Waterproofed the Tent

For those that care, or need to know, or ever wondered, I have successfully waterproofed a big wall tent.

This sucker was sooted up real bad and my wife and her sister were detirmined to get it clean. Between the scrub brushes and the Tide and Cheer there was not a hint of waterproofing left in the fabric.

It flooded out one group that tried to use it last year. Wetter inside than out during only a mild rain!

I set it up two days ago and sprayed it with Olympic waterseal from Lowes. This brand costs $45 per 6 gallon can/$10.88 per 5 qt. can.

This is a linseed base formula and can be applied in any way you desire. I used a garden sprayer with the fan shaped nozzle for a wide spray.

I saturated the tent both inside and out with extra application to the seams. The tent is a 12x14 and it required 4 gallons of liquid before I felt sure the roof was saturated and the walls adequetely protected.

I applied the liquid uncut, straight from the can. I added nothing. I took out nothing. I did not bake or chill the contents. I did not taste it to insure proper flavor. I simply shook it up and sprayed it on!

The tent has baked in the sun for two days but the tempature has never exceeded 80 degrees. Mild by any standards. The instructions recommended two days of dry conditions. You will want at least two days due to the oder of linseed oil that will linger until the tent is thoroughly dry.

It has been raining for two hours this morning. The rate has been about an inch per hour and the wind has been gusting up to about 20 mph. I have been sitting in the tent for one hour. No water or mist has passed through the fabric. The inside of the shelter is dry.

This tent is a Panther and is sunforager canvas. I have used this brand previously on a 10oz canvas painter's tarp, with successful water repellency, and the fabric is still sound after 5 years. I used it with 8 oz canvas and found the weave was too open to insure protection. A mist formed as the droplets blasted throught the open weave of the fabric.

If your tent is made from close weave cotton canvas this stuff will waterproof it at a reasonable price.

:results:

 

[musketman]

When spraying it on, did you need any type of resperator to keep from breathing in the Olympic waterseal mist?

I would suspect it would help when doing the inside of the tent...

 

[Stumpkiller]

Good to know. I covered my car's back seat with my canvas shelter square, and after about 80 miles doggie got car sick and what he sprayed it with weren't from Lowes. Either need to start over with a new one, or scrub it down well.

 

I did not wear a resperator, probably should have but I was born pre OSHA and never think of those things untill it's over.

It rained HARD after I posted yesterday. Flood warnings, extended thunderstorms for the remainder of the day, high winds. Inside the tent is still dry. I have found no leaks, even along the seams.

I'm glasd I was able to salvage this tent, it was not very old but was useless in its former condition.

:front:

 

[NORD]

I wonder if Thompsons water sealer would work too?

 

[BillinOregon]

Ghost: Just how flammable would you guess said tent is now? Just wondering.

 

[soquili]

Glad y'all are talking about this, I have a painter's canvas tarp that I want to waterproof for the floor in my tipi, and general camping use.

Here's some good websites on waterproofing canvas:

Good info on natural pigments with this one:
http://www.corpsofdiscovery.org/Html/cha...-%20Journal.htm

http://www.codesmiths.com/shed/workshop/techniques/oilcloth/

http://www.moscowfood.coop/archive/oilcloth.html

Is there any lingering odor with either linseed oil, boiled linseed oil, Olympic waterseal from Lowes, or Thompson's water seal? In other words which stinks the least??

Also, I figure the Thompson's and Olympic stuff will dry fine, but doesn't linseed oil dry sticky?
thanks, y'all !!
Patsy

 

[soquili]

Ghost: Just how flammable would you guess said tent is now? Just wondering.

On a similar note, one of those websites said this:
"Linseed oil is highly flammable and rags or papers saturated with linseed oil can spontaneously ignite. Do this project outside and dry out all rags etc. before throwing them away."

Let that tent dry GOOD before putting it away.
Patsy

 

I have seen camps burn and I would suspect that the tent is actually no more "flamable" than it was previously.

We are talking about cloth shelters, if you apply fire they are going to burn, and fast. The ridgepole was on the ground about 35 seconds after the flash at the last disaster I witnessed.

I am the eternal pessimist and keep my belt knife handy at night even in a "flame retardant" (note that it is not advertised as fireproof)shelter. Where do you want the new door?

This is why they call it "primitive camping". We are using materials and processes that are actually unacceptable by modern standards.

Linseed oil is one of the "safer" processes. A generation ago they were waterproofing tents with a solution of parifin wax disolved in gasoline brushed onto the fabric.

