HOW TO SAVE YOUR CANOPY FROM THE ELEMENTS

[hodgo]

    If you are like me and have very limited shed or garage space and own a vehicle with a canvas top you would be aware of the problems with the elements on a canvas canopy.
 I have solved the problem of protecting mine It take about 5 minutes to put in place and about 2-3 minutes to put away when you want to use the vehicle.
 
 You will need   a.    1 x Polytuf Tarp 3.6m x 6.1m about $40 @  hardwear shop
                         b.    2.x 6-8 2ltr milk bottles  full off water
                         c.    3.x 6-8  hooks buy from garden shop or make them
                         d.    4.  about  5 bungie straps
                         e.    5 swiming pool noodels
 
 Nethod place tarp evenly over vehicle  then slip noodels between canopy and tarp two along each side near the edge and two down the centre  and one across near the windscreen hang as many bottles of water along eachside as required acording to weather  mainly wind and use bungie straps on the end
   
     

[Vixen]

That's a pretty clever idea Hodgo with the milk bottles...stop the tarp blowing off at least 

[fc101]

I have a cheap caravan cover on my 101 and it works a treat - will put up a pic tomorrow.  Takes about 2 minutes to put on.

[juddy]

Great idea, what's the best solution for cleaning a canvas.

[RobHay]

Kill mould on canvas & treat it


1. Mould has formed as it is eating the fabric & dirt trapped in the material. The best way to get rid of it is kill it, and remove it, and prevent re-growth.

Killing:

NOTE THIS CAREFULLY: Add two dessertspoons of liquid bleach to 9 litres (or a nearly full bucket of water). That is little bit in a bucket of water. Too much & the bleach will damage the canvas.

WEAR GLOVES and...
Using a sponge and some 'Sard Wonder Soap', lightly wipe all the area, and sponge over. Don't make the mixture stronger as it will damage fabric & a little bit will kill the mould.

*NOTE- if you don't have Sard Wonder Soap use a hard water type soap used in laundrys.

NEXT:
Wait until the fabric is totally dry, and,

Prevention:

THEN, Buy yourself some copper sulphate crystals (Available at farm produce stores- Don't ask me why, but it is!) You need about 100Grams and they usually sell it by the Kilogram, so you don't need much. Last lot cost me about $1.00.

Mix two dessert spoon fulls (about 20 Grams) in 5 litres (or a half a bucket of water) mix until all the crystals are in the water & its pretty blue.
AGAIN - Don't add too much as making a stronger batch doesn't improve the recipe.

Wear gloves and...
Now you have two ways you can apply this mixture,
   A. with a sponge, or,
   B. put it in a hand sprayer and spray the mixture on.
You will need to wipe off the excess in both cases.

Don't inhale the mixture as its not good for you

This will provide protection for about three to four years if you're unlucky.

Its all available locally & is a cheap method of preventing mould.

As for applying a waterproofing compound on canvas that is also necessary.

[Vixen]

Oil of cloves is also supposed to work really well on mould as well. Oil of cloves is available at chemists

To use oil of cloves as a mold remover:

Add half a teaspoon of oil of cloves to 1 litre of water - no more than that.

 

Put it into a spray bottle, spray the surface and leave for 20 minutes.

Wipe the surface clean, then re-spray and leave it.

It will take between 24 to 48 hours for the mould spores to die and drop off.

[Vixen]

Rob, I can tell you why copper sulphate crystals are sold at produce stores.....it is put into stock water troughs to prevent algal growth 

[RobHay]

Sooooooo.......Its bad for us but good for what we eat...Uhmmmmmmm. Was wondering why the beef they serve to us at work had a bluish tinge to it.

[Uncle Ho]

NAH! reject beef bound for the Offal/Dogfood pots 

[Vixen]

NAH! reject beef bound for the Offal/Dogfood pots 

and the Woodford Prison canteen 

[navigation]

Not sure if it’s been mentioned elsewhere but here goes...

Aside from UV damage and general old age, often the mould takes hold due to water seeping in through the stitching and if ventilation isn’t sufficient, away it goes.

I first became aware of this problem when using the Australian Army tropical tents in South Korea and Taiwan.
It wasn’t an issue in sub zero temperatures but once the rains came, it didn’t take long to appear.

I remedied the problem by rubbing a bar of soap back and forth along the stitching, both inside and out.
The soap swelled up and stopped the water from getting in.
The rain washed away the excess on the outside such that you couldn’t see evidence of the soap.
I was quizzed by a very pedantic Bhagwan about the little flecks of soap that were barely visible inside and was instructed to wash the inside of the tent clean at the soonest opportunity.

I was pretty glad I treated the problem when I did as shortly afterwards I was dispatched to an almost deserted island which had a rat problem.
The rats could gnaw through a fibreglass crate in about 30 minutes and a 5x ply marine crate only held them off for about 45 minutes.
They didn’t want anything else to eat except the bars of soap.
I can’t remember how much soap I had on hand but it was probably about a dozen bars, and they wolfed the whole lot down in one helping, wrappers and all.

I remember cursing at the loss of the soap as no resupply was possible on that gig.