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Hack: how to repair rips in textile clothing CHEAP & EASY!


Stray

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Hello All, 

 

Quick hack for you in case someone ever needs it. How to repair tears in textile clothing cheaply and easily. 

 

My waterproof trousers are getting on a bit and I’ve consumed a great many pies since buying them 8 years ago. Naturally, the seams are under a bit more stress than the designers factored in and one of them burst. 

 

VDMA8H7.jpg

 

Wonderful as this waterproof synthetic fibre is, you cannot sew it as it frays badly. You’ll never get a stitch to bite. So I did some online searching and bought some heat activated tape designed specifically for Gore Tex. It’s basically fancy hemming tape. £3.50 for 1m delivered to my door. Can’t complain at that price! 

 

Seller says best method is heat gun and a small paint roller (£1 in pound store). It was Sunday and I couldn’t get a paint roller...but I did have a few tins of beer that roll nicely!!!

 

3wrqAVe.jpg

 

That’s everything you need: ripped trousers, heatgun, adhesive tape and a tin of John Smiths (what can I say, I like Yorkshire ale). 

 

Slip the tape under the rip and position it so it will grab both sides of the garment. Easy enough - just be accurate and extend the tape a bit past the edge of the rip. Oh, and round the corners of the tape too. This stops it peeling off easily. 

 

pMgJrF1.jpg

 

Then, with the rip held neatly together, apply heat and press down on the tape with the beer tin, rolling onwards as you go. Took about 5 passes to ensure the adhesive had soaked through both pieces of material. You need to give this stuff a chance to flow through, but be careful not to melt the synthetic fibres (they crinkle up like plastic if you hover the heat gun too long in one spot). 

 

oKbDAAJ.jpg

 

Once cooled it looked almost as good as new, except for a small wrinkle where my finger is. 

 

AwAIJz0.jpg

 

I probably failed to flatten the material properly there. No big deal though. At least I don’t get an arctic breeze flowing through my goolies through the rip. 

 

Might pursue a career as seamstress! 

 

Hope this helps someone out. 

 

Stray

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Nicely Done!!! 

 

Earlier this year, my old (back up) Motorport jacket came apart at the seams just above an elbow.  I had some 1000D cordura material and RTV sealant lying around but I didn't have your skillz so I ended up with:

 

Fugly Frankenstein, I know!  lol

 

 

20171210_143440 b.jpg

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Stray, do you have a name for the product or a link to the place you purchased from? Looks like it really did the trick.

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5 hours ago, Duc2V4 said:

Stray, do you have a name for the product or a link to the place you purchased from? Looks like it really did the trick.

Bought from an eBay seller called “drysuits”. Item number 332464160976

 

Link here: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F332464160976

 

12 hours ago, Samuelx said:

Fugly Frankenstein, I know!  lol

Samuelex, I commend you for repairing what most would have just discarded. I’m a big fan of “mend and make do” and don’t approve of this throwaway culture we have developed. 

 

It may not be pretty but it is clever and works. 

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On 12/10/2017 at 9:18 PM, Stray said:

Hello All, 

 

Quick hack for you in case someone ever needs it. How to repair tears in textile clothing cheaply and easily. 

 

My waterproof trousers are getting on a bit and I’ve consumed a great many pies since buying them 8 years ago. Naturally, the seams are under a bit more stress than the designers factored in and one of them burst. 

 

 

 

Wonderful as this waterproof synthetic fibre is, you cannot sew it as it frays badly. You’ll never get a stitch to bite. So I did some online searching and bought some heat activated tape designed specifically for Gore Tex. It’s basically fancy hemming tape. £3.50 for 1m delivered to my door. Can’t complain at that price! 

 

Seller says best method is heat gun and a small paint roller (£1 in pound store). It was Sunday and I couldn’t get a paint roller...but I did have a few tins of beer that roll nicely!!!

 

 

 

That’s everything you need: ripped trousers, heatgun, adhesive tape and a tin of John Smiths (what can I say, I like Yorkshire ale). 

 

Slip the tape under the rip and position it so it will grab both sides of the garment. Easy enough - just be accurate and extend the tape a bit past the edge of the rip. Oh, and round the corners of the tape too. This stops it peeling off easily. 

 

 

 

Then, with the rip held neatly together, apply heat and press down on the tape with the beer tin, rolling onwards as you go. Took about 5 passes to ensure the adhesive had soaked through both pieces of material. You need to give this stuff a chance to flow through, but be careful not to melt the synthetic fibres (they crinkle up like plastic if you hover the heat gun too long in one spot). 

 

 

 

Once cooled it looked almost as good as new, except for a small wrinkle where my finger is. 

 

AwAIJz0.jpg

 

I probably failed to flatten the material properly there. No big deal though. At least I don’t get an arctic breeze flowing through my goolies through the rip. 

 

Might pursue a career as seamstress! 

 

Hope this helps someone out. 

 

Stray

 

 

Very nicely done, thanks for the top tip!

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