Rust-O-Leum NeverWet

Does anyone know how much weight this would add to your gear?

Assuming it's wear resistance. I'd like to spray the bottom of my tent with a coating. Could be nice not to have to role up a wet tent. Even if it doesn't rain the bottom always seems to be wet from condensation…

Jason,

Did you get a chance to test the Never Wet?

If so, please let us know how it went!

-Tony

I treated my boonie hat, both inside and out. It added about 6 grams to the hate. The coverage was about 2 square feet, so I would say about 3 grams per square foot.

The product performed as advertised. I dunked the hate in the pool and it came out dry, except for the areas I missed. Coating the inside of a hat is a challenge, and I was in a hurry.

One odd thing I noticed, is that it give the material an odd texture. It is rough and almost sticky.

I am currently stuffing in day packs and will try it "a bunch" of times to see how durable it is.

Be sure to apply it outside. The primer has an extreme "nail polish" smell (I assume the solvent is acetone). Just taking the coated outside hat inside to cure stunk up the whole house!

I wonder what effect this product would have on condensation? I'm going to test that next. :)

Thanks for the update. Really looking forward to reading more about your results.

Question: Aside from the texture, have you seen any effect on the flexibility of the fabric once the coat is applied? For example, the stuff sacks you've treated, do they feel more stiff or are they as flexible prior to treatment?

Thinking of purchasing this product and applying it to regular 1.1 ripstop to see how it works repelling water.

I haven't applied it to nylon, yet. That's next.

The hat was stiffer after the application.

There was NO wetting out after contact. Although, it is hard to rub the fabric when it is wet as it is "Never Wet"! ;) Handling it with wet hands did not force any water through. Wearing the hat and swimming under water forced some water into the area between two layers of fabric. The fabric did seem to get a little damp from the water trapped in between the payers of fabric. However, that is not the type of application this product is intended for. The single layers of fabric never got wet.

So far, so good. However, like I said, it's all preliminary.

I'm also going to try a hydrostatic head test on the nylon. Can anyone point me to instructions on doing that? I think I understand the idea, but following a set procedure would make for a better test.

Larry,

Can you tell us if you notice a reduction in waterproofness as a result of the oils from your hands/head degrading the coating?

I believe that the instructions states that oil/petroleum products will effect the performance of the coating.

If body oils degrades the performance, then it might decrease the value of treating clothing/items that are touched by human hands all of the time.

Again, thanks for posting up your observations and sharing with the rest of us.

-Tony

But, I haven't done much. I have the hat stuffed for the last week in a book bag. Used the hat on a kayak trip and then stuffed it back in the book bag. I'll take it back out this weekend and see how it's doing.

The most intriguing idea to me is the effect it may have on condensation. I'm going to test that along with it's DWR properties on nylon soon. I'm hoping that condensation will run off the underside of an angled surface. This could have a huge impact on single walled tents. That is if it doesn't cause the condensation to drop off instead!
Or, maybe it won't condensate at all. Very intriguing…

I treated a 1 foot square of nylon. Prior to treating it weighed 4 grams and 5 grams after treating both sides. Apparently the material makes a difference. Makes sense, the nylon would "soak up" less of the liquid than the cotton hat.

It does make the material much stiffer. I just did a quick crumple and water test. It completely repelled water.

Tonight I hope to try a condensation test. Can anyone point me how to build a hydro-static head test device.

Well, the test failed. I had a hard time getting any condensation to form on either the treated or untreated fabric. I finally got some by wrapping the fabric around a glass of ice, salt and water. The droplets were smaller on the treated fabric. They also required more contact to release from the treated fabric. The droplets had an odd frosted color as if they were coated with the never-wet compound. I left some on the fabric after I removed it from the glass and many of the smaller ones were still there in the morning.

I first used steam and lots of to attempt to produce condensation. The fabric got hot. I tried putting an ice pack on the back of the fabric to promote condensation. The side with ice pack now has numerous failures of the coating and the hot only side had two pencil led sized failures.

It appears that extreme temperatures may lead to the coating becoming fragile and more susceptible to abrasion. I will continue normal testing and see how it holds up.

I'll post a few pictures later.

Larry,

Thanks for the last few updates.

Appreciate the effort that you are putting into testing and getting back to us.

Interesting observation you made about extreme heat possible degrading the performance of the coating.

Looking forward to hearing more results of your testing.

-Tony

I was reading up on it some more and I guess neverwet wasn't really meant for fabrics that you wear (even though they show it as a demo). The produce leaves a haze so it'll show up on any non white surface.

Also, when first exposing a treated item to water, the excess top coat will wash away, explaining the milky drops you saw during your tests.

It'd be nice to see a clothing version developed. Our more fabrics like Schoeller nanosphere, where the fabric is nanocoated/infused with silicon nanoparticles, and is supposed to be a much more durable, abrasion/dirt/oil resistant water repelling treatment from what I understand. But not much is made with it any more… Or at all?

Here are the white droplets:

Here is the condensation:

Take a look at reviews for this product.
They say it does not hold up to UV damage at all.
It will start flaking and and coming off on day 1.

I will have to test that. I'm putting the test sample outside now…

I agree more testing is needed, but that will come.

In the meantime, Gee Whillikers!! Think of the possibilities…

Spray the bottom of your canoe/kayak/packraft and just float over the surface of the water!
Spray the SOLES of your shoes/boots and cross over the top of rivers & streams!
Spray your bugnet for great ventilation, views, bugproofing yet no rain in a storm!
Spray your underarms and never have to worry about those embarrassing perspiration stains!
Spray your tinder/kindling and it's always ready for a quick light!
Spray your glasses & they'll never fog up again!
Spray your underwear & never worry about those "embarrassing senior moments"!
Spray your head and you'll always have a dry sense of humor!!!

Hope to see more info soon!

nm