How can I effectively hang and clean Mylar?

Advanced Techniques GrowFAQ
1

Contributed by: Perseus

Tools and materials needed:
Self Adhesive Velcro Strips, and sharp scissors / Exacto knife

Applying Velcro and mounting the Mylar

1. Cut the sheet of Mylar to the desired shape and size
Note: Keep your Mylar clean as possible! It picks up dust easily.

  1. Take a inch square (1.25 cm x 1.25 cm) of Velcro and remove the protective paper from both sides
  2. Apply one Velcro square to each corner of your Mylar sheet using the self-adhesive backing.

Note: you could pre-apply squares to each side of your Velcro sheet so you can easily flip the sheet over.

Quick mount4. Once the Velcro has been applied to each corner of your Mylar sheet, grasp the Mylar sheet with both hands and apply to the wall.

Dont worry about getting it straight in this step…

Stretch one corner at a time5. Once the Mylar sheet has been applied, you can begin to straighten the sheet by pulling each corner tight, one at a time, and by reattaching the Velcro square.

Note corner tabs remaining6. Cleanup is a snap; simply pull, and then throw away the Mylar. Velcro remains for your re-app pleasure.

This is a very effective, and economic system for hanging your expensive Mylar. Using this method you can hang your Mylar without risk of damage from tacks or staples. The risk of ripping the Mylar is greatly reduced.

Using Velcro to hang your Mylar will also allow you to clean your Mylar with less risk of damage. Velcro also allows you to re-adjust your Mylar as often as necessary with ease.

Note: Mylar should be as ripple-free as possible to avoid poor light reflection and hot sopts.

Recycling and Reusing Mylar
In the past I have thrown away Mylar after it becomes too scratched and water stained, etc. Velcro makes it easy to re-use your Mylar.

Simply apply additional Velcro squares to each attachment location, directly on top of the original attachment locations. This is easy to do by sight and feel.

Additional Tips:

  • Purchase a roll of Velcro to save $$
  • Washing your hands prior to working with Mylar will eliminate much of the natural oils, which are present on your skin, and can smudge your shiny new Mylar. Using gloves will eliminate this problem.
  • Use a tape measure to measure, and mark your Mylar sheets prior to cutting - you will cut much straighter sheets.

    How to clean dirty Mylar
    Over time, your Mylar will become spotted and stained, especially if you do a lot of foiliar feeding!

    Stained MylarTools and materials:

    Glass cleaner
    Wet dish sponge
    Clean paper towels
    Soapy water in spray bottle (Add a few drops of dish detergent to distilled or R/O water for best results.)

    1. Thoroughly spray down the surface area of the dirty Mylar using the soapy water.

    2. Clean the Mylar in a downward motion with the wet sponge, in a downward stroking pattern. (This will push what dirt the sponge doesn?t pick up to the bottom of your sheet for easy removal.)

    3. Now that the dirt has been removed, liberally spray the surface of the Mylar with standard glass cleaner.

    4. Using the same downward pattern wipe the Mylar clean with the paper towels.

    [Editor’s note: you can also use Tuck tape on the corners, but they often tear away. Or, you can staple over squares of Duck tape to minimize wall damage and ripping).]

  • Last modified: 14:50 - Mar 12, 2003