Safe and easy is what they do in the RV park at the bottom of the hill, just past the fort.

This tent will remain standing in the back yard for another 2 weeks so that it can "cure". It will then stand for 10 days in a reenactment camp. The smell is already dying down and the finish has been dry on the surface since a few hours after the treatment. We are not talking about oil soaked rags being thrown in the corner. The finish will be nearly a month old before it is folded and placed in the garage.

(you know you are a reenactor when you park two $20,000 vehicles on the street so you can keep the tents in the garage!)

:front:

 

Please note that Thompson's Waterseal is not rated for use on fabric. It used to be a favorite, but the formula has been changed to meet the regulations of California.

The new formula has not proven adequite for waterproofing fabric and seems to work best when applied to floors and porches!

:results:

 

[Claude Mathis]

I'm the last one who should be posting off topic, but...

As I remember the story (having read it): In 1944 a Ringling Bros. tent caught fire and killed hundreds of people. It was coated with a "traditional mixture of gasoline and paraffin" to waterproof it. The tent was very large (held a couple thousand people) and was consumed in about ten minutes.

 

In another life, I restored old military vehicles and the consensus was that the "new" Thompson's formula was NOT desireable for canvas. I'm glad to see the Olympic worked for you - I might have to try it on an M37 top.

 

[adbranaman]

I've heard you can "paint" a canvas with actual white latex paint.I knew a guy who did this and he said it worked fine.I used lindseed oil and mixed it with mineral spirits.Hung it on the line till it dryed.The paint method may be less flammable ,but I have no idea how it'd work on big projects like yours.

 

[No Powder]

Paint does not work well. Every time it is folded it will leak where the canvas formed a crease.

 

[Holley]

The material I use to water proof my tipis is Canvak. It is a bit more expensive...but is made for the purpose. :imo:

 

[musketman]

Waterproofing Canvas
Mix 3 cups soybean oil (available from grocery or health food store) with 1 1/2 cups turpentine. Paint on and let dry. Reapply after a year or two of hard use or outdoor exposure...

 

[Holley]

that sounds delicious. :what:

 

I set it up two days ago and sprayed it with Olympic waterseal from Lowes. This brand costs $45 per 6 gallon can/$10.88 per 5 qt. can.

This is a linseed base formula and can be applied in any way you desire. I used a garden sprayer with the fan shaped nozzle for a wide spray.

I attempted to use this product, until I read the label. It is not an linseed based product, it doesn't have any organic material at all in it. Here's a link to the MSDS safety sheets on it. http://www.msdsonline.com .
it contains, 40 to 70% naptha,Benzene, hydrocarbon waxes and paraffin wax.
Benzene is a well known cancer causing ingredient.
Thompsons water seal is very similiar, and they have not changed in several years by the date on the MSDS sheets.
Canvak is made by the Buckeye Fabric Finishing Company and is made of paraffin wax, the MSDS sheet urges to keep away from flames. http://msds.ehs.cornell.edu/msds/msdsdod/a325/m162088.htm
paraffin wax is nothing but naptha,petroleum spirits or Benzin. Section 5 - Fire Fighting Measures
CANVAK LIQUID WATERPROOFING
Unusual Fire or Explosion Hazard:
NEVER USE NEAR FLAME.NEVER USE WELDING/CUTTING TORCH ON/NEAR PRODUCT
I would recommend never using any of these products, not because they are non pc , but because they are flammable or cancer causing.
I would just go with a hemp fabric,or cotton/linen tightly woven, and if it leaks a little, water won't hurt you. The soybean oil may be a good solution too.

 

I will try to remember that I should not weld inside the tent, or eat the canvas.

I will have no more contact with this substance than I would if I were sitting on the deck, which is treated with waterseal, on a summer afternoon.

Exposure to this computer is probably exposing me to a much greater chemical and radiation hazard. We are unfortunate enough to live in a time when everything we do or touch is immoral, illigal, fattening or causes cancer.

I fear a wet wife more than the routinue exposure to obscure elements that might cause cancer if I am emersed in them for an indefinate period.

Thanks anyway.

:front:

 

[Holley]

Being in the tent and tipi buisiness for over 30 years.....those products have not hurt anyone I know of at tis time. I would still use any of these to water restist my tipi. The cost of hemp or linen for makeing these items is very costly at times. And when they leak, I do nto like getting the buffalo robes and rawhide wet.