Hessian sackcloth material impregnated with perhaps clay and something goey/sticky and never setting. Decades ago I remember as it being green, wrapped around the likes of broken guttering downpipes etc , sealing from leaks. Last week it was used by Southern Water contractors doing a temporary bodge "sticking plaster" repair of a 5 inch cast iron mains water supply pipe, brown in colour for theirs (pipe 3.5 inches internal diameter, surprisingly to me, 3/4 inch wall thickness). Then an axially split cylinder clamped over the pipe and cloth wrapping. Oddly the later crew with pipe saw cutting kit and butt jointing in with plastic pipe , lamely wrapped the same cloth material around the clamps on the outside (perhaps to stop prying eyes seeing what the clamps/joints were like). Present use is for houses locally in flood prone area, often with known failed property flood protection measure failures, on likes of flood barriers,gates, self-closing airbricks etc, before proper remedial measures get done. Also for future unknown problems only emerging in a flood , but will stick to grubby and wet external surfaces when already under water perhaps, even if bags of garden soil or a sandbag is needed to press and keep in place this sticky cloth tape to brick or wood surfaces, as not wrapping around pipes in this case. I'm assuming there is no modern wonder material can do this or the water company bods would be using it.
Product name, generic or trade name
Nov 30, 2024
Last reply: 1 year ago
10 Replies
I can't remember the name but I can smell it from your description! I remember it being more yellow in colour but it would be 60 years ago.
Please somebody come up with a name so I can sleep tonight!
N_Cook snipped-for-privacy@tcp.co.uk> wrote in news:vif4bn$1ojjr$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
Denso or Sylglas by brand name, searches for mastic, repair or waterproofing tape may find a generic. Generics used to be available at Toolst or Sfx but can't see any there just now.
Evil stuff though, be sure to wear a pair of expendable gloves when using. Don't expect it to come off cleanly from any surface applied to.
Denso wrap?
I presume they made/make several variations?
Yes that looks like the stuff. Smell and touch would be the real test, as the www product details don't go into detail of its constituents
Denso tape??
Sylglas?
So a generic name might be petrolatum tape. As an experiment tomorrow, as I have sackcloth, clay and petroleum jelly laying around , I'll try mixing together but I suspect the real stuff has something more sticky in there,ignoring any anti-corossion stuff that must also be in there.
From memory petroleum jelly wont cut the mustard. It is sort of a cold poultice. More like putty or plumbers mait, perhaps
Experiment completed.
4 level teaspoons of dry powdered clay and 4 level teaspoons of petroleum jelly. Mixed with a handhelld food mixer. Strip of hessian laid on plastic sheet. Wearing nitrile gloves spread the mix onto the hessian, turned over and repeated on the other side. Enough mix for 50 x 5cm easily. I found in the shed what I knew as flashing tape but the box said sylglas waterproofing tape, aluminium on one side , plastic removable film on the other and treacley looking stuff in between, no hessian. Decimal price of 1.46 GBP and Transatlantic Plastics on the shop label dates it probably back 40 years. With a bit of wet flat pine wood, both samples stuck well enough to the wood, dunking in water, both remained sticking, short term anyway. For a wet brick neither stuck particularly well, and dunking in water the sylglas stayed and mine floated off. So a sandbag or something pressed against would be required. I assume , if no great pressure of water my petrolatum tape would not pass water through.
Both local to me suppliers Toolstation and City Plumbing called it petro tape. I tried another DIY version, equal parts, powdered clay, petroleum jelly, plumber's mait, linseed oil onto hessian. Wet wood, both stuck to it and then mounted vertical under water both stuck but DIY not so firmly. With brick fresh from a bucket of water, neither stuck too well. Letting brick dry back to damp overnight, both stuck to it. Vertical in water, DIY floated off in 10 mins and commercial was still just about clinging on an hour later, ie would not survive the swash from that green tractor recently in Pontypridd.
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