Last Update: 15 January 2024
Minicel® is a very fine-grained, closed-cell foam used for canoe and kayak outfitting, flotation, padding, insulation and many other purposes. 3" skived-200 Grey closed-cell foam is typically used for walls and saddles in canoes, and walls and seats in kayaks. Full buns are 4' x 4' x 3" thick, which is too large for normal UPS, so they must be cut in half unless shipped by truck. (It is now possible to ship uncut buns via UPS but it is very expensive, so don’t even consider it unless you are desperate!) Orders for more than one bun must be in multiples of two or the odd bun will be billed at the half-bun price. Types may be combined to determine the price bracket. The 10+ bracket is for uncut buns available for pick up or shipped by truck. The quarter-bun piece is 1' x 4' -or- 2' x 2', please specify. Please note that this foam is expensive to ship because it is light and bulky.
Please go to our How-To Tips page for some suggestions on how to cut and shape Minicel and how to use both Minicel and neoprene for outfitting canoes, kayaks, and similar uses.
| Type/Color | Quarter | Half | One Bun | 2 - 8 | 10+ |
| 3" skived-200 Grey | 41.00 | 77.00 | 142.00 | 127.00 | 124.00 |
We also stock skived-200 grey in 4' x 4' x ¾" thick sheets, suitable for kneeling pads in canoes and similar uses. Below, the far right bracket is for shipment of larger uncut 4 ft. x 6 ft. sheets by truck. For UPS we can ship up to nine sheets [cut into 2 ft. x 4 ft. halves] in a package. We can also ship two buns 3" skived [four halves] plus one sheet 3/4" in a package.
Also available are 4' x 4' x 1/8"± thick L-200 grey Minicel skins, perfect for lining and padding rough or hard areas in kayaks, canoes, and anything else that needs a thin pad of foam for comfort or protection. These skins have a firm smooth surface on one side, great for comfort, with the fine-grained Minicel texture on the other side, perfect for bonding with contact cement or neoprene glue. The thickness of these is variable within each piece, ranging from paper thin up to about ¼" [6 mm] thick, so one can usually find a part of a sheet to suit any particular need.
| Half Sheet | One Sheet | 4+ Sheets | 8+ | 32+ 4'x6' | |
| L-200 Grey ¾" | 24.00 | 41.00 | 36.00 | 34.00 | 47.00 |
| L-200 Grey 1/4" | 6.00 | 10.00 | 9.00 | 8.00 | 11.00 |
| L-200 Grey skins | 6.00 | 10.00 | 8.00 | 7.50 | 7.00 |
We stock neoprene wetsuit material and also a stiffer grade for kneeling pads and similar uses. The R1400N Rubatex wetsuit material comes on rolls 42" x 50 ft [106 cm x 15.2 m] with a tolerance of ±5%. The nylon coating of all stock material is black. We can special order various colors in roll quantities only. The 1/8" [3mm] N1S is the most commonly used type for kayak or canoe sprayskirts. Try this link for instructions on how to make a sprayskirt. We have shock cord for sprayskirts on our Miscellaneous page.
Wetsuit neoprene may have occasional defects such as bubbles or wrinkles. Fifty-foot rolls may contain up to five minor defects and one splice in the fabric and still pass the manufacturer's inspection. Cut pieces less than five feet will generally be defect free. Larger cut pieces could occasionally have one or more defects. Edge defects are not counted as long as 40" of width remains unaffected. We cannot guarantee that orders for ten feet or more will be continuous material.
| Thickness & Type | 1-4 Ft | 5-9 Ft | 10-49 Ft | 50-Ft Roll |
| R1400N 1/16" N1S black, 42" width | 15.00 | 13.00 | 12.00 | 455.00 |
| R1400N 1/16" N2S black/black, 42" | 12.00 | 10.00 | 9.00 | 325.00 |
| R1400N 1/8" N1S black, 42" width | 17.00 | 16.00 | 15.00 | 555.00 |
| R1400N 1/8" N2S black/black, 42" | 21.00 | 20.00 | 19.00 | 770.00 |
Melco™ tape from McNett can be used to reinforce glued seams in wetsuit neoprene instead of the neoprene strip, which is no longer available. When neoprene tape is used it is glued to the skin side. Melco is ironed on rather than glued and must go on the nylon side. We have used an iron set on “silk” for 15 seconds to produce a very tough bond but we advise all users to test a small piece on scraps before starting a real job. The tape is black and ¾" [20 mm] in width.
| Melco™ tape, $152 for 50m roll (164 feet) | Less than a roll, $1.25 per foot. |
We stock the kneepad neoprene in two thicknesses. 1/2" and 1/4" KP neoprene sheets now both measure 42" x 72" [102 x 183 cm] with a tolerance of ±3%. KP neoprene has no nylon coating. Thicknesses may be combined to determine the price bracket; however, wetsuit and kneepad materials do not combine.
| Thickness | Quarter | Half | 1 Sheet | 4 Sheets | 8+ Sheets |
| 1/4" 6mm | 13.00 | 20.00 | 35.00 | 33.00 | 31.00 |
| 1/2" 12mm | 30.00 | 49.00 | 85.00 | 80.00 | 75.00 |
What is commonly referred to as neoprene glue is a specially-formulated contact cement, which is used to join wetsuit neoprene to itself. Regular contact cement is preferred for attaching either type of neoprene to another material, joining pieces of Minicel® together, etc. Both types come in 8-oz brush-top cans for consumer use or in bulk for industrial use. 5 gallon pails shown with prices in red require the $37 HazMat charge if shipped by UPS. MSDSs are available in PDF format for neoprene glue and for contact cement. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to be able to access these files.
| Type | 8-oz BT Can | Quart | 5-Gal Pail | |
| R-27705/471 neoprene glue | 8.00 | 28.00 | 389.00 | |
| R-27780/474 contact cement | 10.00 | 36.00 | 425.00 |
Please contact us for more information.