Canvas Tarp - dewaxing?

CindyOR · #1 12/01/08, 01:35 PM

I purchased a large tarp to put down in the pen our animals are in while out on display. It is a cotton canvas tarp, dark green. Weighs a ton, but it is 16' x 20', which is the size we needed. We used to use 4 smaller tarps to cover the area, but the animals would pick at the seams where they matched up or overlapped and ended up making a mess, spilling water/food containers and chewing on the tarp edges. We did not have the issue with the other tarps that we're having with the new tarp.
Yesterday was the first day we used our new tarp and there is some kind of coating on the tarp that turns it in to an ice skating rink, epecially after a few pee sessions. We cover the pee with wood shavings, but once liquid hits this tarp, it does not soak in, and the tarp ended up getting very slick by the days end.
The tarp obviously has some kind of coating, but I don't know what kind. Either wax or a grease coating of some kind.
Does anyone know of a way to dewax or degrease or a solution to use to wash the canvas (spray wash not machine wash) to get this coating off?
We can't use the canvas again until we figure this out or we'll end up with an animal with a broken leg from slipping and falling, so want to figure this out soon.
Thanks,
Cindy

Windy in Kansas · #2 12/01/08, 02:36 PM

Tarps are specifically made to shed water. They are designed to cover truck loads of grain or whatever and keep the contents dry.

For your purpose I think that a large painters canvas drop cloth would better serve your needs.

As to removing the waterproofing, which will hasten deterioration, probably the easiest is to leave it outside exposed to the weather. Not sure how long the tarp will last once the waterproofing is gone and is exposed to the corrosive acids of urine, the organisms from the soil it is contact with when laid down, etc.

CindyOR · #3 12/02/08, 03:00 PM

Since we used it over the weekend, I did lay it out on our driveway and sprayed off all the wood shavings we had put down to keep the slipage to a minimum. When the shavings were gone, we could see a definite oil sheen. The tarp is like an oil cloth.

We've used the painters cloth before, but it is just too flimsy for our use. The animals chew holes in it the first day. But, since they are realitively inexpensive, I may, to get me through the winter season, buy one to put over the tarp to just give them some solid footing.

Right now, I left the tarp on our driveway in the rain, hoping the weatherize it a bit more. I will leave it out after our display season is over to weatherize some more.

If I had been looking for a coated cotton canvas, this would have been just the thing. It is definitely coated and repells water in an outstanding manner. But I just wanted the cotton canvas, untreated

Wisconsin Ann · #4 12/02/08, 03:37 PM

Not sure it will work, but you can try (in a small area to test) mineral spirits. that pretty much removes waxes. If it's been commercially treated (likely) to be waterproof, the stuff sinks into the threads of the canvas. Washing with heavyduty soap (laundry soap probably) should remove enough of it to let it work as you want it to. Lay it out, use warm (hot will shrink the threads) water and a stiff push broom if you have one. scrub away

you can try (again in small test patches) various solvents...turpentine, mineral spirits, etc. see if anything works.

Be aware that heavy canvas is, by itself, water resistant after it gets wet the first time and the fiber swells up. that's why tents shed water, and why canvas was used for tents in the first place. They did eventually start covering the fabric with wax to make it fully waterproof...but even untreated, canvas will shed quite a bit of water until you touch the underside.

Farmerwilly2 · #5 12/02/08, 03:44 PM

Why do you want to put a tarp under the animals, I'm not understanding that part?

Wisconsin Ann · #6 12/02/08, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Farmerwilly2

Why do you want to put a tarp under the animals, I'm not understanding that part?

I could be wrong, but it sounds like she's got some animals on display at either a fair or perhaps a school or something of the sort...and it's so they don't harm the floors? or maybe the floor is made of something that's slippery.

We used to have a setup for the donkeys and sheep that would let us take them into gymnasiums....heavy cardboard with an astroturf glued ontop. (when the animals were used in a nativity display)