Tarp: bonding circular patches for tieout reinforcements

**Palkom** · 04-29-2021, 12:15

I apologize if this is a stupid question, but what silicone are you using?

I've seen people refer to silicone, adhesive and seam grip. My understanding is that most kinds of silicone are adhesives, and that it should be possible to dilute some ordinary hardware store silicone using mineral spirits and glue with that, just as your ordinary DIY seam sealer, but other sources say that something along the lines of seam grip is needed. If the answer isn't clear, I'm going to conduct some experiments when I finally work up to ordering my supplies for my first tarp, but if someone already has put in the time, I'd love to see the results.

**cougarmeat** · 04-29-2021, 12:39

Palkom, looks like your first post - welcome to the forum. Your question isn’t stupid. I use the silicone provided by the vendor of the tarp. Or, understanding the fabric type (Silnylon or Silpoly) I use the appropriate commercial product. For example, Gear-Aid has two sealants, one is general purpose, one is specifically for SilNylon. So you might get a more useful answer if you specify the fabric you’ll be using.

There’s a large school of people who use an automotive silicone and dilute it with mineral spirits. I’m not that much of a chemist, nor to I have extra shelf space to store unused products. So thus far all my tarps made of the same fabric (SilNylon) and the only ones that needed sealing those from WarBonnet with panel pull-outs (the pull-outs, not the ridgeline, need sealing) and WB provides a small but adequate tube of sealer.

**infrastellar** · 04-29-2021, 13:05

I use silnet which is the one most shops offer, I am not the one to mix and try out some home made recipes. But I know too, there are many people making their own silicone. I suppose it is nothing difficult.