Alternatives to Canvas?

[WoodSmith]

So I made one of my at least weekly trips to my local BigBox Hardware store today and happened on a "Pro-appreciation day". After scoring some free food I talked with some of the reps that were peddling their wares.

One that caught my eye was a guy from a company called GAF, with a new alternative to roofing felt, called Feltbuster - High Traction Roofing Felt. It comes on a four foot wide, 250 foot long roll and is a light grey in color, by memory, the price was $85 per roll, and the datasheet says that an entire roll weighs 23 pounds. One side appears woven - similar to a standard issue blue tarp, the other side has a slightly fuzzy fabric like feel to it, with virtually no grain apparent. It "Resists UV degradation for 90 days" and will "not absorb moisture, become brittle in cold weather or leach oils". it is not "Weather-Proof" ie - they do not recommend using this to make long term temp roof patches out of.

I scored a couple samples - it does not tear, and while I only have five by six inch pieces, it does not appear to stretch. I asked about wider rolls, the rep said he did not know of any or anticipate it coming out that way.

It seems like it would be lighter than canvas for those who are watching their weight than canvas. A very scientific "can I stick a Bic pen through it?" test did result in a hole, but took a remarkable amount of force, increasing as the diameter of the pen increased. I do not forsee any shrinkage issues, though I will soak and dry one sample as a test. The downside of no stretching would be covering any compound curves, all you are going to be able to do is cut darts and folds.

I will take the two samples that I have and stick them to a piece of green foam this evening (hopefully). I got a quart of Gripper and have TB2, TB3 and GG already. One sample will use Gripper - does anyone have strong feelings about the glue for sample #2?

Pic of the data sheet and samples in my Dropbox, I didn't want to reduce the file size and loose resolution.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11255798/GAF%20feltbuster.jpg

WoodSmith

[GPW]

Wood , sounds like the same material those recycle grocery bags are made of ... Not woven , but pressed on one side to looks so ... UV does break that material down over time ( I’ve been using those bags to grow veggies in , they seem to last a season ... filled with dirt and soaking in a shallow tray ) ..
Since the bags usually have printing on them , they should hold paint fine too , and the paint would protect the material from the UV ... Sounds like it’s worth a try huh ...

For all the research here in the past several years , I’m of the belief now that Linen or Hemp would be the best fabric type material , stronger than cotton and polyester ...
L or H are both very Ancient and well proven fibers ... strong and lasting ... Natural, Green and non toxic ... resistant to rot ...

Ps. if you can stick a pen through your canvas , maybe it’s a bit too thin for trailer work eh ...

[WoodSmith]

Well, I didnt get them glued down, but I did submerge one sample in hot water and let it air dry. It didn't seem to absorb much water if any. Prior to submerging it, I put it on a piece of paper and marked the edges with a sharpie. several hours later, the below photo shows that there is no discernible shrinkage.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11255798/no%20shrinkage.jpg

I also used the point of my knife and with some worrying of the weave, managed to "unweave" a few strands in the corner of one sample. It is definitely a woven material, which is then somehow bonded to a sheet. The photo probably wont do it justice, but you may be able to make out a frayed corner. It was not an easy thing to do, there will be no frayed edges on any seems with this stuff.

I pointed my browser at Big Duck Canvas and checked the price on 10 oz canvas, the calcs indicate that it works out to $0.26 per sq ft (on sale now!) for a 20 yd bolt. At $85 for a 1000 sq ft roll, the price for this stuff works out to $0.085 per sq ft. Eight and a half cents per sq ft. You could put 2 layers on and still pay less, assuming that you could find a friend to split the roll with you (even adding in the cost of another coat of gripper).

As for being able to poke a hole in it, I'm fairly confident the working end of a Bic Pen could poke through canvas as well. I'm not claiming that this is a panacea, just that it warrants further testing. Unfortunately, (or fortunately depending on how you look at it -) I don't have any roofing to do in the near future, so I will not be purchasing any quantity to test with beyond the 2 samples that I got today.

WoodSmith

[GPW]

Oh That stuff !!! (looking at the picture ) That’s different !!! I had a roll of that labelled House Wrap ... Tough material , but might be difficult to glue with something that won’t melt the foam ...

Wood , it’s not that I’m in love with canvas, but it’s just the stuff that works the very Best for what we’re doing here ... and it repairs easily too ... something else to consider ... As has been discussed before you can cover a Foamie with old bedsheets ...Couple layers should be pretty Strong ... and it’s easy to work with ...
For real thrifty , try Newspaper ... same deal , several layers ... easy , and RECYCLED ... Green !!! This has all been discussed before in the Big thread ....

I just got ahold of some “Landscape Fabric” (made for weed control) that was very cheap (dollar store/ 3’X45’@ $4) and looks like the stuff the recycle grocery bags are made of ... 100% Polypropylene .. Must test a sample soon ...

[Tom Kurth]

Looks like polypropelene. (sp?) If it is, it's some of the toughest fabric you'll ever find, but getting anything to stick to it is almost impossible.

Best,
Tom