hanging reflectix, what adhesive to use for velcro

[chowder]

Hi everyone,

I've been doing some cold weather winter camping and had to break out the reflectix. I hung it with the wide velcro from home depot which had an adhesive already on the back side. Of course it was much warmer weather when I did the install. At the time it seemed to adhere well. After the cold weather kicked in I noticed the adhesive wasnt holding to well. Almost like it stiffened up and lost its tackyness. After an 11 degree night it was blatantly falling of the soft sides without the relectix hanging. Now im just rolling out the reflectix with no velcro. This is leaving loose spots which lets cold air in. Please enlighten me to what adhesives you have used to hang your velcro to the soft sides. Strange thing is that the velcro has stayed on the reflectix itself quite well. Just having issues with it sticking to the soft sides. Also, I would love to see some pics of where exactly the velcro is installed. I put mine right against the ceiling at the very top of the soft side as well as the very bottom. As many people here who have reflectix I have had a hard time finding pics of it. Many thanks to everyone for their time and input.

Doug...

 

[PeterV]

So your camper doesn't already have velcro on top for an "arctic pack" install - it's older? On the newer campers there is a 1-2" piece hanging down for that, and the velcro on it is sewn on. Otherwise yeah, the sides are pretty slick, and I imagine most glue will have a tough time staying on...?

 

[Lighthawk]

So your camper doesn't already have velcro on top for an "arctic pack" install - it's older? On the newer campers there is a 1-2" piece hanging down for that, and the velcro on it is sewn on. Otherwise yeah, the sides are pretty slick, and I imagine most glue will have a tough time staying on...?


Same here, with 08 Hawk. Pre-adhesive velcro sticks great to reflectix.

Our last trip to DV I cut flaps in the reflectix, so we could open up the windows for a view on one side. I'll probably redo this section eventually and overcut the size of the window flaps so I don't need to align the reflectix to the soft sides precisely.

 

[Smokecreek1]

Me too! My FWC has a strip for the arctic pack to hang on to and the more I use it, the faster it goes up each time. Now if I could just figure out a fast way to do a quick stick wall to wall carpeting on the floor and lower plywood side panels for the winter! My old throw rug helps, but someone must have come up with some solution?

Smoke

 

[chowder]

Yes it is an older camper with no pre installed velcro for the arctic pack. Strange because the popup sides have been replaced with the newer grey material done by the PO but still no sewn on velcro. C'mon folks, someone out there has to have a good glue idea out there. I really need this to velcro to stay put. As always your help is appreciated.

Doug...

 

[takesiteasy]

I wonder if it would work to sew the velcro to some pieces of vinyl (same as the pop-up sides) and use the glue furnished for vinyl patching to stick them on.

 

[WyoIDI]

I'm in the same boat, older camper without the velcro. I have some repair glue for my vinyl based cataraft that is incredibly strong called Vynabond. I know it will adhere to the vinyl in the camper but I haven't tried it on the nylon velcro yet. If you were to use the idea from a previous post about sewing the velcro to vinyl then gluing it, the vynabond should work well for the adhesive. Something to try at least.

 

[camper101]

You might be able to get away with putting a few pieces of velcro on the ceiling instead of on the vinyl? Maybe not along the entire ceiling (unless you feel like it) but a 1 inch piece every few feet just to keep the Reflectix in place. As long as most of the Reflectix's weight rests where the roof would rest in the top-down position, I think that could work. Remember that if you've got a sideways wind it may push things around a bit.

On the Reflectix, you'd have to add velcro tabs: fold it over itself and attach so that it will stick out an inch or two and hold on to the ceiling piece.

 

[Lighthawk]

My old throw rug helps, but someone must have come up with some solution?

Smoke


Since carpet is part of a warmer camper interior I'll go slightly OT and throw my 2 cents.

When I bought my 08 Hawk, it was still newish. I went to the carpet store and bought a length of marine grade carpet and cut it to fit. I used some double-sided carpet tape to get it to lay down and stay straight. The dog liked it, and I could pull it out and hose it off when needed. Works pretty well, but I replaced the adhesive tape after two years.
The carpet definitely adds comfort and insulation to the vinyl floor. My floor still looks new under there too.

But to return to the topic of Reflectix

As far as attaching velcro to an earlier FWC? My guess is either glue it or stitch it. I'm not positive what the soft-sides are made of. It looks like hypalon to me, so perhaps an adhesive could mount velcro tabs? BTW: I only hang my reflectix every 18" or so, it's very light and holds it's shape without much support.