We've just bought a second hand outwells Hawaii reef tent. It's in great condition for its age but we want to waterproof it before taking it on our first trip away (potentially to the lakes)
We've been bought Scotchgard and wondered if anyone had experience with this, is it the right product? And is it a case of putting the tent up and waterproofing it that way?
Any tips much appreciated
Thanks
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scotchguard? you should have bought fabsil, but and a big but, have you checked the tent over to see if you actually need to do this? its not the best of ideas to do because you will be having to redo it EVERY year after, whereas if you soaked the tent first and allowed it to dry any fibres may swell up and plug any gaps
Quote: Originally posted by marg6 on 27/7/2022
scotchguard? you should have bought fabsil, but and a big but, have you checked the tent over to see if you actually need to do this? its not the best of ideas to do because you will be having to redo it EVERY year after, whereas if you soaked the tent first and allowed it to dry any fibres may swell up and plug any gaps
Yes it's this one:
https://amzn.eu/d/eXSCBAi
We put the tent up and looked but couldn't see anything but didn't spray/soak it so will have a look at doing this first!
So just putting it up again and spraying with a hose to see?
so £10 a can, and how many have you bought to do the whole of your tent? i have used a similar size to do clothing, one can covers across the shoulders and both arms, do the maths, its going to cost you an absolute fortune to do your whole tent!
the correct stuff would have been buying fabsil.
but yes put the tent up again and soak it thoroughly with a hosepipe, dont panic if you see drips, then leave to dry, and then wet again to check, repeat a few times of soaking/drying and then you will know for sure BEFORE you go putting any product on your tent.
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Hawaii Reef - orange and brown sort of??? The colourway didn't stay on the Outwell range for long but is a real eyecatcher amongst the khaki and blue. What fun. Like a Terry's chocolate orange.
Was it dry after you tried the soaking technique above?
Polycotton/cotton canvas arae much quieter and cooler and warmer than synthetic tents.
But, if you didn't know already, if it does rain when you're inside, don't let anything dig/lean into the canvas: that would break the waterproof 'barrier' and allow wet in. I learned this from my father shouting at us when camping as a child! It's easy for a chair or something to rest against a wall and then... in it comes. Even with synthetic tents, that runs the risk of damaage to the flysheet anyway.
I hope you have lots of lovely memories in it.
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Be very careful of " waterproofing" a polycotton tent!.
Id put it up 1st and use either the rain or hose /sprinkler on it to see if it is already watertight. The fibres swell on cotton and polycotton tents when they get wet so they can initially allow a fine mist to come in, the the cotton fibres swell and it becomes watertight.
If you waterproof it, you stop the fibres from getting wet evenly and you then prevent the fabric from doing its natural job of swelling.
There are waterproofers specifically for pure cotton and polycotton tents that allow a certain amount of moisture to wetten the fabric and further rain beads and runs off the tent.
You may well find that the tent, if not much used will be perfectly waterproof as it is - id check 1st before adding a proofer to the fabric.
Lovely tents btw and even when they fade on the outside, the inside still has that lovely ornage glow brightening even the dullest of days!
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Topic: Outwells HAWAII REEF waterproof
via mobile 27/7/2022 at 8:51pm
