Silk coatings

[Bob Gross]

There has been a lot of use of silicone-treated nylon.

Would silicone-treated silk make any sense?

I have some silk that is much thinner and lighter than nylon. I wonder what silicone treatment would do for it.

–B.G.–

[Brett Rasmussen]

The last time I was painting 4:1 diluted silicone on some silnylon I was wearing a light silk shirt and got some on it in a spot. It soaked right in and looked like it could be waterproof. I think nylon and silk are not extremely different in terms of strength, so very thin silk that is much lighter than comparable ripstop may also be that much weaker so applications would have to chosen accordingly. The spot on my shirt made me think about waterproofing silk.

[Bob Gross]

The diluted silicone will give fabric a slight clear or whitish finish. Suppose that I wanted to give it a slight color tinge. What sort of additive would work with the silicone? I'm thinking it would not be a vegetable dye, but I don't know. Maybe the ink out of a Magic Marker?

I have a bunch of white silk fabric left over from the last project, and it needs some color.

–B.G.–

[Walter Carrington]

90 years ago there were ultralight silk tents with no waterproofing. They apparently worked reasonably well when pitched tautly. Silk stretches, so you might have had to get up in the middle of a rain storm to tighten it.

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