Advice needed for quality Shade cloth by the Roll

[BBadger]

I just hosed down 8 pieces of black mesh screen. I'm amazed how clean they come by just spraying water on them. They were filthy and smelled like playa dust. I laid one at a time on the lawn, sprayed it down, flipped it, sprayed it again going especially heavy on the seams, and then draped it over the lumber rack on my truck for a final spraying to get rid of the grass debris and then let them dry in the sun. They're like brand spanking new again.

So it wasn't just the illusion-of-clean-until-it-dries that usually occurs when playa dust covered objects get sprayed with water?

[Packoderm]

No, those suckers are clean. I folded them up and put them in my spare room. I just looked at them again this morning, and they're as clean as new.

[Bob]

OMG they're dosing your water with APPLE CIDER VINEGAR!!!

[some seeing eye]

To the OP. I can understand wanting a roll to cover the long dimension of your camp. But you might consider having the shade cloth supplier seam and grommet the edges. This is required for tying it off. I'm not a believer in the plastic gripper clips. You might also consider breaking it into segments which can be used for other layouts, at home or for resale.

[moonrise]

Thank you, please keep 'em coming.....You never know when there's a close out! color does not matter here (even black, I suppose)

I need to get together with my welder freinds and design an EMT system, using pipe receptors welded to the exterior of the horse trailer.

The trickier part, I think, is going to be to TRY to come up with a welded on system of pipe receptors on my Chevy Tahoe SUV, if this can be done, then I think I can minimize the number of stakes I'll need to drive into the playa and cover the enitre rig. (this would be great!!)

The cloth could be in one long piece or two segements, with a 'pop out' for the side door area mid=length on the horse trailer. The trailer is much taller than the truck (I think I can squeeze a 6 foot ladder on top of the truck) all of this needs to be measured and thought out before I can order the knit chade type cloth, especially if ordering pre-made.

When I get an idea of the size and number of segments, I can price out having custom made pieces vs just hand sewing it myself and using the 3 way type clips and such. (I'll probably go with pre-made, but ya never know...)

I did notice my campmate didn't seem to be concerned about his quality shade cloth unraveling, I think it was it's second year out to burning man, and it looked to be in good shape. That being said, we eplayans know we can do better for a few extra bucks and more effort, so yea, in time I'll be meeting with my buddies (they're decomping & traveling currently) they know more about creating & measuring for these systems than I do.

pack, thanks, good to know it cleans up some.
Bob, I prefer white distilled, but apple will do, I suppose
some seeing eye, yes, I could use scraps to cover the blazing front windows around my house, and share resources with others in need of extra cloth.

I regret I didn't visit FIGJAMs' playa pod, he was only 5 blocks from my camp! FIGJAM swung by my camp a few times and took mental notes (unfortunately we missed eachother everytime he swung by) on how to go about shading the horse trailer. FIGJAM you're awesome! Thanks for the reminder to 'do it right" and the good input, including the floor improvement options, leak proofing and what not...the floor and roof and a few other things could use some TLC (maybe replace floor) more to follow in another thread perhaps, for now I'm concerned with the shade materials list/plan.

I'm anxious to meet with my freinds here locally, they will speed the decision process up, as far as ordering the shade cloth pre-made or by the roll goes.

Thanks for the suggestions and advice.

[some seeing eye]

You might plan for some shadecloth side walls and your chill area. With a large vehicle, you might not have complete freedom to line things in relation to sunrise/set with camp space constraints, unless on the outskirts. (Of course you might have a large vehicle nearby blocking sunrise/set too) I have made a 3 wall shadecloth box for my tent in some years.

[moonrise]

You might plan for some shadecloth side walls and your chill area. With a large vehicle, you might not have complete freedom to line things in relation to sunrise/set with camp space constraints, unless on the outskirts. (Of course you might have a large vehicle nearby blocking sunrise/set too) I have made a 3 wall shadecloth box for my tent in some years.

Yup, I am thinking of doing a "tube" or tunnel walled effect along the entire rig; truck and trailer, 38++ feet long, plus the 'pop out' chill area.

Maximum width of knit type shadecloth I've seen so far, is 20 feet.
After taking some preliminary measurements, I think this width will be enough if I have a seperate section for the 19 foot long truck.
And have an extra wide seperate section for the 19 foot long horse trailer and it's chill area.
This would leave an open gap where the two sections won't meet because the extra wide trailer/pop out shadecloth section over reaches the width of the trucks' shadelcoth section, unless I'm missing something, I don't see this as a major concern as long as I make these sections generously wide. The direct sun wouldn't make it into the shaded area very far, even if the open area is angled into the sun.

FIGJAM mentioned I could go with grommets and lag bolt the shadecloth directly to the playa.
How far apart should the lag bolts be on each section of the shadecloth? I was thinking every 4ft on the truck section, and every 2 feet on the trailer section, or should they be closer together? (at least every 2 feet trailer AND truck)

Good points some seeing eye, I'll bring them up with my welder freinds when we discuss design ideas.

[MyDearFriend]

(((Moonrise))) The shade cloth on my monkey hut is 70% Aluminet. I bought the 21-ft wide unfinished stuff but only needed about 18-ft wide for my monkey hut (20 feet across) because it's knit & will stretch. The 70% also comes 28-foot wide and you can buy it by the running foot. It is easy to trim with scissors, does not ravel or shred, and the Shark-Bite grommets help up PERFECTLY on the playa with no problems at all. So don't waste money having the edges finished.

We swept the Aluminet with a broom before we took it down and it was good as new, clean & sweet after 10 days on the playa. No issues with it at all. And it is LIGHT WEIGHT TO LIFT, a serious advantage for your back. I think it's cheaper to buy Aluminet than to buy tarps plus painkillers, don't you?

And of course you know how cool & breezy & pretty it is...

[moonrise]

(((Moonrise))) The shade cloth on my monkey hut is 70% Aluminet. I bought the 21-ft wide unfinished stuff but only needed about 18-ft wide for my monkey hut (20 feet across) because it's knit & will stretch. The 70% also comes 28-foot wide and you can buy it by the running foot. It is easy to trim with scissors, does not ravel or shred, and the Shark-Bite grommets help up PERFECTLY on the playa with no problems at all. So don't waste money having the edges finished.

We swept the Aluminet with a broom before we took it down and it was good as new, clean & sweet after 10 days on the playa. No issues with it at all. And it is LIGHT WEIGHT TO LIFT, a serious advantage for your back. I think it's cheaper to buy Aluminet than to buy tarps plus painkillers, don't you?

And of course you know how cool & breezy & pretty it is...

Back at ya' (((MDF)))
Your hut was perfect, as was your entire set up. A+ for an amazing job!!
If you have the website for the aluminet knit shade cloth you bought, would you please post it in this thread.

28 foot width could be juuuust enough; I don't need to cover the entire truck, just the horsey trailer and some of the trucks' back end.

I'll be seeing my 'playa proofing' mechanic freinds this week
We'll discuss shade ideas and what not...('the burn' tee hee! )
Those emoticons DO actually spell out sentences of emotion & somesuch...

[MyDearFriend]

I got my Aluminet here

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/70-percent-aluminet-shade-curtain/shade-cloth

though I heard some other place had it cheaper (off-season sale price?) I never found a better deal for the size I wanted.

They sell the shark-bite fasteners too. Those things make great attachment points on any kind of fabric; I used them to snug down a fleece blanket over the mesh vents at the top of my tent, too, so, no dust issues inside. And they left no trace on the blanket.