dissolve silicone glue?

just ignore it?

rub it off between fingers?

I guess I should clarify. I'd like to remove the glue and patches so that I can stitch the holes.
There's a lot of added material and glue, and I'd really like to take another stab at the repair if I can get it all off.
It doesn't seem to come off very well with friction.

http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-52583.html

…silicone is very difficult to remove with solvent but that's about the best I can do for you.

I tried to hem some pants once with a bead of seamgrip. I don't recommend it.

I think your best bet is to cut out the patched areas and start fresh with new mesh.

The easiest and most successful route will probably be to just cut out the entire patched area and start fresh. It'll be a larger repair area but will be less messy.

It is my understanding that thermarest ues a polyurethane blue not silicone. And it is my understanding that once silicone sets nothing will desolve it. If it is polyurethane you could try mineral spirits.

Yes, the thermarest glue I've used was urethane, not silicone. Did the glue package instruct your girlfriend to heat it before applying it? If so, it is the TPU Thermarest valve glue, and you can get some of it off by immersing it in near-boiling water. The rest will come off with dichloromethane (paint stripper).

That's pretty messy, though. I agree with Dustin. Just cut it out and sew in a larger netting patch. I'm not familiar with your tent, but if the whole netting panel is smaller than 4×4 feet, I would just rip the seams, remove the whole piece of netting, and sew in a new one. This way, it would look like new. Sewing a netting patch into a netting panel always turns out looking pretty crappy, in my experience.