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Loctite PL as seam grip wp substitute


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  • #3675941
    Robert F
    BPL Member

    @rmfinn3

    https://imgur.com/a/6UPlXhD
    Does anybody have experience with this stuff? I am looking for something that does the same thing as seam grip wp. Would be nice to find a substitute that can be bought at a hardware store. Trying to find an adhesive that works for bonding cuben fiber and repairing sleeping pads.

    #3675959
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    they’re both polyurethane

    so is “shoo goo” – it seems like it’s a little thicker

    seamgrip is $26 for 8 ounces, delivery Sept 21 on amazon

    #3675960
    Robert F
    BPL Member

    @rmfinn3

    thanks Jerry! I actually placed an order for an 8oz tube of seam grip wp from Amazon. Now that delivery times are are in the week or longer range instead of the 1-2 day range I’ve been getting impatient.
    I happened to be in a big box hardware store and was drawn to the adhesive section. I figure the polyurethane based adhesives can’t all be that different…

    Presently I’m testing the loctite pl between two pieces of cuben. The loctite certainly appears different that the seam grip though. We’ll see how it behaves once cured.

    has anyone found a product available at a hardware store that does the same thing as seam grip wp? Is there a characteristic unique to Mcnetts seam grip wp that makes it different from other polyurethane based adhesives available from hardware stores? Looking around google I’m having a very hard time finding information that helps me answer this. Seems like shoe goo is worth a look though. Has anyone tried bonding cuben or repairing sleeping pads with Shoe Goo or something sold for similar purposes?

    #3675965
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    I think that seamgrip contains toluene.  That’s what makes it more liquid.  Gearaid says you can use toluene to dilute it.

    Toluene is nasty stuff.  Flamable.  Causes cancer?  Use outside and stay upwind.

    I’ve used toluene to dilute seamgrip and it spreads into a thinner coat, like for a larger surface.

    Maybe shogoo contains less toluene so it’s thicker.  Same with your loctite product.  If you added toluene you could make it better for sealing seams.  Shogoo’s intended application is to repair the sole of a shoe, thus it’s thicker.

    Just educated guessing here, starting point for experiments.

    After using seamgrip, put it in plastic bag in the freezer.  I nursed mine for years.  Gradually, more and more of the tube became solidified but there remained some usable liquid.  When I’ve left at room temperature it dries out within a year.

    #3676149
    Sam Farrington
    BPL Member

    @scfhome

    Locale: Chocorua NH, USA

    McNett has conveyed some or all of their business to a new owner.
    But the product is still sold as SEAMGRIP in the same tubes, but as you point out, some are labelled SEAMGRIP WP..

    At one time I tested all the PU adhesives and sealants on the market, and SEAMGRIP came out way ahead as a seam sealer for fabrics. More recently, I bonded the coated sides of a PU coated nylon with SEAMGRIP, and the bond was so strong I could not peel the two pieces apart. Because SEAMGRIP is a sealant, it has a lot of viscosity, and it took some time to make the coats on the fabric very thin for bonding,  as Jerry suggests.

    So ordered a can of thinner suggested on a BPL thread, tried a bond, and the pieces easily came apart after curing. Don’t know if the thinner had Toluene in it.  It was noxious stuff, and I got rid of it.  I’d rather take the time to apply the regular SEAMGRIP very thinly.

    Loctite has been selling a 2 part PU adhesive for years, and at one time, many posted that they were using the low viscosity version to bond Cuben cloth from Cubic Technologies. (As most know, Cubic Tech sold their products and the material is now called DCF (Dynema Composite Fabric), and from tests posted on BPL, DCF appears to be more water resistant.)  I bought some of the low viscosity from McMaster Carr, and found it to be quite viscous, and not worth the extra expense for bonding PU coated fabrics.

    I think the test bonds you are doing with the one part Loctite product should tell you it compares to SEAMGRIP for bonding DCF to DCF.

    #3752311
    Peter K
    BPL Member

    @peterindc

    Hi team, apparently I’m a poster child for this thread. I just used Shoe Goo to reattach the sole on my wife’s Keens. Now I need to reattach the clear window which has flaked off her Marmot Limelighter tent fly (note: not UL, we have lighter tents for backpacking). I read that clear windows can be made from PVC or polyethylene. The instructions for Shoe Goo say it doesn’t work well on polyethylene. I do see an April 2022 video on YouTube (How to Repair a Tent Window Using Gear Aid Seam Grip WP), which has me headed to pay $8.95 on Amazon for 1.5 oz of Seam Grip WP, rather than $3.68 for 1.0 oz of Loctite Vinyl, Fabric, and Plastic Adhesive, unless someone thinks they’re the same. Another opinion was to use a clear 100% silicone bathroom caulk. Anyway this woman with the same tent and same problem seemed to have luck with the seam sealer, which based on this thread is more liquid and possibly will penetrate better into the silnylon.

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