Emergency blankets

i want to make my flowering room bigger but i want to go as cheap as possible. has anyone used $1 emergency blanket to make "walls" for a grow room and how well do they work

If you look hard enough at them the rip.
Too flimsy. Plus if its wrinkled, its no better then alum foil, you get the same 'hot spots'

Now if you used some spray mount (aerosol glue) and fix it to some cardboard (a rolling pin can help) you might have a fighting chance.

But for a down-n-dirty econo wall, ponder just some white poster board from the dollar store. (foam core will give rigidity)

I glue aluminum foil, shiny-side out, to cardboard, wood, plastic, you name it. It looks nearly identical to one of those high-end dimpled reflectors(especially cardboard) or smoother(wood!) by the time I'm done. In practice they promote more even growth with less plant-stretching towards the bulbs, and I say they make bulbs about 1.7 times as effective. I wouldn't use a rolling pin. I use a soft cloth and moderate pressure, gives it a nice sheen. I've also used a sack of beads in a spandex, probably, it's a ergonomic wrist rest. It created micro grooves from the beads and the sheer material, looks interesting and would likely promote diffusion while not cutting as much intensity.

This 'Mylar' stuff people use is actually more specifically aluminum metalized (bonded) to PET(this is really Mylar, it comes in clear, matte, and other finishes/styles) fabric. Aluminum foil > plain/flat white paint any day. The only real spectral reflection measurements of white paint that I've seen where pretty bad without juicing the paint with raw titanium dioxide or raw magnesium fluoride. Flat white paint cuts intensity and creates diffusion. Aluminum (I don't care what kind) doesn't do this. It's an excellent reflector and 99% of commercial reflectors are (often coated) aluminum.

actually the foam boards at the dollar store leak lite thru them. i used to use them but they sucked. go to ace hardware and get a huge roll of black tarp for 10 bucks. that shit is lite proof. u can lookf or white tarp if u want so its more reflective. i have black tarp covering my big window and my closet door cracks in my grow room and it works great

Aluminum foil or foil tape also is 100% effective at blocking visible light.

Is this based on your on experience? Don't want to be a dick here, But as a matter of fact, I just spent 50-60 dollers painting.....and the color was.....flat white.

BigBudBalls said:

If you look hard enough at them the rip.
Too flimsy. Plus if its wrinkled, its no better then alum foil, you get the same 'hot spots'

Now if you used some spray mount (aerosol glue) and fix it to some cardboard (a rolling pin can help) you might have a fighting chance.

But for a down-n-dirty econo wall, ponder just some white poster board from the dollar store. (foam core will give rigidity)

Click to expand...

Getting hot spots from tin foil is one of the dumbest and oldest myths floating around these sites. The wrinkles are bad? I thought you wanted "rigidity"? Well why in the hell do hoods have dimpled reflections points, which are almost identical to a wrinkle(rigidity) in tinfoil?

Also, how is there a hot spot if only 60%(tin foil) of the light is being reflected? because when 100% of the light is being directly cast, there are no hot spots. Does it act like a magnifying glass, even though you are only getting 60% of the light/heat?

Use common sense, and you can avoid bad advice!

Get rolls of mylar. They are CHEAP. Just as cheap as your blankets would be.

$1.29 for 100 feet:
http://www.texashydroponics.com/shop/product.php?productid=685&cat=223&page=1

Does that guy even bother reading? ^

'Mylar' = PET fiber(Mylar) with aluminum metalized to it for reflectance.

Your 'mylar' is insignificantly better than aluminum foil(the shiny side).

They Actually do work ive been using it for a while now.. I dont get hot spots

Dude, if you look back on my posts in other threads, I've said the same thing. I just gave up. I deal with focal points, convergence and divergence and waists all day long.

nexcare said:

Getting hot spots from tin foil is one of the dumbest and oldest myths floating around these sites. The wrinkles are bad? I thought you wanted "rigidity"? Well why in the hell do hoods have dimpled reflections points, which are almost identical to a wrinkle(rigidity) in tinfoil?

Also, how is there a hot spot if only 60%(tin foil) of the light is being reflected? because when 100% of the light is being directly cast, there are no hot spots. Does it act like a magnifying glass, even though you are only getting 60% of the light/heat?

Use common sense, and you can avoid bad advice!

Get rolls of mylar. They are CHEAP. Just as cheap as your blankets would be.

$1.29 for 100 feet:
http://www.texashydroponics.com/shop/product.php?productid=685&cat=223&page=1

Click to expand...

you can see in the walls of my pic i used a blanket from walmart it was only 2 bucks and works great. it covers the whole closet too. alot cheaper then buying multiple cans of spraypaint

The blankets work alright, but they are kind of a bitch to get just right. Be careful not to nick them when they are pulled tight.

i use bristol board and duct tape to cover my walls in my tiny space. done me good so far

Spray mount, cardboard/foamcore/coroplast/masonite/plywood, rolling pin, great econo-combo.

(the blankets, as-is, are a bit fragile)

all i have ever used is emergency blankets, get them nice and flat and your buds will be boomin my friend