: So,
: I bought some nylon for my kayak I'm working on, and later realized
: that a) I'd like to use polyester (it turns out I have a
: neighbor with some experience polyester skinning boats - he's
: done nylon too, I'm going to try taking his advice) and b) the
: nylon I bought was too lightweight for a skin anyways.

: This lead me to think of what else I could do with the nylon, and I
: thought, if I could turn it into silnylon (the silicone
: impregnated stuff), I could probably make a nice spray skirt or
: even a tuilik/floatation bags/drybags etc with it. Turns out
: people have made their own silnylon (see here:
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzR9-HASSIA it's a little
: rambling, but pretty thorough) by diluting 100% silicone sealant
: with mineral spirits (the guy in the video just uses gasoline).

: This further lead me to thinking, could this diluted silicone be
: used as a sealant for the skin? I plan on using polyurethane or
: oil paint for my current project, but I was wondering if anyone
: has ever tried silicone as a skin dope.

: It seems to me:
: Advantages: Very water resistant - silicone is hydrophobic, so it
: won't slowly absorb moisture like polyurethane or paint, very UV
: resistant (although it might just pass on the UV to the fabric
: if you use clear sealant)
: Disadvantages: Probably very difficult to patch/apply multiple
: coats, and silicone has very little abrasion resistance, so it
: probably wouldn't toughen up the fabric at all like polyurethane
: does.

: Just wondering if anyone has ever though about this/attempted it.

Downside to silicone is nothing sticks to it once cured, not even more silicone. So if it's damaged or holed the only repair is to remove the skin and try again.

Bill H.