Waterproofing Stitching Lines

[Humakt]

As I am sure anyone else did who ventured out this weekend, I managed to find one or two holes in some pieces. Particularly along seam lines.
Anyone know a good way to make seam lines and sewing lines waterproof? I was going to rub household sealant into the thread lines, but I only have acrylic based sealant in the shed, and not sure if I need a silicone based one - and it's to seal one of those rubberised German army ponchos (it was the thread line around the neck piece that was leaking!).
Cheers for any help/suggestions.

Very windy and rainy it was, but also very exciting! I managed to get set up before the rain came, but the constant rain found those little holes and a steady drip drip drip started! All good fun though.

[Martin]

Silicone is the stuff you need. You can either buy the expensive 'tent sealer' from camping shops or you can pick up silicone bathroom sealant from any diy shed, glazier, builders merchant etc. Acrylic won't do the job as it never goes off, and is just not the right stuff.

Many tents come with the seams untreated. I understand that this is expected/tolerated in the rest of the world but we expect them to be already finished in this country. Anyway, if you do a google search for tent seam sealing, you will get any number of hits on what you need to do.

Martin

[comanighttrain]

I feel you with the bad weather...my tent was actually vibrating in the rain

[jus_young]

Try this stuff:

http://www.fernox.com/products/traditional+plumbing+products/jointing+compounds/ls-x

Comes in smaller tubes rather than big cartridges. It can be applied quite thinly and remains flexible. It can also be applied when the surface is wet and dries pretty quick so is very good as an emergency repair job. I use this stuff a lot on pipe fittings that are under 6 bar pressure and its fantastic stuff.

[happybonzo]

This stuff does the job for tents - http://www.millets.co.uk/product/095847/seamsure-seam-sealer---60ml.html?attribute=163743

[JonnyP]

I used some Acrypol roofing sealant on my old goretex army jacket.. It didn't work, and stuck to my shirt underneath lol..

[Humakt]

Turns out we did have some silicone based sealant in the shed. So I've mixed some with a little white spirit and rubbed it into the seam and stitching.
I left it hanging on the line this morning so it could dry. When I get home I'll see how well it's done the job.
If it's worked (and I've seen others swear by this method) i'll have saved myself a few quid on buying specialist sealants (which are probably little different just ten times as much for ten times as less because they've called it 'tent sealer'. We'll see).