Building a Grow Box - Need help with mylar/emergency blankets

enclaved · Oct 27, 2009

I am building a grow box and am trying to line the walls with emergency blankets. They are extremely thin and flimsy so I was wondering if anyone had any tricks or tips to help me cut and get this one the walls. i am currently trying to use aluminum foil tape.

I already ruined half a blanket in my attempts so any suggestions would be welcome.

newb101 · Oct 27, 2009

i would measure you walls then, lay the blanket down and cut with a surgical knive or something very sharp making it a lil bigger to make sure you got your corners covers!!

vh13 · Oct 27, 2009

Yeah, measure and cut slightly over-size first.

Some people put velcro on their mylar sheets. I use double sided tape.

KaleoXxX · Oct 27, 2009

i used staples to secure 1 part of the blanket to a wall and removed the trim with scissors. then did the same on the other walls, and top

double sided tape or Velcro sounds easiest tho

enclaved · Oct 27, 2009

newb101 said:
cut with a surgical knive or something very sharp

vh13 said:
I use double sided tape.

KaleoXxX said:
i used staples to secure 1 part of the blanket to a wall and removed the trim with scissors. then did the same on the other walls, and top

Between those ideas I think I'm gonna be able to do this when without ruining anymore. I don't think my scissors were sharp enough so I'm gonna stop and get some new ones and one of those 'wrapping paper' trimmers on my way home.

Thanks Guys

KaleoXxX · Oct 27, 2009

any time, its what we do, bounce ideas back and forth

aKa sWaZi sKunK · Oct 27, 2009

I thought that the mylar was to thin to really reflect the light? When I was going to use it I held a peice up at warlmart and saw the light from the roof through it

RanTyr · Oct 27, 2009

aKa sWaZi sKunK said:
I thought that the mylar was to thin to really reflect the light? When I was going to use it I held a peice up at warlmart and saw the light from the roof through it

While not the best choice the emergency blankets are a valid cheap reflector to get yourself going. It may only reflect roughly 55% of the light, but the walls are much worse

I will add though that using the blanket as a permenant solution will greatly reduce how effective your light setup is.

vh13 · Oct 27, 2009

aKa sWaZi sKunK said:
I thought that the mylar was to thin to really reflect the light? When I was going to use it I held a peice up at warlmart and saw the light from the roof through it

I've noticed this too, but white poster board wasn't as effective a reflector as mylar for me. I've considered trying flat white primer soon, gonna have some left over from another project.

aKa sWaZi sKunK · Oct 27, 2009

vh13 said:
I've noticed this too, but white poster board wasn't as effective a reflector as mylar for me. I've considered trying flat white primer soon, gonna have some left over from another project.

I painted my walls with flat white rostellum paint. just make sure you get some fresh air if you use that stuff. works like a charm, my 1000w hps makes the room glow unbelievably

enclaved · Oct 27, 2009

RanTyr said:
While not the best choice the emergency blankets are a valid cheap reflector to get yourself going. It may only reflect roughly 55% of the light, but the walls are much worse

I will add though that using the blanket as a permenant solution will greatly reduce how effective your light setup is.

Yeah, I agree after opening and seeing what the 1mm mylar is all about. Hopefully I'll get a roll of white poly in time for my second grow, but since I already spent the whopping 3 dollars on emergency blankets, I'll see how it goes with my bagseed grow, see if this cabinet I'm building actually functions before I drop even more money into it.

aKa sWaZi sKunK · Oct 27, 2009

enclaved said:
Yeah, I agree after opening and seeing what the 1mm mylar is all about. Hopefully I'll get a roll of white poly in time for my second grow, but since I already spent the whopping 3 dollars on emergency blankets, I'll see how it goes with my bagseed grow, see if this cabinet I'm building actually functions before I drop even more money into it.

I think it would be worth your time to say screw it with the blankets and throw ten bucks worth of paint up.

Any loss of lumens (light) is a huge loss. You gain so much by being efficent.

my .02

enclaved · Nov 2, 2009

My cabinet is coming along nicely, I got the mylar up. I used a wrapping paper cutter and it worked pretty well. Taped it up with double sided tape and aluminum tape around the edges. And a shot of the CFL lightbar I made with mylar on a tin cookie sheet for a reflector.

Building a Grow Box - Need help with mylar/emergency blankets

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