Gear Aid Seam Grip TF Tent Fabric Sealer for Waterproofing, Clear, 4 fl oz

I was extremely hesitant to buy this, based on the multitude of reviews that claimed it was very difficult to apply, and Gear Aid's coverage claims are a lie. But I figured I'd give it a try before buying a new tent.Gear aid is correct. It covers an incredible amount of surface area. It is easy to apply. I used a single bottle to refresh an entire tent. I did the floor in about 40 minutes. I did the rain fly of a tent in about an hour. There's still a little bit left in the bottle.The best strategy is to use short 4-6 inch strokes, pushing the bottle away from you. Just keep moving over inch by inch, and cover the area, then back up and do the same thing again. You'll see the surface gets slightly damp that you've treated. It starts to dry relatively quickly, and sometimes can be hard to see where it's already been treated because of that.I haven't yet sprayed down the tent to see efficacy, but the old coating was still mostly effective so that won't be definitive. And from the small amount of liquid on my fingers, which dried into a polyurethane coating, seems pretty clear it works.Buy it, treat your gear, and enjoy. It's slightly tedious, but not hard. All you're doing is getting the surface slightly damp. You have to make sure to keep pressing the bottle down and squeezing a little bit during your strokes. Occasionally, stop, press down hard, and squeeze, to resaturate the sponge fully.Easy, not super time consuming, and a very inexpensive way to rehab a tent.You're painting on an extremely thin layer which closes the pores of the fabric and makes it waterproof. You are not putting down a multi-millimeter layer of polyurethane. Those people who claim it uses seven bottles, or four bottles, and that you need a paint brush, don't understand how DWR works. Think about the last waterproof jacket you bought, or your tent when it was brand new - it did not have a multi-millimeter thick layer of polyurethane on it. It looked and felt like fabric, and invisibly had a DWR coating on it. That's what you're restoring. That's what this does. And the sponge applicator allows out exactly the right amount of liquid.

The instructions state "Squeeze bottle to saturate applicator. Spread very thin..." So I inverted the bottle and squeezed. Nothing happened, so I squeezed harder. The top popped off, making a heck of a mess on the folding table I was using. After a lot of cursing and cleaning, I studied the top. It has a plug that sticks out into the sponge tip, so you have to press on the sponge tip to push the plug open and allow the sealant to flow. So press it firmly down onto your tent, THEN squeeze. It's a clever design to keep the bottle from leaking, but if you don't understand how it works it's going to be very difficult to use. Every time you want to squeeze out more sealant, you have to first press the sponge tip down firmly.OK, that said, I've used this sealant before and it's effective. McNett should change the instructions to state "Press applicator tip down firmly to open valve, then squeeze bottle to saturate applicator."

This is a very good solution for repairing worn out PU coating on the inside of backpacks.Be sure to remove the remnants of the old PU coating completely (a time consuming process) and then apply this sealer and it works great. I used Isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle to help remove the old coating.This sealant also restores some of the structure to the fabric so it's less floppy.One 4 oz container covered the all interior compartments and pockets of a 36 liter backpack with some left over for future use.

My PU coating had become sticky. I washed my tent and rainfly several times in concentrated laundry detergent, until most of the coating had pilled off (coming off as small round lumps, or pills). I let it soak for several hours in a tub of concentrated laundry detergent and water and agitated. I didn't measure, but probably had 4 times the normal amount of detergent. Then I scrubbed it with a brush to remove residual, finally washing in Woolite and then twice in just water. I let it dry thoroughly. I tried various ways to apply this product. What worked best for me was to pour it into a measuring cup, then use the applicator, dipping it into the cup to wet it, then making quick back and forth motions on small areas at a time. It absorbs into the fabric, so even though it doesn't go on evenly, it smooths itself out so long as I got the application fairly uniform. Dipping the applicator worked very well, and the applicator slides nicely across the fabric, minimizing the bunching of the fabric, and it actually goes on fairly fast even though the applicator is small. The final finish looks great, though the fabric is a little stiff. I ended up using about 3 bottles (12 oz) for a Sierra Design two person tent floor and rain fly.

This works as described. It is easy to apply, and it very effective at re-waterproofing the floor of a 15 year old Coleman tent.

Purchased this to be sure my new tent wouldn’t leak. Have not tested it during a rain storm so this is more about the application process. First, be sure to pull out the tent and stake tightly before you start. Seems like a no brainer but... I started by using the applicator and while it worked, it was a slow process and I struggled to get the bathtub sides and seam covered. I pulled the applicator top out with a pliers and poured a small amount into a plastic cup. Using a 1” foam brush I quickly finished the rest. I also did all the seams on the underside of my rainfly. The product went on well and dried quickly. Keep your layer thin!!

I used this last year and no leaks.