My wife and I often travel to the far north during summer, to our family farm at Kohukohu, Hokianga, overlooking the Hokianga Harbour. We had a building site put in on a hill. We decided it was time to purchase a tent, and we found a second-hand one for sale at (supposedly) a good deal at $700.00 for a Sunshine Leisure 2 brm and kitchen extension. The woman who sold it to us said it was waterproofed with ‘spray on thingies,’ so this should have been our first indication that it was, in fact, not waterproof.

We took a chance, took the tent up north and set it up – happy days. Then it rained for two weeks straight. Inside the tent, we had a swimming pool. Wet floors, wet walls and wet bed. So we packed up, took it back to Auckland, and tried to find a suitable water-proofer so we wouldn’t encounter the same problem the next year. We tried a few products already on the market, but nothing worked and we had to endure the same ordeal the following summer.

In 2005, we came across what seemed to be the first good quality water-proofer. We paid $65.00 for 2 litres. This was too much to pay each time we needed it, and it hardly covered what was needed. We grew frustrated that no one could really help except with 5 l containers of French made Petro Chemical based proofers. We quickly learnt that these type of proofers (Petro Chemical based) are not great for the fabric or stitching, smelt and are flammable.   We did our research and found a way for a company to make a water based proofer and off we went. In 2008 (after years of meticulous planning and research) we started a listing on Trade Me. Thus, Tent Magic was born.

Our first buyer was someone who listed their address as Mitre 10 Kerikeri. This was on a Thursday evening in September 2008, the same day we listed our first Tent Magic product on Trade Me.

Tent Magic is a water based wax emulsion waterproofer. It allows canvas to breathe and provides sheeting waterproofing once dry, which is pretty quick in ideal weather situations (dry, sunny, a bit of a breeze – half an hour or so).  

From there we gradually were asked about how to get rid of mold on tents, and did we have a synthetic water proofer for nylon tents. Of course we said we are working on it, and we were.

I found an Auckland manufacturer who makes for us a fabric friendly mold killer. We called it Death, because it kills mold. It is great for all porous surfaces, has a residual greeblie fighting activity for up to a year (depending on use parameters) and, also kills of moss, mildew, lichen and algae.

Tent Magic Death has a host of uses and is about half the price of TV/radio advertised products. Know the ones!

The synthetic waterproofer request was much harder. It has to be water based and robust and as eco friendly as possible. We found a supplier and Tent Magic Ultra was born. Ultra waterproofs just about anything, except timber, concrete plastic, pvc and rubber.

We have proofed Nikes, suede shoes, paper towels and even cotton balls!

Ultra is a spray on proofer, ideal for sports car soft tops, hiking and camping gear, clothing, outdoor furniture, horse covers and rugs, tents, boat covers and Biminis and of course tents, tarps, awnings and the like.

Somewhere along the way we got asked for a waterproofer for blended fabric,. Many tents, Belle Tents and awnings use polyester cotton canvas . Tent Magic will not adhere to this synthetic blend, so off we were again on the R and D trail.

After a year and a bit, we found a manufacturer who could make this for us, and Tent Magic Poly was born!

We have spent around 8 years researching and developing, and we haven’t stopped yet!

We had been an importer prior to this. You see Tent Magic came about as a necessity. And it grew and grew and grew. Waterproofing problems for us was an itch we could not scratch. Thankfully we could look outside the square and naturally Kiwis use number 8 wire tech to get it done.

We were car importers and needed products to clean and condition leather. We tried every product there was and settled on a US brand. It was water based , and provided excellent conditioning and repair properties and was a top performer on the rub test. A rub test measures how many circulatory rubs by a machine on a leather surface can be handled before the product gave out. Liquid Pearl was 1600 revolutions. The bet of the best.

And the smell: real fresh leather. Its non-greasy and once applied, sit and relax. This teams perfectly with our professional strength leather cleaner by the way.

The tests were conducted at the time by NZ’s only City and Guild qualified leather smith. Before he left NZ he supplied us with a Suede cleaner formula, and we make this as well.

This is the third reincarnation of our original Liquid Pearl web site.

We hope it has all the information you need, if you do have a question, drop us an email or call. Happy to chat and help you out.

We often get asked for solutions for tents and the like that have had their day, or were purchased as waterproof only to be either not at all or marginally water resistant. Our philosophy is to help you, not necessarily to sell our wares. Applying old school rules and honesty, it’s about the relationship, whether we sell or not.

As of early June 2020, we are still an active, buzzing small business that has clients all over NZ Australia and the Pacific basin. We are a direct-to-customer sales platform, and all our customers deal directly with me, Dave, so you know you’re supporting a local, family-owned and operated business.

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it. And thanks for your ongoing support. Without you, we would not have made it.