The Blue Tarp is History with Stormseal | RoofersCoffeeShop.com (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of blue tarps? ›

The “Blue Tarp” Tarpaulin Age began when some bright spark realized that fabric + oil/wax = temporary waterproofing. The word tarpaulin was first used by 17th century sailors to refer to a tar-coated palling (a canvas cloth) that covered cargo at sea.

Roof Tarping (Blue Roof) Safety. Reinforced plastic tarps, commonly called “Blue Roofs,” provide temporary protection for the roofs of homes and other buildings damaged during severe weather such as a hurricane or tornado.

The economies of do-it-yourself and of disaster relief mesh along the flexible, but short-lived, weave of blue tarps. Blue denotes cheap. Tarp producers follow an informal, though chromatically charged, rating spectrum, from light-duty blue to green to silver to super-heavy-duty brown.

In early seafaring communities, sailors were known as tarpaulins because they slept on deck under a strong fabric waterproofed with tar. The word tarpaulin comes from tar and palling—another 17th Century name for sheets used to cover objects on ships.

Yellow, orange, and red tarps are often used to visually prioritize the materials a work crew is using, or to add visibility to dangerous areas. You might use a red tarp to warn people there's hard materials underneath it, so no one accidentally hits it with a truck.

The earliest known use of the verb tarp is in the 1970s. OED's earliest evidence for tarp is from 1979, in Truck & Bus Transportation.

Hurricane Blue Tarps, Roof Sheeting, Storm Protection

Reinforced poly sheeting are roll form tarpaulin sheeting used for roofing protection, shelter, and all-purpose relief covers. Blue Relief Sheeting rolls are mass-produced for quick and efficient response and deliver after a disaster occurs.

Dark blue, grey, or black tarp colors are the strongest and the heaviest. This is because they often are treated with UV coating. So it helps protect them from any sun damage. In addition, the dark tarps absorb heat better, allowing them to remain calm.

Overall would recommend this tarp for basic requirements. A blue tarp is a blue tarp. It's big, waterproof, and has holes for easy tie-downs. This, coupled with being relatively inexpensive, allows the tarpaulin to be useful for a wide variety of applications.

Black tarps: Usually treated with UV coatings to provide extended life in sunlight, black tarps absorb heat and allow your covered objects to remain cool. If you're looking for a tarp designed to withstand continuous, extended outdoor exposure, black is the way to go.

Do blue tarps absorb heat? ›

Meanwhile, something reflective—like reflective silver, for instance—will bounce, or reflect, even more light away. The closer to black a color gets, the more light and heat it will absorb. The closer to white, the less it absorbs. So a dark blue blanket, for instance, would absorb more heat than a neon green one.

The word tarpaulin originated as a compound of the words tar and palling, referring to a tarred canvas pall used to cover objects on ships. Sailors often tarred their own overclothes in the same manner as the sheets or palls. By association, sailors became known as "jack tars".

(US usually tarp) (a large piece of) heavy waterproof cloth used as a covering.

Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)

Ancient Beginnings: Birth of the Tarp

In the earliest days, tarps were ingeniously fashioned from basic materials like animal skins, leaves, and woven plant fibers. These rudimentary tarps served as a shield against rain, wind, and sun and found utility in different ancient societies, including the Greeks and Romans.

The U.S. Army Threat Awareness and Reporting Program (TARP) provides awareness to the military community regarding the threats posed by insiders.

All of these light duty all purpose blue tarps, are coated on both sides with a solid, dense polyethylene. These tarps are also very resistant to water and tearing. This particular blue poly tarp is 5 Mil thick and 3 oz. per square yard.

Tarps, in particular, need grommets to maintain their structure long-term.