Restoring waterproofing / water repellent... (1 Viewer)

[Mental Nomad]

So I have a table with a replaceable insert for the felt. I have one felt with SSC, and another with a soft, unpatterned "felt" fabric.

The SSC was water-repelling. If someone spilled, the liquid would stand on it and we'd get it with paper towels. Sometimes a little would seep through and it would need to dry out - we'd swap it out for the other felt - but other times, it would be bone dry after simply hitting it with a paper towel.

Over time, the water-repelling aspect was slowly wearing off. Then, recently, I decided there were enough small stains from various foods over time (especially chocolate) that I'd give it a good cleaning - soap and brush. The cloth cleaned up great; looked really good!

I put it in play last week. A spill happened (ironically, it was me... so I'm not dis-inviting the spiller). And the speed cloth wicked up the spill instantly. I mean the liquid clearly disappeared right into the fabric and padding in a fraction of a second.

The water repelling probable came from a coating that was wearing off with use.. and which I washed away when I gave it a thorough cleaning.

The cloth is in good shape, otherwise. Any suggestions on restoring the water-repelling aspect?

There are water-proofing sprays sold for tents, for leather... looking for good recommendations on a product to try. I'm fine with a product that takes a little "extra effort" if it will work better and last a longer time.

 

[Ronoh]

Don't know what you should use but you don't want to use seam sealer for tents.

 

[BGinGA]

Teflon spray for fabrics.

 

[Wils]

Be careful that whatever you buy doesn't stink.

 

[Mental Nomad]

Leaning:

https://www.amazon.com/3M-Scotchgard-Fabric-Protector-10-Ounce/dp/B00006IA8O

 

[mummel]

Not sure how this stuff affects the sliding of the cards, but its highly rated, better than the Scotchgard.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...8_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8YNZ0QX91Z0KHK8JD25D

 

[BGinGA]

Whatever you get, first try it on sample pieces to hone in on how much to use and to see how it feels.

 

[Junior24xx]

interested in results, i've got a felt that has same issues.

 

[Poker Zombie]

I have used Scotchguard on my SSC. No detrimental effects, cards glide well. I sprayed it and the rail before it saw it's first day of play, so I can't say if it reduced card glide at all, but I can say they still glide well.

It's been 4 years, and I often run the vacuum over the table to pick up debris (after removing the rail), so the Scotchguard may be worn off by now. Don't really want to put it to the test though...

 

[mummel]

This would be a great idea for someone to investigate (i.e. recoating SSC vs replacing it). What works, what doesnt. Mine is new is I cant contribute.

 

[Andrew Marks]

The first thing I want to ask you is whether you are also seeing white marks show up on the cloth when you scratch your fingernail or the edge of a chip tray across it? This is a phenomenom that I have experienced with several custom printed SSCs from two different printers both after about a year of once a week play. It may be somewhat related to the waterproofing wearing out. I also know think that any kind of wet washing of the SSC (even rubbing down with a damp cloth) contributes to the wearing away of the waterproofing, deteriorating card slide, and visibility of scratch marks on the cloth. The irony is that the scratch marks disappear with a damp cloth wipe down, but obviously more occur every time we use the table.

I can tell you that I have never been able to significantly improve card glide once it starts to deteriorate on SSC. I tried many different things, but none worked. I was able to restore the water repelling ability of the SSC with a product called Atsko Permanent Water-Guard - 10 oz. Aerosol, which I purchased on line directly from Atsko. I layed the table on its side and saturated the entire cloth with the spray, allowed it to dry for several hours and then ironed the cloth using the synthetics setting. You are supposed to apply heat to "lock in" the waterproofing and if you don't want to use an iron, you can also use a blow dryer (the other option is to throw it in the dryer but that's impracticle unless you want to remove the cloth). I tried to keep the iron temperature below 250F to avoid any damage to the cloth. I found that this improved card glide a little bit, but nowhere near back to the original state, but it certainly restored the waterproofing. And I will also tell you that the waterproofing is not permanent and will wear off again because of play at the table.

I just think that whatever is responsible for both card slide and waterproofing on the SSC surface will wear away after awhile and once worn away makes the cloth (at least custom dye-subbed clothes) susceptible to showing scratches.

 

[mummel]

Interesting. I guess I can plan to replace my cloth every couple of years depending on use. Probably around $100.

 

[Tommy]

What color is your table?

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