Cryogel Z Insulation Update

[exMaggieDrum]

I spent the big bucks to get the, alleged, super insulation that gives an R-Value of 10-11 per inch because I didn't have enough space to use rigid foam board and still have enough interior room. I hope to be able to keep ice cream in the freezer so I want R-40 there and R-30 for the refrigeration side. I have mentioned all this in another set of posts.

I now have some experience with the Cryogel-Z and it is definitely a MESS to work with. It comes in 55" rolls like fabric does. It is a fibrous mat 10mm thick with a bonded plastic skin/moisture barrier on one side. It is pretty heavy. It has a very good reputation and is designed for industrial use for piping and walls to low temperatures, like cryo plants and refineries, etc. It is easy to shape to odd shapes and is flexible so is easy to work with in that regard. For an R-value of 39 you need 10 layers of the mat. Each layer is 10mm and one inch thick gives R-10 so it is about 4" thick for R-39. Extruded foam board is R-5 per inch so it would take 7.8 inches to get the same insulation.

It has been a learning curve in trying to find a good way to cut it. The manufacturer recommends using power tools or a box cutter knife. I found that a sharp box cutter would work but it tended to grab the fibers and pull them just like it does with fiberglass insulation. You have to flatten down the mat hard to avoid this pulling and that has proven not so easy for many large cuts. Heavy duty scissors can cut it but that is a very tiring process causing much hand cramping. One vendor who sells it recommended the use of power fabric cutters that are used by clothing manufacturers. They worked great for about 6 cuts and then would not cut anymore.

Which brings up the nightmare part of the material. It has a fine, fine, fine white fabric dust that will coat any thing it comes in contact with. It is recommended that a dust mask and gloves be used. You have to wear a mask as the fine powder will immediately disperse in to the air and start getting on everything. It also transfers in an unbelievable way. Any thing that touches anywhere the dust is will become coated. If the coating is very fine you can't see it but you know it is there.

The big problem is that anything that has this fine layer on it becomes "grabby". If you get some on your clothes you can feel it grabbing your hand or other clothing. It becomes very hard to put a coat over a coated shirt for instance. I mean very hard. It makes steel tools grabby too. My box cutter knife will not open and close any more without great effort. You cannot just wipe it off, at all! One something is coated it will stay coated unless washed.

I can still feel it in any clothing that has had it on it after it has been washed and dried. I have yet to find the secret to completely getting it out of my clothes. I struggle to describe it as I have never been around anything else to compare it to.

When I work with it, it coats my face and hair, even under my hat. I cannot run my fingers through my hair as my fingers grab. I can clean my hair and skin with soap though.

The $125 fabric round wheel cutters I bought went through it like butter, for 5-10 cuts and then jammed and would not even try to turn. I tried silicone spray and oil but they did not stop it from sticking. And high pressure air will not clean them.

I believe the insulation will be great once I get it all sealed up and get the remnants out of my shop. I am not sure how I will get every nook and cranny on my boat clean again though. Or my shop. Or my clothes. Be warned.