Skin

Skin on frame kayaks can be covered with a variety of fabrics, but the fabric we use more than any other is nylon. Nylon is impact and abrasion resistant and pairs well with the 2-part polyurethane we recommend. We prefer fabrics from Skinboats.org because they have proven performance and can ship you coating, fabric and pigment in the same box. Even for overseas customers, it is often less expensive to order nylon and urethane from them than it is to buy local cloth and an expensive, locally available polyurethane. We recommend you price cloth AND coating before making purchasing decisions. Skinboats.org rarely reply to emails, so if you are an international customer please call them directly at 360 299 0804.

With the exception of the 840 Xtra Tuff, all nylons should be sewn on wet, and must remain wet during the entire stitching process. Typically I will mist the fabric every 10 minutes while skinning if not using 840 Xtra Tuff.

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United States (will ship worldwide)

The Skinboat School: skinboats.org

840 9oz Xtra Tuff nylon Our preferred cloth, it has an excellent balance between weight and durability and is the only cloth we recommend that can be sewn on dry but still shrinks tightly.

700 7oz Junior Ballistic “Primo“ A good ultralight cloth with some significant disadvantages, this tightly-woven lightweight nylon is surprisingly tough, giving similar durability to the 840 Xtra Tuff while weighing less and absorbing less coating. Unfortunately, it is extremely hard to get this fabric to stay tight and it will always get saggy in high humidity. If you use this cloth you must sew it on cold and soaking wet, stitch very tight, and remember it cannot be dyed with fabric dye. It will not conform to the stem shape of Greenland kayaks without showing wrinkles.

1050 12oz Ballistic nylon A good choice for very roughly used skinboats, it adds about 30% longer life and durability, but will add 4 pounds to the finished weight of the boat. It’s up to you to decide if that’s worth it or not. Sew on soaking wet.

Other fabrics from Skinboats.org: Skinboats.org offers many options that don’t work well. Please email us if considering a different cloth.

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Dyson Baidarka and Co

George Dyson also sells fabric but does not advertise. He sells an 8oz nylon that is a bit loosely woven and therefore shows significant thread pull holes, but shrinks well, and a 12oz nylon with moderate shrink that is easy to work with. Consult the internet for a full fabric list and contact info.

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UK + Europe:

UK: Ant Mace, shipshape.works
Poland: Marcin Bober, marcinbober@op.pl

Marcin and Ant both carry two nylon cloths: an 8oz (N260) and a 12oz (N430) that get good reviews from our builders. Marcin can ship to most countries in the EU.

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Germany: Extremtextil.de

Extremtextil sells an 8oz nylon that shrinks well and wraps compound curves nicely, but is so loosely woven that it is difficult to work with without pulling large thread holes.

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Norway: kajakkspesialisten.no

Anders Thygesen sells a 60/40 nylon polyester blend fabric that gets good reviews from our builders. He sells this as a “kayak skinning kit” in his store. Anders has a wider width of this cloth as well, so please inquire about the width and compare to your kayak circumference. If the wider cloth is unavailable, a patch of cloth can be sewn in the center near the cockpit, much like the traditional Greenland kayaks did with sealskin.

Coating

Skin on frame kayaks can be finished with a variety of coatings, but polyurethane pairs best with nylon cloth because both are flexible, allowing the nylon to absorb impacts without damaging the coating.

We recommend the Spirit Line 2-part polyurethane sold by Skinboats.org, which also sells the 840 Xtra Tuff cloth we prefer. This extremely tough coating has the most durability of any semi-translucent finish we currently know of. It has almost no odor and contains no solvents, and is applied wet-on-wet over the course of a single day. It will not stick to itself once it is cured and cannot be recoated, so it is important to order enough for your project.

Skinboats.org sells this in 3 sizes: full order, half order, and touch up kit. They say a full order can cover a kayak, but in our experience this is rarely enough. For specific recommendations for individual boats, see our plan sets. In general, recommend ordering 1 full order AND 1 half order for most kayaks, solo canoes and large pack canoes. If you are building a large kayak or large solo canoe, order 2 full orders; tandem canoes will need 2 1/2 to 3 orders. If using 12oz cloth, the thicker cloth will absorb 30% more coating. If you are building a very small boat like a small pack canoe, our East Greenland kayak or the smallest size F1, you can get by with 1 full order plus a touch up kit, but you must carefully follow the coating schedule shown in our plans.

Note: the part A is consumed faster and is never a full 16oz. See our plans and videos for recommended batch size.

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OTHER COATING OPTIONS

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Coelan Boat Coating Gloss Finish

Coelan is a highly durable, UV resistant single-part finish, but it is also extremely expensive and extremely toxic with strong vapors. It is applied over several days in a well ventilated, conditioned space with a respirator.

For smaller kayaks or canoes: order 2ea 750ml cans + 1ea 350ml can
For medium to large kayaks or canoes: order 3ea 750ml cans

The cost of Coelan is roughly three times the cost of the Spirit Line 2-part polyurethane from Skinboats.org, so even for international builders it can be less expensive to ship Spirit Line coating than purchase Coelan locally.

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Single-part “Hardware Store” Polyurethanes

A variety of cheap hardware store urethanes can be used to coat a skin on frame boat, but they tend to crack easily and the durability and lifespan is less than half that of Spirit Line’s 2-part or Coelan. Application is also usually pretty toxic. You get what you pay for.

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Other 2-part Urethanes

Students have experimented with a variety of other 2-part coatings, but so far none have worked well enough to recommend.

Coloring your boat

See the Choosing a Color page and watch our color choices video for side by side comparisons, test panels of our different dyes and pigments exposed to UV, and a more detailed discussion of the pros and cons of each color system.

Acid Dye

Acid dye is easy (but messy) to apply. The initial colors are fantastic, but they fade with exposure to sunlight. Acid dye cannot be used on the “Primo” cloth sold by skinboats.org or on any polyester. See the dye videos in our courses for important notes to prevent coating adhesion issues.

Earth pigment

Earth pigment is our preferred coloring system. It is slightly harder to apply than acid dye, but the colors don’t fade and the dark colors are very colorfast. We do not recommend adding more than 4 tsp of pigment per 32 oz of Part B. The color packs we sell contain 6 teaspoons, enough for 1 1/2 orders of urethane. Earth pigment can be used on any cloth.