DIY cover for outdoor couch from tarp

[@quirkyj1125]

I have used heavy duty tarp with gorilla tape. No cutting, just folded to fit the shape and taped with gorilla tape. Did this as an emergency setup . This lasted 2 years, and now want to sew it along the edges, as the gorilla tape has come loose after this long. I thought of sewing one with shower curtain, but this worked well too.

[@gabeslifestuff]

Oh! Nice! Thanks for sharing. I thought of tape too but I just thought it might come off sooner or later

[@quirkyj1125]

@@gabeslifestuff yes, it has come off after more than one year, and then i have put more gorilla tape. Hence I am looking to sew it. Just today I sewed it, but with lots of trouble due to the glue of gorilla tape. I wish i had sewed it in the first place. But still time will tell soon. Hence sharing what I went through so others may find it helpful.

[@daniellehardy8841]

@@quirkyj1125how will you seal the seams? I was going to sew, but thought water will come through all the small holes.

[@quirkyj1125]

@@daniellehardy8841 I feared the same that water may come through small holes. so far no leakage after sewing at the sides. It looks better than with gorilla tape. Less hassle taking off / on, keep it well loose and don't see all the way to the end. I'd say, leave about 1/2 metre from the bottom no sew. I'd tie it around with plastic rope that came with the tarp. My tarp(bought from ALDI) has some eyelets/holes for passing the rope when tying, a set of these holes are on either side of the tarp.

[@daniellehardy8841]

@@quirkyj1125 that is really useful feedback, thank you. Now I need to convince my mum to use her sewing machine, she is not so keen!

[@MYsellerONeBay]

Cool! Thanks for sharing. I will be doing this for my outdoor furniture.

[@gabeslifestuff]

Nice! Get a thicker tarp though. Mine has actually started to pull apart

[@roxylqm111]

Thank you so much for sharing this! It’s exactly what I want to do to protect my outdoor sofa and cushions (no space in the garage to store the cushions during the rainy season…). The melting technique hadn’t occurred to me-I thought I’d have to sew it and that seemed daunting. So happy I found your great video.

[@gabeslifestuff]

You’re most welcome, Roxy LQM! Hope it works out for you. Fun doing it too!

[@crisho58]

Thanks! This is exactly what I want to do. The furniture even looks the same. 🙂

[@gabeslifestuff]

Oh cool! Happy to have helped!

[@Dcvmnaturalist]

Thanks for this. Not a lot of information about ironing poly tarps online so I appreciate the video and follow up responses. I want to create a tent cover with a 20mil tarp and this is helpful.

[@gabeslifestuff]

Happy to help! Hope it works out for you

[@Dcvmnaturalist]

@@gabeslifestuff Thanks for the encouragement! Luckily my tarp came packaged in a piece of scrap tarp so I was able to try a variety of iron temperatures and experiment. My tarp is 20 mil and regardless of the temperature, I cannot get the heat to penetrate enough to fuse a seam without first melting holes in the top layer. I even tried flipping it over after doing one side to fuse from both sides. Not good. So I can say that 20 mil is too thick for this technique. Luckily, I had enough material to experiment with before I damaged an expensive tarp. I would definitely try this again if needed in the future just with thinner material.

[@gabeslifestuff]

Ahh! That’s such good info! Gives us an idea of the “doable threshold” of this DIY. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@npbsstuff]

Thinking of sewing & using FlexSeal or Neverwet on the seams

[@gabeslifestuff]

You most definitely can try.

[@c.sanchez4521]

Love this! *Subscribing*

[@gabeslifestuff]

Oh! Thank you so much!

[@ljlavoie]

11 months since posting, and I'm thinking about doing this for my patio furniture. Are these still holding up? Anything you'd do differently? Thanks for sharing this video

[@gabeslifestuff]

Hi Louis! Mine have a few holes on the ironed seams already. I think it’s because I bought the cheapest/thinnest type of tarp. So if I was to do anything differently, I would get a thicker tarp so there’s more material to bind on the seams.

[@nancydohrn881]

I was going to buy pricey covers and remember a large tarp I have in the garage. Thanks for posting this! One question. When you say “baking paper” is that parchment paper you’re using under the iron? Thanks!

[@gabeslifestuff]

Nope. Baking paper that you use to cook cake and stuff

[@phillipgreen7760]

Curious how your cover is holding up after time. Specifically the "heat welds." Would you do anything different? Thanks

[@gabeslifestuff]

Hi Phillip! Good question. I don’t use it anymore to be honest. Some of the ‘heat weld’ edges have actually opened up. If I were to do something different, it would have to be that I should have used a thicker kind of tarp. That’s mainly it.

[@pgluckydog]

@gabeslifestuff Appreciate the honest feedback. Surprisingly, there's not a lot info on the topic. Appreciate the video and reply! 👍🏻

[@daniellehardy8841]

@@gabeslifestuffwhat about a glue?

[@gabeslifestuff]

@@daniellehardy8841 is there a type of glue that’s made specifically for tarps?

[@daniellehardy8841]

@@gabeslifestuff there is! And there is also a special tarp tape. I did lots of googling after I watched your video. Another option I am thinking about it sewing and then treating the seams with a special waterproof sealant. I haven’t decided exactly what I’m going to do, I need to balance the time it takes vs longevity!