Using Tyvek as a Car Cover

Many customers are using our UV Soft Tyvek as a car cover.
This item: 120" X 10 YARD TYVEK 1460 is particularly popular for such uses and is big enough for most cars with material to spare just in case. Let us know how it works for you - send us your photos of your car using our Tyvek as a car cover. Email to web@materialconcepts.com.

Tyvek Ceiling - a User Sends a New Innovative Use for Tyvek

Zach Nagle from Czarnowski Display Service in Chicago emailed recently to describe a new innovative use for Tyvek - a Tyvek ceiling. In Zach’s words:

The problem: We have a dusty sample room, and wanted to add a new roof to repel dust, yet breathe air, and let more light in, and it had to be affordable, presentable and easy to install.

Solution: Make a ceiling out of wood frames and hard paper Tyvek!

The Tyvek looks great, and any imperfections in the tension/stretch are hidden by the fiber texture appearance of the material. It is lightweight and durable, and we think it looks great.

As seen in the photos, the translucent property of Tyvek allows light to come through, and the random swirl pattern of the nonwoven material adds to the attractiveness of the ceiling. And of course it does fit all the requirements stated here as Tyvek keeps out dust, is breathable, lets in light, is affordable, presentable and easy to install.

Thanks to Zach at Czarnowski Display Service for sending the photos and the Tyvek ceiling story.

If you would like to do something similar, Material Concepts would be happy to supply the Tyvek for your application. Click here for more information on hard Tyvek, also commonly called Tyvek paper. You can purchase Tyvek online or contact us for Tyvek product information or to place an order.

Tyvek ground sheets for camping and hiking

A recent discussion on an online Appalachian Trail Hiking forum talked about using Tyvek ground sheets as tent ground cloths. The first post said that they found their Tyvek ground cloth used under their tent was slippery. Some replies suggested washing the Tyvek ground sheet, and cautioned against drying it in a hot dryer - good advice! Others suggested tying the ground sheet to the tent poles, and one reply may have even been reading our website’s Tyvek Ground Sheet page, saying "they recommend bunching the corner and using a sheet bend to tie a line to it."

As described on our Tyvek Ground Cloth page, there are two types of 8’ x 10’ Tyvek ground sheets that Material Concepts offers - Hard and Soft. Ultralite OmnicovR® is the Material Concepts’ brand name for ground sheets. The Hard Tyvek Ultralite OmnicovR® is a little less expensive and people to run it through their washing machines to soften it. The Soft Tyvek Ultralite OmnicovR® is a little more expensive and is a little more compact, which can be a critical factor for backpackers.

Of course, Tyvek’s properties - water resistance, toughness, tear resistance and lightweight - make it a good choice for use as a ground cloth. This also makes it a good tarp or rain fly too. And it’s washable. Yes, Tyvek is slippery (especially when wet) and should not be walked on.

As far as tying Tyvek, we recommend:
When attaching a rope or cord to the corner of the Ultralite OmnicovR®, use a sheet-bend knot to achieve the strongest tie downs. Never use traditional grommets; instead, use fabric clips, spring clamps, or tarp and fabric fasteners.
See the illustration on how to do a sheet bend knot.

You can purchase the Hard or Soft Tyvek Ultralite OmnicovR® ground cloth from our online store.

Let us know by commenting below on how you are using Tyvek in your hiking and camping activities.

Fiber Artist Working With Tyvek - Paulette Lancaster

Recently we found the Art Dust blog of fiber artist Paulette Lancaster when she posted about working with Tyvek. We asked Paulette to do a guest post about her Coral Series work and post images of some of her work. Here is what Paulette wrote about her work with Tyvek, with photos used with her permission:

---

Being a fiber mixed media artist I am always on the alert for new materials to use in creating my art. Upon reading Chapter Two: Creating the Surfaces - Tyvek Film and Fabric in Gwen Hedley's book, Surfaces for Stitch Plastics, Films, and Fabric, I wanted to try incorporating Tyvek into my work. On my search for Tyvek , I discovered 10" x 13" Tyvek mailing envelopes at my local office supply store where I purchased a package.

To prepare the Tyvek, I used a pair of paper scissors and cut down one side and a cross the bottom of the envelope. Opened up it gives me a 20" x 13" piece of working fabric. I choose to use acrylic paints to color my Tyvek because of the quick drying factor. I tend to favour metallic acrylic paints because of their sheen and richness of color in my art work but my subject matter can also dictate my choices of paint color and their luminosity.

