Hole in the trailer tarp
A small hole in your trailer tarp doesn’t mean you have to replace the entire thing! We’ll show you how to repair a tarp fast and easily and how to patch a trailer tarp with just a little bit of adhesive.
The culprit: a piece of furniture
A transportation trailer leads a rough life. It spends many years getting furniture, appliances, garden waste, building materials, and so much more reliably from A to B without complaining. In all weathers! However, even the most durable trailer tarp can be damaged by pointy or sharp objects.
Unfortunately, our colleague came to the same conclusion. When transporting a dresser, one of the sharp edges of the furniture cut through the tarp of his trailer – leaving a hole.
“Annoying, but not so bad,“ our colleague thought to himself. For he knew that our WEICON GMK 2410 Contact Adhesive would allow for a fast tarp repair.
DIY tarp repair | step-by-step instructions
What you need
- WEICON GMK 2410 Contact Adhesive
- WEICON Cleaner Spray S
- Clean Cloth
- Paintbrush
- Gloves
- Marker
- Patch
Placing the patch
Put the prepared patch over the hole in the trailer tarp and trace the outline with a marker. That way, you’ll know where to apply the adhesive later on. Keep in mind that the patch goes on the outside of the tarp.
So now let’s start with the adhesive, right? Not quite yet.
Preparing the bonding surface
For a clean adhesive bond between the patch and the trailer tarp, you need to clean the damaged area and the patch first. To do so, you can best resort to our WEICON Cleaner Spray S. The cleaning agent reliably removes the mortal enemies of every adhesive bond, such as dirt, dust and grease. That way, you can be sure that your bonded joint will last.
After applying the cleaner, take a clean cloth and wipe off the excess cleaning agent.
Patching the tarp with adhesive
The outside of the tarp is now clean and dry, the patch is prepared. Now you can start with the next step of your tarp repair – the adhesive bond. In order to spread the GMK 2410 across the surface, it’s best to use a flat paintbrush. Cover the patch as well as the marked area on the tarp with the adhesive.
Now it’s time to wait. The adhesive should flash off for five to 10 minutes, before joining the tarp and the patch. To test whether you can start bonding, it’s best to carry out the finger test. While wearing gloves, of course! As soon as you notice a sticky surface forming (similar to a sticker or adhesive tape), you can bond the patch to the tarp by applying some pressure. Place the patch as accurately as possible. Due to the adhesive’s high initial strength, once the patch is on the tarp, you can hardly adjust its position.
Why GMK 2410?
Done!
We’d say that was a very successful tarp repair! Now my colleague’s car trailer is ready for its next transportation trips. And with the help of these instructions, I’m sure your trailer will be, too!
Written by guest author Leon Okafor – Apprenticeship Industrial Management Assistant at WEICON
