Thinking about trying this as a protective coating. Available at my local hardware store. Thoughts? If anyone with some experience thinks it might work, I may experiment with it and see how it performs.

HI-Temp Stove and Furnace Cement

They also list a castable refractory, but they only rate it for 2000 degrees F

I have a bucket of this type as well.  Not sure if it will work kwool though since it is a thick mortar for joining fire  brick together rather than a wash as itc-100 is.  I was gonna use it to coat a hard cast refractory.

The refectory manufacturers sell a compound that is a mixture of water glass and stabilizers.  I have used it and found that it helps stiffen and prepare Kaowool  for coating with itc-100 or satanite.  High temp stove and furnace cement probably would not work satisfactorily.   

I tried it on forge #1 - it wasn't particularly reflective, and it flaked terribly.  

There are kiln washes designed specifically for stabilizing ceramic blanket refractories prior to washing with the hi IR reflective washes like ITC-100. Wayne Coe carries a good selection and knows more about using the stuff than I. I'm sure he'd reply to your question if he weren't at a big blacksmith meet.

He has a website that shows up on a quick websearch.

Leave the furnace cement at the hardware store and out of your forge. While some guys have "made" it work to a degree I think it's more hassle than it's worth for no gain.

Frosty The Lucky.

Frosty, thank you sir. Local hunt wasn't panning out very well. I will drop him a line.

Charlotte,

Water glass, is less expensive than colloidal silica as a binding agent for ceramic fiber and for Pearlite, when purchased from a pottery supply store; but it is also heavier do to the salt content, and has a lower melting temperature for the same reason. Rigidizer is usually just colloidal silica with food dye added so you can see how far it has penetrated into the ceramic fiber. Colloidal silica is also called fumed silica, and is available on the cheap from several online sources; it is also super light (equals cheap to ship), until it gets dissolved in water. After the water is fired off its super light again, and very effective.

Water glass or Sodium silicate is now listed as a hazmat with a pretty small reportable quantity so shipping includes hefty premiums. On the other hand it's pretty easy to make, for some reason sodium is easier to come by and readily dissolves silica, colloidal being the better bet. On exposure to the CO2 in the air it breaks out and turns into a glass like silica solid. Makes really good glue in is used a lot in casting.

I'm not familiar with colloidal silica as such so I'll just read along.

Frosty The Lucky.