The inspiration piece in my Coral Reef Series was a hand dyed fabric that I used as the background in each art quilt. The play of colors on the fabric suggested sunlight shinning down into and through a body of water. A school of fish and a coral reef was all that was needed to complete the scene. I researched coral reefs to learn their shapes, structures and colors before I picked orange and peach colored acrylics for my coral colors. These I painted onto one side of the Tyvek and let it dry. I experimented to find the best coral shapes by cutting out pieces of the painted Tyvek and placing them between sheets of parchment paper which I pressed with a warm iron. When Tyvek becomes hot enough it changes shape rapidly. You must be vigil and check the progression of shrinkage often or you'll be left with nothing but vapour.

After arranging my selected pieces, I machine stitched them to my presewn quilt tops. Fish cut from a commercially printed fabric were wonder undered onto the quilt tops as well. Wonder Under is a fabric adhesive. Embroidery, beads and shells were used as embellishments. The quilts were finished with hand quilting and then bound.

I have exhibited my art quilts in several venues. My second art quilt in the Coral Reef Series was exhibited in the Indiana State Fair where it took a third place in the embellished art quilt catagory.

- R. Paulette Lancaster

---

Many thanks to Paulette for sharing how she works with Tyvek. We'll feature more about her work in another post in the near future.

Of course, you don't have to cut up Tyvek envelopes for art work - You can always buy Tyvek online from Material Concepts in many styles.

Tyvek Design Photos from MIO

Recently this Tyvek Innovative Uses blog feature the work of Philadelphia design firm MIO. Thanks to the folks at MIO for allowing us to use photos of their products made with Tyvek on our blog.

The first photo is MIO's Loop By the Yard MoireDot Pattern. Loop By the Yard is Tyvek that can be used for many projects and is available in the 3 colors/patterns shown in this photo: orange-red, green-grey, and pink-purple.


The second photo illustrates one of the MIO products made with the Loop By the Yard Tyvek material. This is just one of many and varied innovative uses for this Tyvek material.



The third photo illustrates the MIO product called the In + Out Bag. This bag is also made with Tyvek and is available in two sizes and the 3 color combinations.

All photos provided by MIO and used with permission.

Fashionable Tyvek material for DIY projects from MIO

MIO is a Philadelphia design firm specializing in green design for products like wallpaper, lighting, seating, tables, shelving and accessories. Among the accessories is a line of printed Tyvek® material called Loop by the Yard for use in decorating, covering, or making anything that would be nicely done with a printed material with the qualities that Tyvek® brings - strong, lightweight, breathable and water resistant. Also available is a line of bags called In + Out Bags in the same print patterns as the Loop by the Yard Tyvek® material.

The green element is that MIO offers a postage pre-paid envelope to recycle the Tyvek® material when the purchaser is done with it, or scraps from the project work.

MIO offers downloadable instructions on various do-it-yourself (DIY) projects that can be done with Tyvek®, including:

• Table coverings
• Book covers
• Pillows
• Pouches
• Curtains
• Ponchos
• Kites
• Tents
• And an Ideas sheet with more suggestions

The material is offered in 3 patterned colors: green-grey, orange-red, and pink-purple.

Here is an interesting article about MIO and their products.

Upcyling Tyvek into Tyvek Totes

Etsy Labs in Brooklyn, NY‎ is having Craft Night with Betz White on Upcyling Tyvek into Tyvek Totes on Monday April 20, 2009. If you can't be in Brooklyn, join in via their Virtual Labs.

Betz White, author of the book Sewing Green, will be leading the activities to create totes from used Tyvek mailing envelopes.

Of course, it's good to recycle, but if you want new and unprinted Tyvek or the very cool new Black Tyvek, you could always order Tyvek directly from Material Concepts.

Tyvek Fashion - Tyvek Wedding Dress!

A couple of news stories from the UK describe fashion designer Christina McIntosh using Tyvek® to create a wedding dress.

You can view a video of the design, creation and modeling of the Tyvek® dress. STV.tv says:

A paper wedding dress designed by a student at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen is to dawn the catwalk at a prestigious bridal awards ceremony.

Christina McIntosh's eco-friendly design has been shortlisted in the 2009 Bridal Buyer Awards.

The event is regarded as Europe's top bridal awards ceremony.

According to the March 3, 2009 story in The Press and Journal (Aberdeen, Scotland, UK) titled "Eye-catching wedding dresses make the cut":

Students at an Aberdeen art school have reached the final of a top bridal fashion award.

Christina McIntosh and Magdalena Zareba, both fashion students at Gray’s School of Art, have been shortlisted for this year’s Bridal Buyer awards for their wedding dress designs, including one which looks like it has been made from paper.

