I have some Helly Hansen rain pants that got snagged by a nail recently and ripped. I’ve tried patching them with duct tape, a Helly Hansen repair kit, rubber cement, and none of it has worked for more than a few hours. It’s raining nonstop and I will have to buy a new pair if I can’t fix them. Any suggestions?
Brian
To prevent moisture buildup and improve performance, install a continuous air barrier—such as drywall or specialized membranes—under tongue-and-groove boards or other interior wall paneling.
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Replies
Were they clean when you tried the HH repair kit. My HH raincoat seems to preferentially attract skin oil and gets funky pretty quick.
I patched a raincoat by cutting patches from the unused pants of the same set, and gluing them on with universal PVC glue.
Live, Love, Forgive and Forget
quittintime
You can get a piece of the same, or similar material and sew it in - or just sew the hole closed if there is enough fabric. Then seal the sewing with some seam-sealer made for this purpose (but usually used to seal seams in tents). You can get seam-sealer at any decent outdoor/camping store.
HTH,
Andy
Some electricians have been known to clean the area around the hole with contact cleaner, only use one approved for plastics, and brush on a few layers of Scotchcoat. If you surround the area with electrical tape before applying the Scotchcoat you can remove it before it hardens and end up with a nice square with a neat edge. I think the rust brown of the coating look good with a commercial yellow coat.
I have seen a plumber use a piece of shower pan sheeting and the glue used to weld it to make a repair. Don't know if he used a prep compound, cleaner, before gluing.
Get a kit from an "outdoors" store for repairing air mattresses (the good kind, like Rockwater Design, not the kid's item). A decent chandlery have all sorts of water-proof patch kits too.
In a real pinch, use a kaki patch and seal/glue it on with UHU 'rubber goop' (UHU make a bunch of glues, it's important to get the UHU product labeled "Goop" and specific for patching rubber and able to withstand submersion)
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Go to ironworkergear.com They sell fabric cement that works real good.
I discovered an excellent raingear patching material quite by accident. A co-worker jokingly stuck a scrap of roll window flashing to my rainpants. It would not come off without ripping the fabric. I beleive the brand was 'Fortiflash'. Solution found.
Ken Hill
Edited 12/21/2003 4:32:13 AM ET by Ken Hill