by Jim Wood » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:16 pm
Hi... regarding your questions:
1. This treatment won't work on untreated ("raw") or DWR treated nylons or polyesters. The treatment will only bond to fabrics that have already been impregnated with silicone. If applied to such untreated fabrics, the coating will simply rub off.
2. This treatment also works great for silnylon tent canopies as a way to eliminate the "misting" that can sometimes occur in heavy rains. Misting happens when rain drops striking the outside surfaces of the silnylon fabric are "shattered" into thousands of tiny droplets and actually forced through the fabric, creating a wet fog (or "mist") inside of the shelter. With some silnylons, the misting problem can be quite substantial and can actually soak the gear inside the shelter if the rain is hard enough and lasts long enough.
For this purpose, rather than a 1:3 mixture, a 1:5 mix applied to the inside canopy surface works well and weighs a bit less (by maybe an ounce or two). I have field tested this canopy coating on two of my own home-built shelters and it completely stopped the misting problem.
3. The coating has no noticeable impact on the pliability of the fabric.
Hope this helps...
Jim Wood.