Is it really necessary to use more than one coat of CP? Will the second coat soak through the first after the first is dry ? I always use one coat on thread wraps. I know some builders use 2 to 4 coats. Was wondering what the advantage is. Would like to see some comments on the subject.

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY

No. 1-wet coat does about all you're going to do insofar as what the CP is there for. 2 coats isn't going to hurt. Beyond that, it's just not necessary.

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I only use one coat. Never saw the need for more. Anytime I tried I ended up with issues because it didn't soak in and just dried on top of the other coats. One has always worked just fine for me!

Matt White

I always used one coat. Just figured any more was a waste of time and CP.

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY

I also have a question for you Tom. I use a VERY liberal application of CP so that the entire wrap is white, then I use a flat edged, fine brisled brush to wick EVERYTHING off.
When you say '1-wet coat', would my process be what you consider a wet coat? Should I try to leave some on rather than try to wick off as much as possible?

I don't put on that much so it's hard for me to say. I just apply enough so that the threads turn uniformly dark - this indicates that they fully saturated.

It's like the old saying, you can only get so wet and you can only be so dry. Putting on excess isn't something I do (nor understand). But my guess is that if you have that much on there you've pretty much saturated your wraps and thus that should be all you need.

The only exception to any of this discussion that I see is for those who thin their CP by more than just a very little. Color Preserver is mostly water to begin with so any additional water you add just makes reduces the make up of solids even more. Thin the CP enough, and in effect, you aren't doing anything but putting water on your wraps. You could put on 10 coats like that and still not have your thread adequately sealed.

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JAy do a simple test to figur eout wht works best for you. Wrap 4 different colors on a stick, abotu 3" each color. WHite, yellow, red and blue. Now coat teh entire 12" with CP. Once it dries,apply 1 more coat to the zero to the 180 axis of the wrap (or only to teh top half). Makesure you mark the area where you did 2 coats on teh bare blank. Now coat the entire wrap with epoxy and take a look at the difference.

I used ot be a 1 coat CP guymyself, but afer doing this test on several test sticks, using all the CP's, and a few differenttypes of thread - I knew what was needed for teh best results.

I do (2) coats for good measure and because I use a lot of Madeira which has silicon, but one thing I have noticed from [painful] experience --- for wraps around larger guide feet such as a size 20 0r 16 stripper, (3) coats is good insurance because of the area created by the "tent" of thread going up and around those "tall" guide feet. You gotta make sure the CP gets underneath that thread!

I always use two with madeira and one with gudebrod. The silicone or whatever it is on madeira will sometimes repel the parts of the first coat and the second will go ahead and seal it off. With nylon thread only one has ever been necessary for me.