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Bell kneeling pad top fabric peeling off

Joined
Mar 17, 2015
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Louisiana
The thin knit fabric top on my Bell T-pad kneeling pad is coming unglued. I've twice tried unsuccessfully to glue it back down on the pad with contact cement but it didn't stick and I just ended up peeling more of the fabric loose in the process. Anyone have success with getting the fabric to stick back in place on a Bell kneeling pad after it starts delaminating? What do you recommend? Thanks.
 
Don't own that pad, but some kind of glue is the obvious answer, and I don't understand why contact cement won't work. Could you explain more?

I've had pads in my canoes for 40+ years, but never rubber with fabric on top. Just plain ensolite, minicell or neoprene rubber. If I wanted fabric on top, which I don't, I suppose I could glue some on. Maybe you could just buy some matching fabric, cut off the delaminating fabric area, and glue on a patch.

Another idea. Dan Cooke used to make those pads. Maybe a call or email to him for advice would be helpful. Northstar Canoe (Ted Bell) also now sells them; maybe they could give advice too.
 
It has been awhile since I tried to do anything with this pad, but I think my first try was just spreading a thin layer of contact cement on the rubber part and pressing the fabric down. The fabric didn't stay glued down when I used the pad again so the second time I tried to spread contact cement on both the rubber and the underside of the fabric then waiting a bit before pressing the fabric down. That didn't lead to any better attachment.

I've found that kneeling pads with fabric on top are easier on my knees than ones with a textured rubber kneeling surface.
 
Thanks yellowcanoe, I will look for Gorilla fabric glue. My T-pad has been sitting around unused for a number of years since my initial repair attempt. I just now pulled it out from the bottom of a pile of pads and dry bags and see that it has developed some (permanent?) indentations from things piled on top so even if I get the fabric glued down it may not be as comfortable as before.
 
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