Miss McIntosh, 20, from Aberdeen, designed her paper-style dress to promote eco-friendly fashion. She used a material, Tyvek, which is more durable but just as recyclable as paper. She said: “I am thrilled to have been shortlisted and to have such a high-profile platform on which to promote eco-friendly fashion.”

The stories refer to Tyvek® as paper.  Of course, Tyvek® is not exactly paper, though we often hear it referred to as Tyvek® paper, particularly hard Tyvek® styles.  Tyvek® does have a paper-like texture.  But it certainly would make a more durable wedding dress than paper, and would be much easier to sew. In addition to paper-like Tyvek, there are also several fabric-like Tyvek styles available. These have a softer hand, excellent drapeability, and soften like leather over time. Fabric-like styles of Tyvek are also very easy to dye using RIT dye. The more paper-like styles take acrylic paint with ease, and acrylic paint seems to accentuate the interesting patterns of the Tyvek fibers.

So if you are a designer looking for innovative materials, or you are getting married and want to make your own Tyvek® wedding dress, give us a call to request a Tyvek sample packet so you can see and feel all the differnt Tyvek styles available from Material Concepts. Material Concepts would be happy to be your Tyvek® supplier!

Tvyek Used for Furniture Conservation in Tiffany Exhibit at Shelburne Museum

Shelburne Museum in Shelburne Vermont will be having an exhibit “Louis Comfort Tiffany: Nature By Design” from June 20 – October 25, 2009. In our previous blog post about Protecting Outdoor Sculptures with Tyvek® Covers, Nancie Ravenel, Objects Conservator from Shelburne Museum commented:

Nice to see art conservation highlighted! I'm using Tyvek Soft Structure Type 14, purchased from Materials Concepts, as part of my treatment of the upholstery on suite of chairs designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. You guys sent me a fantastic sample pack when I was choosing what material to use.

Nancie also posted a link to some photos of the pieces she is working on for this Tiffany exhibit. The photos include a chair that is being restored using Tyvek, used by permission.
This is the chair near the beginning of the conservation work on the seat. Nancie describes the process: “To recreate the original profile, layers of polyester batting were laid on top of the layers of curled horsehair and burlap on the chair.”

This is the chair near the beginning of the conservation work on the seat. Nancie describes the process: “To recreate the original profile, layers of polyester batting were laid on top of the layers of curled horsehair and burlap on the chair.”



Nancie describes this photo below: “On the chair on the left, a cover made of Tyvek® Soft Structure Type 14 was sewn to the strips to cover the polyester batting.”


Here is the completed chair with yellow silk velvet seat covering.

The use of Tyvek® here is well suited to the application. The Tyvek® will protect the exterior covering from the interior materials with a strong, flexible, breathable separator. Its strength allows it to be fastened and sewn. And the soft structure Tyvek® 14 is fabric-like so it will function well, thought we don’t suspect that chair will be tested by visitors to the Tiffany Exhibit at Shelburne Museum!

Tyvek® has many using in art conservation and for archiving and storing art objects. Archival Quality Tyvek® is used to protect paintings, sculptures, sketches, documents, and as we see here, furniture, during shipping, storage and display. Black Tyvek® is a relatively new product that is used as a durable picture frame backing paper. Material Concepts sells and distributes Tyvek® archival art supplies to art dealers, museums, and conservators worldwide.
The “Louis Comfort Tiffany: Nature By Design” exhibit runs from June 20 to October 25, 2009. Here is part of the exhibit description from Shelburne Museum’s website:

Louis Comfort Tiffany: Nature by Design will explore the oeuvres of Louis Comfort Tiffany within the context of Art Nouveau style and the Aesthetic Movement focusing on nature in his designs. Tiffany was the foremost proponent of the use of natural motifs in furniture, ceramics, metalwork and jewelry in America.

“Many of the works included in this exhibit have never before been on public display, including a furniture suite from Shelburne Museum’s permanent collection that has recently been restored and will be exhibited together for the first time,” said Senior Curator Jean Burks, who is organizing the exhibit.

The exhibition will feature over 75 works on loan from museums and private collections including lamps, stained glass, jewelry, ceramics and glass vessels. A catalogue will accompany the exhibit.

Thanks to Nancie Ravenel and Shelburne Museum for allowing us to post about this project!

Tyvek Projector Screen / Tyvek Projection Screen

A recent post on the How-To / DIY (do it yourself) site Instructables described how to make projector screen out of Tyvek® along with "a PVC pipe, rope, and plumbing pipe."

They described using a piece of Tyvek® HomeWrap®, which has the printed logo on it. The use one pole on the top and one pole on the bottom and secure the Tyvek® to the poles. The instructions descibe that the logo might pose a problem for rear projection, but that it didn't affect front projection. One comment expressed concern that the logo might show through, but others said it did not with front projection.

