whole tent.
Should we not be distinguishing between the two main types of fabric waterproofing methods -- polyurethane (PU) and silicone -- and hence the two main types of repair sealant we must use? I *think* silicone coating must be treated with silicone sealant but PU coating may be treated with silicone or urethane sealants?
Thanks for raising this @Martin Feuchtwanger! My understanding is that silnylon or silpoly tent flys have the silicone waterproofing integrated into the actual fabric, and so there is nothing to peel off or replace. The waterproofing maintenance options for these tents are the seam sealing and the external spray. Silnylon/sil poly tents are able to be seam taped, so the seal sealing method used in the video (using silicone seam sealer) is more than acceptable. The spray treatments for water repellancy on the outer side of the fly are also silicone based so are suitable for use. If you have a tent fly that is crumbling or pealing off an internal coating, that will be a PU treated tent, so the standard tent sealers will be a-ok. I'm happy for others with more knowledge on this to chime in here though! Always happy to get other opinions and advice. ~ Lauren
