Reuse shrink wrap?

LUnaCY

LUnaCY

Active Member
Aug 28, 2018
206
Afton, MN
Boat Info
310 Sundancer 2002
Engines
Mercruiser 5.0 MPI Bravo III
It’s still a high of 21 this week, low of -21, but Im ready for spring.

310 Sundancer that was professionally wrapped for the bargain price of $600 here in Minnesota. I know it only shrinks once, but has anyone reused their wrap for a boat this size?

If so, what’s the process and how did it hold up?

My thought was to perhaps attach another 2-3’ wide piece to the existing next year, maybe with adhesive, then shrink the new piece.
 
I've heard of reusing it on smaller boats, not sure how well that would work on a larger one if its wrapped around railings.

It will shrink more than once. Just heat it again. If you remove it carefully, cut a vertical line up from a stern corner you may be able to use it again. You might have to cut an inch or 2 from the height of your wood bracing.

For the record, I reuse mine every year. I'll remove this years wrap in the spring, roll it up and use it to wrap the outdoor furniture next year.
 
LUnaCY said:
It’s still a high of 21 this week, low of -21, but Im ready for spring.

310 Sundancer that was professionally wrapped for the bargain price of $600 here in Minnesota. I know it only shrinks once, but has anyone reused their wrap for a boat this size?

If so, what’s the process and how did it hold up?

My thought was to perhaps attach another 2-3’ wide piece to the existing next year, maybe with adhesive, then shrink the new piece.
Click to expand...

People have done it before and your results will vary based on the quality of the wrap job and certain other characteristics. Problem areas are going to be at the bow (because of the angles) and around the anchor (you will have to clean cut it). The other problem is that once it is shrunk can you actually remove it with out cutting it to shreds (yes you can retape). You will have to deal with the wrappings around anything up top like radar light bars, antennas, etc and in addition the strapping that forms the belt and the lower tie downs. Plus there are many other unforeseeable things that it may have attached around.

So, yes it can be done but your particular instance will determine how well it works. It may turn out to be a lot of work to get another season or two - but if it does work and you don't mine storing and repairing it you can probably save a few bucks.

-Kevin
 
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I re-used the wrap on my 260DA for 3 years. Didn't want to push the envelope so that's as far as I went. Note that it's going to be a pretty big hunk of unwieldy plastic to move and store.

It's cumbersome to fold up and time consuming. It's easy to take off shrink wrap when you're not planning on reusing it... quite the opposite when you want to save it. It will also take some time to put it back up again. As long as you are good with spending a few hours in the Spring and Fall on this, it can certainly be done. $600 is actually a really good price, by the way.

Here's how I did it in a nutshell. There will be little things along the way that are likely too numerous to remember/mention - you'll need to figure those out as you go. I have no idea how your cover is supported so I can't comment on that...

-- Installed a door so I can get inside and lower any wooden supports. Actually I already had the door as I went in and out of the boat doing the projects all Winter long.
-- Cut a SHORT slit along one of the aft corners, making sure not to loose the perimeter strap. Just enough to get the wrap over the corner of the platform.
-- Cut the belly straps.
-- Work the cover up and over, folding as you go. By the time you get it towards the front of the bow, the rest (anchor area) should be relatively loose and you can get on a ladder and wiggle it off the anchor. Cut carefully, if needed.
-- The following year, go in reverse order. Re-tie the perimeter strap in the stern corner... you made sure to not let the belly strap slip back into the pocket, right?
-- If you re-support it well enough, it will hold up well. No need to try and re-shrink it. Besides, you'd need to buy the proper tools. The cover will be wrinkly, but if it's supported well, it will be just fine. You can retie the belly straps and/or use hull preservation tape to secure the wrap to the hull. Use the tape to stitch any cut areas back together.
 
I’ll chime in just to say that size doesn’t matter as my dock neighbor and his wife (both retirement age) have no problem rewrapping their large Carver aft cabin cruiser. They get 3 to 4 years on a wrap.
 