Material Concepts has supplied Tyvek® to some customers who have made projection screens from Tyvek®. And it's a pretty good idea too, considering the low weight and high strength of Tyvek® along with its bright white appearance. Our 120" wide Tyvek® 1460 is commonly purchased for this use.

Although this product comes folded and boxed, the Tyvek® 1460 behaves more like nylon fabric, so you can stuff it in a sack or fold it for storage, making it more compact and versatile. No need to store the Tyvek® on a long pole or worry about wrinkling it like you would with Tyvek® HomeWrap®. When unfolding Tyvek® 1460 to use as a movie screen, simply open it up, pull it taut on all sides to diminish the wrinkles, and it's ready. Or if you use the Instructables method, with a pole on the bottom, the weight of the pole will help flatten it.

Of course, it you prefer no wrinkles at all, you can purchase Tyvek® 1460 on the roll, or even a roll of the more paper-like hard Tyvek®. Of course, Tyvek® rolls from Material Concepts do not have the Dupont™ Tyvek® HomeWrap® printed logo, which is great for both front and rear projection.

Protecting Outdoor Sculptures with Tyvek® Covers

The American Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works has a network blog for Emerging Conservation Professionals. This AIC blog started in May 2008 is "a forum for professionals entering the field of conservation."

Richard McCoy from the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) has a recent post about using Tyvek® covers to protect outdoor scuptures at the Oldfields-Lilly House & Gardens, a National Historic Landmark and 26-acre estate and historic house museum located at IMA. (Sources: IMA, Wikipedia).

Here are a couple sets of the before and after photos:

Photos courtesy of Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), taken by Richard McCoy. Click photos to enlarge. Additional photos, videos and slide show about protecting these sculptures available at: AIC: Emerging Conservation Professionals Network Blog

On these grouds there are a number of stone sculptures that are almost 100 years old. During the winter, the museum staff wants to protect the sculptures from the elements. McCoy describes:

Historically, sculptures like these would have been covered during the winter months. The reason? Freeze-thaw-action. [T]he problem is that moisture seeps into the interstices of the stone, stays there and then after the temperature drops the water becomes ice, expands and then the little (or sometimes big) pieces of the stone get pushed apart. In short it's not good for the sculptures and we try to reduce the chances of this happening.

Why use Tyvek® for covering the sculptures? McCoy says, "The thinking was if cars could be live all year long under Tyvek covers, then our sculptures could live a good winter life under them. Of course, Tyvek is clever in that it is water resistant, yet breathable, so moisture doesn't get trapped inside the covers."

The covers were custom made and sewn to cover 9 or 10 of these outdoor sculptures. If you are thinking about doing something like this, or sewing any Tyvek® material, please refer to our Tyvek® sewing instructions.

For more information about related uses of Tyvek®, visit the Tyvek® Archival Art page of our website.

For conservators or museum staff who want to use Tyvek®, you can buy archival quality Tyvek® style 14M rolls or other types of Tyvek® rolls or sheets online from Material Concepts, an authorized Tyvek® distributor, or you can call Material Concepts to place an order: 215-338-6515 or toll free in the US: 1-800-372-3366.

Tyvek Pouches for Medical/Sterile Packaging

We receive lots of inquiries about Tyvek pouches. While this is not an item we sell, we still like to educate and point those who inquire in the right direction for purchasing:

There are a variety of pouches for different applications:

Pouches made of DuPont™ Tyvek® help protect low-profile, lightweight medical devices so that they maintain sterility until opened. And, unlike paper, which can release a significant number of particulates when a package is opened, Tyvek® is known for its clean peel and low-linting features.

Pouches/Bags for Steam Sterilization: 1073B Tyvek® is heat-sealable to an autoclavable material for a durable, high quality peelable pouch. This flexible packaging is autoclavable in OEMs or in-hospital applications under controlled conditions (260°F/126°C); suitable for the processing and protection of dressings, instruments, implants, parenterals and other products requiring steam sterilization. Since no coating is needed for sealing the film to Tyvek®, the contents of the package never come into contact with an adhesive.


Header Bags/Breather Patches: Headers or breather patches of DuPont™ Tyvek® enable ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilization of film-film packages and foil pouches, which are used for devices requiring a barrier to light, oxygen or moisture.

All this info can be found on DuPont's Website: DuPont Medical Packaging

Where can you purchase Tyvek pouches? Click here for a list of U.S. Sterile Packaging Manufacturer Resource List provided by DuPont.