Weathered Bimini

trantor12020 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-12-2008

My Sunbrella bimini is now 6 years. Last 2 years at about 6 monthly intervals I've been washing and retreating it with Scotguard Water Repellent and its been good and holds off rain water very well. However, the treatment will do nothing for the perforated holes along the sewing/threads, caused by stress/pull on the material. I'm thinking of painting nail-polish along these holes to seal it, prevent water from dipping through. What's your thought on this and should I paint on top, under or both sides ? Of course I'll try get a matching color nail-polish.

xort · #2 (**permalink**) 07-12-2008

How about seam seal? It's for camping stuff like tents. No personal experience with it on a Bimini. I would think nail polish might be too brittle.

camaraderie · #3 (**permalink**) 07-12-2008

Last Item on the Page is what Xort is talking about but one of the other items may be more suitable for your articular need.
Seam Sealers for Outdoor Fabric

T37Chef · #4 (**permalink**) 07-12-2008

Why not sew in some patches with Sunbrella material as needed? Sailrite sells a needle ( Sewing Machine Needles) that you can use in a standard sewing machine. My wife has done this very successfully, and it would reinforce those stress points your talking about. If your not into sewing, maybe this product would work, Plastiseam Seam Sealer - Waterproof Fabric Seam Sealer

BTW, if your Bimini is made from sunbrella, apparently you should NOT use just any water repellent, I was told you should use only the 303 water repellent, anything else can destroy the material. Maybe their just trying to sell their product I don't know? Here the 303, expensive but it works well: Protectants for Fabric Repellency and Waterproofing

trantor12020 · #5 (**permalink**) 07-14-2008

Thanks all, I'll try get seam sealers (don't know which brand is available here). As Scotchgard is no longer available in Singapore (spoke to 3M marketing) I've switch to using Starbrite Water Repellent. I've tried 303 sometime ago but didn't get the results I wanted.

donradclife · #6 (**permalink**) 07-14-2008

I've also had good luck with the Starbrite sealer that says it has Teflon in it. It doesn't discolor the sunbrella, and lasts about a year. t also seemed to seal up the stiching holes somehow--you could see daylight through them, but they still didn't leak.