Lazy Daze said:
I re-used the wrap on my 260DA for 3 years. Didn't want to push the envelope so that's as far as I went. Note that it's going to be a pretty big hunk of unwieldy plastic to move and store.

It's cumbersome to fold up and time consuming. It's easy to take off shrink wrap when you're not planning on reusing it... quite the opposite when you want to save it. It will also take some time to put it back up again. As long as you are good with spending a few hours in the Spring and Fall on this, it can certainly be done. $600 is actually a really good price, by the way.

Here's how I did it in a nutshell. There will be little things along the way that are likely too numerous to remember/mention - you'll need to figure those out as you go. I have no idea how your cover is supported so I can't comment on that...

-- Installed a door so I can get inside and lower any wooden supports. Actually I already had the door as I went in and out of the boat doing the projects all Winter long.
-- Cut a SHORT slit along one of the aft corners, making sure not to loose the perimeter strap. Just enough to get the wrap over the corner of the platform.
-- Cut the belly straps.
-- Work the cover up and over, folding as you go. By the time you get it towards the front of the bow, the rest (anchor area) should be relatively loose and you can get on a ladder and wiggle it off the anchor. Cut carefully, if needed.
-- The following year, go in reverse order. Re-tie the perimeter strap in the stern corner... you made sure to not let the belly strap slip back into the pocket, right?
-- If you re-support it well enough, it will hold up well. No need to try and re-shrink it. Besides, you'd need to buy the proper tools. The cover will be wrinkly, but if it's supported well, it will be just fine. You can retie the belly straps and/or use hull preservation tape to secure the wrap to the hull. Use the tape to stitch any cut areas back together.
Click to expand...


I have not tried this on our big boat, but on our 24 Baja we do. I am on my fourth season with this wrap, I do it just like you, except I use Rachet straps for all the strapping, the ones that hold the support poles, belt line and the belly straps, I just tie multiple straps together and use one hook and one ratchet for each tie zone. It makes it a lot easier to tighten everything back up the following year.
Ed
 
KevinC said:
If you want my old shrink wrap you can have it - the 340SDA wrap will cover a lot of lawn furniture. ;)

-Kevin
Click to expand...

What’s the catch??
Do I have to unwrap your boat for you? Lol

Seriously, I would be interested in it. (And yes, I’d come help you unwrap it)
 
Espos4 said:
What’s the catch??
Do I have to unwrap your boat for you? Lol

Seriously, I would be interested in it. (And yes, I’d come help you unwrap it)
Click to expand...

I just hate throwing stuff out. :)

Right now I think I have 1.5 covers and will have another in the spring... Thats a lot of wrap. Long story but the brief is 1 was from 2 seasons ago - not a great wrap - wanted to make a cover never got to it. Half from last season - other half was used to template the cover I made for this season. Hmmm, that leaves this seasons - when I went to put my new cover on I was surprised to find the boat already wrapped :( so I will have another in a couple of weeks as I will wait for warmer weather to put my winter canvas on for final fitting purposes only to put away again.

Also, since you will have plenty of wrap if you want to stop wrapping your boat I can hook you up with a nice canvas cover to fit your boat. ;)

-Kevin
 
On my old 32' boat, I would reused shrink wrap for 5 years. Never had an issue. I just got a roll of shrink wrap tape to reinforce weak spots or holes. Last year, I tried reusing the shrink wrap on my 400 Sedan, and that didn't work out so well. It was a disaster... the bridge made it SOOO much harder to work with and get tight. So I won't be attempting to do that anymore.
 
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KevinC said:
I just hate throwing stuff out. :)

Also, since you will have plenty of wrap if you want to stop wrapping your boat I can hook you up with a nice canvas cover to fit your boat. ;)

-Kevin
Click to expand...

Same here. I like to reuse it whenever possible.

My friend and I bought a roll of shrink wrap and a torch to wrap our boats ourselves. It’s working out very well, just trying to delay purchasing another roll.
 
