GEAR AID Seam Grip TF Tent Fabric Sealer for Waterproofing, Clear, 4 fl oz

This stuff was easy to use and apply. Our tent was starting to leak and we applied it to the inside of the sides and the floor plus the inside of the fly. We have a big 6 person tent and went through about 6 bottles (don't be fooled by the label saying you need way less). It is a bit of a pain in the butt to apply this to a large tent but did it ever make a difference. Totally worth it. You can barely tell it has been applied. It didn't leave a weird coating on the tent or anything. Make sure you have enough time to do the whole thing in one or two sittings and you track what part you've already done because it is hard to tell where you've already been once it starts to dry (which is quick) so you need to have a system to track that. I definitely did at least one section twice because of this. It helps to have a second person who can hold up a board or something on the outside of the tent while you "paint" on the product if using it on the sides. The floor is easy to do and I suggest you take the fly off and lie it down on clean groud before you do that. I followed instructions on the REI website on how to re-waterproof a tent and started by cleaning it in my bathtub first. Glad we will only have to redo this every few years.

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.

Thumbs up to Gear Aid. Tent needed some TLC.

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.

Seemed to work well to close a hole in my spandex base layer…. So far so good.