Ideas for droopy grill cloth

[SFBayArch]

Looking for suggestions to remedy the heartache of sagging linen grill cloth.

I’ve already tried the blow dryer - which works great, but the droop retuns next morning....

 

[sparklow]

You need to remove whatever is holding it down on one side and the top and bottom and then re-stretch and refasten it.

 

[bluestime]

Spray it down to get it damp with water and put it in the sun or by a heater. It should shrink.

 

[Silentnet]

Plastic surgery.

 

[classic carl]

You need to remove whatever is holding it down on one side and the top and bottom and then re-stretch and refasten it.

Refasten or replace.

 

[Audio Fan]

If replacing, I like to cut an extra wide cloth, then fold over the edges so I can insert a long dowel. I then burn/cut holes in each side and draw it tight like tying a shoe lace. Then I staple it down and cut out the unneeded edges. Alternatively, if the grill is not thick enough for staples, use spray glue on the frame and perhaps even starch/iron the cloth before applying.

 

[crispycircuit]

Viagara?

 

[Djcoolray]

That’s what I call.....a lively reply !!!

 

[sKiZo]

+1 on the dampen and blow dry it ... you should see incremental improvement with a couple goes at it. I'd use a spray bottle to evenly coat the fabric. Might take a few tries to get the fabric to retain shape over time as we're talking a LOT of stretch there.

PS - if the blow dryer doesn't do it, maybe an iron on lower setting after wetting the cloth?

 

[Djcoolray]

Seen this done....

Takes two people, you take a larger peice of the same clothe and put it in scolding hot water for about ten minutes. Then you stretch the fabric across the frame, a third person person pulling and stapling is even easier.....

 

[sKiZo]

If you're gonna use new fabric - one neat trick I've seen is to cut the fabric long, then fasten one side of the cloth to the frame and fasten the other end to a piece of scrap wood. Stretch the fabric over and around the other side of the frame using the scrap wood for leverage, then fasten and trim the cloth. You can also do the short sides that way if you cut those dimensions long as well.

Do it right and it'll pass the old bounce the quarter trick and make your DI proud. ;-}

 

[RTally]

Looking for suggestions to remedy the heartache of sagging linen grill cloth.

I’ve already tried the blow dryer - which works great, but the droop retuns next morning....

View attachment 1221710

The threads for the weave at the top of the grill are not even with the cabinet. It looks like the cloth got loose at one time and was never properly remounted. I suggest removing the cloth, at least at the top, and restretching it. The threads need to be parallel to the edges of the grill frame.

Trying to shrink the grill cloth is only treating a symptom, not fixing the problem.

 

[teashea]

Stapling does not work well with thin material and thin grille. Use hot glue gun

 

[RTally]

Stapling does not work well with thin material and thin grille. Use hot glue gun

I don't like using staples.

I attach grill cloth by laying a bead of PVA glue on the back of the frame. I then clamp the cloth in place. I use aluminum strips to even the pressure applied to the pressure. I use spring clips as clamps. Some like to use wax paper or plastic so that the glue does not stick to the clamps. The aluminum strips work well for me.

 

[smoke-libr8r]

An alternative to glues or staples is super strong double sided tape. Many companies make excellent VHB/UHB tapes (3M comes to mind). I used iCraft Supertape to attach grill fabric to plastic frames on a project. It sounds kind-of sketchy, but it works surprisingly well. The advantage of the tape is the precision that it can be applied and the long open time. Of course, how well it works for you would depend on the frame material and fabric.