I got 5 years out of the wrap for my 37 Dancer. The biggest challenge is getting the support poles on the bow to stay up as you won't have the tightly shrunk wrap to help hold them down. I had to tie the crap out of the from every angle. By
the 4th and 5th year, I had a lot of holes tapped up, but shrink wrap is really strong and durable so it can easily last several seasons. Also, I live 10 minutes from my marina so I could check on it regularly. I saved $350 x 4 years, not bad. Just have to take a lot of crap from your friends for being cheap.
 
My dad would get several years out the shrink wrap on his 36 Carver AC. It required annual patching and taping in certain areas, but it saved him a lot of money overall. I’m able to store in heated storage so I don’t deal with shrink wrap. There’s no shame in reusing the stuff and spending the money on other boat stuff, like gas as someone mentioned earlier.
 
Was told by the man that wrapped my boat not to cut the middle of the back of the boat but to make a Vee cut about 6" tall to expose the bottom strap then cut up just enough to get it over the swim platform on both sides. The vee cut gives you a place to add on to the pull string so you can pull it up tight when you reuse it. The two small cuts on the sides are smaller then cutting up the middle of the back and is easier to retape. That is how in did mine but stored indoors last season so I didn't need it.
 
Lazy Daze said:
I re-used the wrap on my 260DA for 3 years. Didn't want to push the envelope so that's as far as I went. Note that it's going to be a pretty big hunk of unwieldy plastic to move and store.

It's cumbersome to fold up and time consuming. It's easy to take off shrink wrap when you're not planning on reusing it... quite the opposite when you want to save it. It will also take some time to put it back up again. As long as you are good with spending a few hours in the Spring and Fall on this, it can certainly be done. $600 is actually a really good price, by the way.

Here's how I did it in a nutshell. There will be little things along the way that are likely too numerous to remember/mention - you'll need to figure those out as you go. I have no idea how your cover is supported so I can't comment on that...

-- Installed a door so I can get inside and lower any wooden supports. Actually I already had the door as I went in and out of the boat doing the projects all Winter long.
-- Cut a SHORT slit along one of the aft corners, making sure not to loose the perimeter strap. Just enough to get the wrap over the corner of the platform.
-- Cut the belly straps.
-- Work the cover up and over, folding as you go. By the time you get it towards the front of the bow, the rest (anchor area) should be relatively loose and you can get on a ladder and wiggle it off the anchor. Cut carefully, if needed.
-- The following year, go in reverse order. Re-tie the perimeter strap in the stern corner... you made sure to not let the belly strap slip back into the pocket, right?
-- If you re-support it well enough, it will hold up well. No need to try and re-shrink it. Besides, you'd need to buy the proper tools. The cover will be wrinkly, but if it's supported well, it will be just fine. You can retie the belly straps and/or use hull preservation tape to secure the wrap to the hull. Use the tape to stitch any cut areas back together.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for an in depth procedure . It sounds like your method will work great for me.
 
KevinC said:
If you want my old shrink wrap you can have it - the 340SDA wrap will cover a lot of lawn furniture. ;)

-Kevin
Click to expand...
Here you go.

wrapped it today with a generous donation from Kevin C.

It’s a 240 Sundeck wrapped reusing Shrink wrap from a 340 Sundancer.
4CED66BE-A458-492D-9EF9-01E1AA6FB6C2.jpeg
 
Espos4 said:
Here you go.

wrapped it today with a generous donation from Kevin C.

It’s a 240 Sundeck wrapped reusing Shrink wrap from a 340 Sundancer.
View attachment 77258
Click to expand...

I’ll be unwrapping my 410 around St. Patrick’s Day.
It’s in a Boatyard in Copiague.
You are more than welcome to whatever I take off.
Coming back from vacation on 3/16 and plan to unwrap the next day (weather permitting).
It’s wrapped to down near the boot stripes on both sides so there will be plenty to work with.
Just tell me how you want it cut and I’ll see what I can do working around the shrinkwrap door/radar/satellite dome/anchor.
BTW: Nice garage art!
 
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