tent waterproofing?

[Cet]

Where can I get materials for waterproofing a canvas tent?

[Thomas H]

Sheep, boil a new sheepskin in water and scoop the oily stuff off of the top and spread on tent. It's called lanolin and is what stops sheep from shriking when it rains . Alternatively you could buy stuff called rolantech from here http://www.rolexlanolin.com/. glad to be of assistance.

[Sebastian K]

Thomas,

actually you can buy refined Lanolin. I heard it works as a charm concerning waterprrofing tents and keeping armour.

Regards

Sebastian

[Cat]

You could also try some kind of "outdoorsy" store, like Galyan's and Cabela's. They might have something you could use. Sporting goods stores might be a place to look also.

Cat

[Jeff W]

In the past I've bought the walmart brand of thomsons' water sealer to "water proof" canvas tents (approx. $40 for 5 gal) It worked pretty well. I put the tent into a CLEAN trash can and then poured the water sealer over it and let it soak for a few hours, and then set it up to dry. I need to do this about every 4 years.
Some thing that you need to consider is what does the treatment do to the flammablity of the tent.
hope this helps
Jeff

[Jehan de Pelham]

Someone just said in the Hemp Linen Tentage thread that Johnson's water seal made tents into virtual Hindenbergs.

Jehan, squire of Sir Vitus

[Templar Bob/De Tyre]

Someone just said in the Hemp Linen Tentage thread that Johnson's water seal made tents into virtual Hindenbergs.

From the Dragonwing Pavilions Page:

The third compound is Thompson's Water Seal, which people have sworn by, at, and off for some time now. It has all the properties listed above, plus the additional one of possibly harming your fabric. The people who make Water Seal say that it's supposed to be used to seal wood and masonry and such, and specifically exclude fabric from their list of applications, causing me to wonder if they know something that we don't. (If you doubt me, you can read it directly from the Thompson's web site).

One of the reasons people have had varying results in their use of Water Seal may rest in the product's formulation. The story I've heard is that at some point, Thompson's reformulated their product for the California market to comply with that state's "clean air" requirements. The formulation did significantly reduce the amount of noxious gases released into the atmosphere, but it also reduced the effectiveness of the compound as a fabric sealer. After a while, the story goes, they've started withdrawing the old formulation from other markets as well, so different people in different parts of the country are liable to get the new formulation instead of the old one.

In further research (you've gotta love Google), I found that Thompson's has a waterproofing agent specifically for leathers and fabric. The brand used to seal wood or concrete, however, is highly flammable.

[Guy Dawkins]

Canvac. Its available in gallon bottles and is applied with a brush. Available through Panther Primatives and Cabela's. I've also seen it at Galyan's. I think Cabela's is cheeper than Panther. I have never used this myself but had looked into it when I was considering making my pavillion. I ended up buying a tent from Panther. According to the Panther catalog, a gallon of Canvac will cover 100 sq' ft of canvas.

Do Not use Thompson's. Thompson's no longer recommends it for canvas.

[mattmaus]

Sheep, boil a new sheepskin in water and scoop the oily stuff off of the top and spread on tent. It's called lanolin and is what stops sheep from shriking when it rains .

Man... can you just boil the whole sheep? Stew and waterproofing in one!

Ahem....

Reterning to non smart alec mode....

Thanks for the info guys.

[adric]

Canvac. Its available in gallon bottles and is applied with a brush. Available through Panther Primatives and Cabela's. I've also seen it at Galyan's. I think Cabela's is cheeper than Panther. I have never used this myself but had looked into it when I was considering making my pavillion. I ended up buying a tent from Panther. According to the Panther catalog, a gallon of Canvac will cover 100 sq' ft of canvas.

Do Not use Thompson's. Thompson's no longer recommends it for canvas.

I canvac-ed my tent. Its been great! I brushed it on the the yard. Killed a 16x16 foot section of grass too! I got it through panther. the paint on process is tedious and may lead to fights with your wife but the stuff works great and doesn't leave a slimy resedue like thompsons and isn't going to torch you camp if a spark gets loose.

[Warren]

Dont know if its Still made, but Penta Wood preservative is pretty good. Also, the World Famous brand of canvas treatment in spray cans, found at most outdoor stores works pretty well. Have to do it regularly though.