I've been shopping for Velcro to sew onto silnylon for a tent project. Seems all I find around here locally is the sticky back variety. Sure, I can and have ordered stuff from fabric -hardware outfitters (Quest in Florida, Noah Lamport in Los Angeles, Outdoor Wilderness in Nampa Idaho). But by the time I pay shipping and handling on 5 yards, and wait a couple days, then drive into town again to pick it up, buying locally just made more sense. And I was in the mood to get this tent project done for the next expedition.
So, picking up a 20 foot package of black sticky-back brand name Velcro at Walmarts I headed home to put it to the test.
I sewed a sample onto silnylon. In no way did it want to stick on its own. It sticks to no-see-um netting, but only on a short term basis.
It looked like the machine would handle it. Sadly, I did not know the glue would build up until only gasoline would remove it from the needle. The thread breaks with the glue buildup as well, making the process of sewing by hand even laborious.
Bottom line, this is not a product to use on your backpacking gear.
I was able to place small staples through the fabric and Velcro as a temporary stitch, and will continue to sew it, dealing with the stickiness.
Lesson learned: the sticky back Velcro can be used with paper products, or perhaps to hold decorations on shelves. Next time, I will order regular Velcro, and wait for the shipping process.
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