Tarp repair, two years later ...

I didn’t want to post this after I tried this, for lack of proof that it would actually work, but now 2 years and about 2k miles later, I can say it works.

The camo tarps get worn through on the green areas because they are not painted, and not protected from the sun by a coat of paint.

I had the typical “wear” where the tarp starts to break down and you start to see the threads.

For this, I used paint, a 4” roller and a square of bedsheet as the patch. I used Behr premium latex outdoor paint (see the thread about painting your MV with Behr for paint codes for 383 Green).

Take a piece of bedsheet cut out a big square that covers 2x the damaged area.

Roll a liberal amount of paint onto the tarp beyond the area the sheet will cover. Lay the sheet down, smooth it out so there are no wrinkles, then roll another coat of paint over the sheet.

If the tarp is badly worn and coming apart, and you are unable to paint it, you might try saturating the sheet with paint, and laying it over the worn area.

You could also lay a piece up from the inside in this situation, although I have not tried it, I’m sure it would work.

After drying, for some reason, small “hairs” appeared. I guess cotton fibers that were raised somehow. It wasn’t enough to see from more than a few feet away. I guess you could sand it and paint it again to lay them down, but I didn’t bother.

I don’t know how well this would work on areas where the tarp contacts the bows, but it could not hurt to try it.

Thanks for the tip. Do you have any pictures of your repair?

I didn’t take any photos. You do see the patch, so if it overlaps the side, just make nice square cuts so it doesn’t look too out of place.

If the tarp is at that state, probably wouldn’t hurt to go ahead and paint the entire top though.

Your call.