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Last year I waterproofed my 24 year old pennine clubman folding camper with thompsons water seal using a plastic plant spray gun.

After reading on the tin that it was suitable for use on canvas and its only about £7.99 for a five litre tin. I thought what have we got to loose.

We used the camper several times in all sorts of weather over the summer with out a single problem.

It then stood on our drive covered with a couple of tarps from September until last weekend (we even left all the linings mattresses etc inside due to never having a good enough day to open it up over the winter period to remove them)when we had one of those rare sunny days.

With some trepidation I removed the tarps noticing that several large puddles had formed underneath them.

With a feeling of dread I removed the trailer cover to find large puddles on the back of the bed boards and a large puddle in the middle of the canvas.

I decided after much muttering and cursing to open the camper out fully to see if any thing was salvageable inside after making my mind up that I could at least strip it out and use it as a trailer if the floor wasn't ruined.

to my absolute delight and amazement once opened and erected all the water ran off the canvas with out leaving the slightest mark or stain and after inspecting all the linings, canvas, curtains and mattresses I never even found the slightest sign of dampness or mold. 

So for any one thinking of reproofing their CANVAS trailer/folding camper I can heartily recommend using thompsons waterseal which is only a fraction of the price of fabsil etc. 

Thanks for the tip!

My TT is due a water-proofing any time now.

As JanP say's a sprayer is the best to use but make sure you keep a wet edge so you don't get a stained edges all over the tent.

Choose a dry cloudy day so it doesn''t dry to quick and don't do it to early or late as any dew on it before its dry will cause staining, best to do panel by panel finishing at stitched edges and most important don't be put off by the do's and don'ts its not that hard honest. And lastly do take any of the furnishings out that you can purely so the smell doesn't penetrate them this soon goes as the waterproofer drys goodluck   

Hi Googie

You can use a brush to apply the Thompsons but you will find it a lot easier and you will get a more even coating by using a garden spray bottle.

I bought a 1.5ltr bottle for a couple of pounds at a local diy store.

as previously stated do a panel at a time I found it easier to do the roof by only erecting it part way I applied 2 coatings to the roof panels.

The thompsons was touch dry in a hour but I left the camper erected over night to allow time for the fumes to clear.

Make sure you wear old clothes whilst doing this unless you want to waterproof your clothes at the same time :)

Hi Jjps.......what a brilliant tip.....I was looking at this stuff the other day and wondered if it would work on canvas.....and hey presto I now know that it does!

Cheers and thanks

 If you dont have anywhere to open up your trailer/camper you can always reproof it when away camping. Do it in the morning then go out for day and leave to dry.