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Shredded Plastic Tarp--Removing the Pieces

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Shredded Plastic Tarp--Removing the Pieces W. Watson 04-25-2008
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Posted by Smitty Two on June 1, 2008, 10:20 pm

> Unfortunately, my question was posted near the start of a long trip.

Welcome home.

> Now I
> have an opportunity to respond. Do you something a little more positive to
> say?

No. But I did crack up one of our roomies, which was my primary
intention.

>
> Pardon me, I forgot to mention the particles are about 1 mm in diameter. My
> guess is there's a simple chemical that will do the job, that is, dissolve
> them.

Well, it's a bad guess. Try wikipedia's article on polyethylene:

"Most LDPE, MDPE and HDPE grades have excellent chemical resistance and
do not dissolve at room temperature because of their crystallinity.
Polyethylene (other than cross-linked polyethylene) usually can be
dissolved at elevated temperatures in aromatic hydrocarbons such as
toluene or xylene, or in chlorinated solvents such as trichloroethane or
trichlorobenzene."

Now, if you have time to run off on trips, you've got time to pick the
shit up, or pay some kid to do it. Let's say there's 10,000 pieces, and
you can pick up one piece every two seconds. Round that down to 25
pieces per minute. Figuring actively working 50 minutes per hour, that's
1250 pieces per hour. That's exactly one 8 hour day of the simplest
manual labor. I hope you're not bemoaning your terrible plight.



> Smitty Two wrote:
> >
> >> Well, I had a meltdown with one my blue plastic tarps by leaving it in the
> >> sun and outdoors too long. Little blue strands are now in the gravel and
> >> some plant areas. How to get rid of them? Maybe there's something
> >> non-toxic
> >> that will dissolve them? Other ideas?
> >
> > Do you have opposing thumbs?

Posted by W. Watson on May 31, 2008, 9:52 pm

Unfortunately, my question was posted near the start of a long trip. Now I
have an opportunity to respond. Do you something a little more positive to say?

Pardon me, I forgot to mention the particles are about 1 mm in diameter. My
guess is there's a simple chemical that will do the job, that is, dissolve
them.
Smitty Two wrote:
>
>> Well, I had a meltdown with one my blue plastic tarps by leaving it in the
>> sun and outdoors too long. Little blue strands are now in the gravel and
>> some plant areas. How to get rid of them? Maybe there's something non-toxic
>> that will dissolve them? Other ideas?
>
> Do you have opposing thumbs?

--
Wayne Watson (Nevada City, CA)

Web Page: <speckledwithStars.net>

Posted by Dan Espen on May 31, 2008, 10:22 pm

> Smitty Two wrote:
>>
>>> Well, I had a meltdown with one my blue plastic tarps by leaving it
>>> in the sun and outdoors too long. Little blue strands are now in
>>> the gravel and some plant areas. How to get rid of them? Maybe
>>> there's something non-toxic that will dissolve them? Other ideas?
>> Do you have opposing thumbs?
> Unfortunately, my question was posted near the start of a long trip. Now I
> have an opportunity to respond. Do you something a little more positive to say?
>
> Pardon me, I forgot to mention the particles are about 1 mm in diameter. My
> guess is there's a simple chemical that will do the job, that is, dissolve
> them.

A chemical that dissolves plastic is bound to be toxic.
Bad idea.

Use those opposing thumbs.

A blower may help separate the plastic from the gravel but sooner
or later to you need to pick it up and dispose of it.

Posted by aemeijers on May 31, 2008, 11:22 pm
Dan Espen wrote:
>
>> Smitty Two wrote:
>>>
>>>> Well, I had a meltdown with one my blue plastic tarps by leaving it
>>>> in the sun and outdoors too long. Little blue strands are now in
>>>> the gravel and some plant areas. How to get rid of them? Maybe
>>>> there's something non-toxic that will dissolve them? Other ideas?
>>> Do you have opposing thumbs?
>> Unfortunately, my question was posted near the start of a long trip. Now I
>> have an opportunity to respond. Do you something a little more positive to
say?
>>
>> Pardon me, I forgot to mention the particles are about 1 mm in diameter. My
>> guess is there's a simple chemical that will do the job, that is, dissolve
>> them.
>
> A chemical that dissolves plastic is bound to be toxic.
> Bad idea.
>
> Use those opposing thumbs.
>
> A blower may help separate the plastic from the gravel but sooner
> or later to you need to pick it up and dispose of it.

Ignore it and it will go away. Really. The process is already well
underway- another few months, and the UV will break down and/or bleach
those particles into invisibility. The past 3 years, visiting my other
house down is Katrina/Rita country, I've been observing the blue roofs,
and the half-life of those tarps seems to be about 18 months in the
Louisiana sun. Like the other guy said, a leaf blower may help, if you
can finnese the speed and distance and angle of attack to avoid getting
the gravel airborne.

--
aem sends...

Posted by Red Green on June 1, 2008, 1:00 am

> Dan Espen wrote:
>>
>>> Smitty Two wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Well, I had a meltdown with one my blue plastic tarps by leaving
>>>>> it in the sun and outdoors too long. Little blue strands are now
>>>>> in the gravel and some plant areas. How to get rid of them? Maybe
>>>>> there's something non-toxic that will dissolve them? Other ideas?
>>>> Do you have opposing thumbs?
>>> Unfortunately, my question was posted near the start of a long trip.
>>> Now I have an opportunity to respond. Do you something a little more
>>> positive to say?
>>>
>>> Pardon me, I forgot to mention the particles are about 1 mm in
>>> diameter. My guess is there's a simple chemical that will do the
>>> job, that is, dissolve them.
>>
>> A chemical that dissolves plastic is bound to be toxic.
>> Bad idea.
>>
>> Use those opposing thumbs.
>>
>> A blower may help separate the plastic from the gravel but sooner
>> or later to you need to pick it up and dispose of it.
>
> Ignore it and it will go away. Really. The process is already well
> underway- another few months, and the UV will break down and/or bleach
> those particles into invisibility. The past 3 years, visiting my other
> house down is Katrina/Rita country, I've been observing the blue
> roofs, and the half-life of those tarps seems to be about 18 months in
> the Louisiana sun. Like the other guy said, a leaf blower may help, if
> you can finnese the speed and distance and angle of attack to avoid
> getting the gravel airborne.
>
> --
> aem sends...

Birds will haul a lot of it away. Blue tarps are popular where I am. I've
found many old birds nest around containing the blue strings. I guess it
makes a kick-ass nest like the brick house of the 3 pigs story.

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