I have noticed the recent discussions on the lack of rubberized cloth
in small quantities, along with glue substitutes.  I have been thinking
over some alternatives all week.

Back when I was getting started, I was making a lot of historical
costuming.  I still do from time to time.  I made friends with the
fabric store owner (a Victorian dress takes 10 to 12 yards of fabric).
One of the fabric products they sold was the cloth used for blackout
curtains.  I was doing some photography at the time, so I used some of
this to make a film changing bag.

My first attempt at a small organ used the scraps of this for bellows.
It really seemed like the same stuff.  It is light proof too.  Not sure
if such is still available.  There are also fabrics used for making
raincoats (the original McIntosh).  I have often wondered what would
happen if bellows or pneumatics were covered in the plasticized
tablecloth material -- how long it would last?

I have often speculated on making my own rubberized cloth, as the
commercial stuff has too real quality to it and a poor match.  When
one gets into advanced fabric arts (and electronics printed circuit
manufacture), there is something called silk screen.  This is where
silk is attached to a rectangular frame and coated with a wax resist.
This resist can be either scraped away or photochemical etched away.
There is a huge industry that uses this to produce logos on T-shirts.

The ink is some sort of pre-vulcanized rubber.  When it is ironed on
or heated in the T-shirt press, it is vulcanized to withstand the
temperatures used in washing and drying.  Eventually, with a number of
wash dry cycles, it does break down.  (Turning the T-shirt inside out
extends the wear of such things.)

It might be interesting to experiment with this ink and a flatiron.
For a continuous roll, a name tag laminator might be used to vulcanize
this rubberized ink into one-foot wide strips.  And you can have any
color you want.  I think it would be important to use the squeegee to
impress the ink into the cloth.

You can also get at the fabric store self-printable T-shirt transfer
paper that can be run through your inkjet or laser printer.  This
paper absorbs the printer dye into the rubberish coating that is heat
released.  Such might be good for making small pouches.

This paper is used with the above-mentioned laminator for making printed
circuit boards.  Colored foil overlays help seal against the photo
resists.  A side benefit of this is that it can also be used to recreate
decals used on piano fall boards and such.

The local craft plastics store also carry room temperature vulcanizing
(RTV) mold casting products.  Most of these now are silicone rather than
latex based.  I did get some un-vulcanized casting latex for making some
puppets.

I think technically this is still Gutta Percha -- literally called
liquid latex.  This is painted on in small layers to build up a mold
with fine detail.  It soaks into the rags, which seem to feel a lot like
rubberized cloth.  I am not sure if this could be vulcanized with an
iron or laminator as above.  Might be worth some experimentation to see
what the stability is.

I kind of like the idea of Silicone RTV applied over high thread count
cotton bed sheet.

With the above mentioned film changing bag, the cloth is French seamed.
This is a way of sewing the fabric together right-side-out with an
offset.  On the other side the longer part of the offset is folded over.
The seam is then pressed flat and the edge of the fold is stitched
parallel to the first seam.

The seams in denim jeans (Levi's) are made this way.  Where the seams
cross they are riveted.  (You are effectively wearing the tent on your
legs!)  I have used this method to extend scraps of pneumatic cloth
when they are too short.

Some fabric artists like a sealant called E6000, however there have
been cases where some online fabric artists feel now they have been
poisoned by the fumes.

On the subject of gluing things, people who do letterpress printing
have had the same issue with the press rollers.  Traditionally these
were a hard gelatin.  More modern presses do use rubber vulcanized
rollers, as do modern computer printers.  Such do not have the
definition of the traditional rendered-fat based rollers.  The formula
for these rollers is not unlike the hide glue we use plus talcum to
stiffen it.  Old congealed glue does indeed have the same texture as
these transfer rollers.

The letterpress operators have a substitute: Gummy Bears -- I kid you
not!  These candy morsels are rendered down with a double boiler then
poured into the roller molds.  It urns out gummy bears are made out of
almost the exact same material.

Hide glue, on the other hand, is basically unsweetened gelatin, which
can be used as a glue in a pinch.  It might seem strange, but I think
rendered Gummy Bars would make a great glue for attaching the cloth.
Might even make a good substitute for the rubber sealant in the cloth.
That way one would be gluing with the same stuff as the sealant.

Again, more experimentation is warranted -- the additional sugars might
be even more attractive to rodents.

Julie Porter
Martinez, California