Tent washing

[Chrisp1986]

Off to Bearded first with family then Glasto alone(ish). Got a small tent for G but I have had a flashback to remembering putting the family tent away in the rain on Konday morning last year at Bearded and it now STINKS. I have tried washing it down but it seems like it is mould. Is there an easy way to save it or is it a new purchase? The garden isn't big enough to fully erect it either....

[danssol]

Had the same issue before. In my case I tried to clean it but it was heavily stained. I was also worried about the kids breathing in the mould. So binned it and started again. 

[gizmoman]

I have got rid of mouldy patches in the past by spraying the area with a fairly strong bleach dilution, then washing away the bleach with clean water, but this is with the tent up in the garden, I assume it's too big to go in the washing machine so I would put it in the bath with a bleach solution and soak it for a few hours, it's kill or cure, you have to either get rid of the mould or bin it as Danssol says.

[dotdash79]

We had this after a really wet Kendal calling, but because we moved house afterwards it got lost in all the chaos. 
 

Now tent is cleaned and aired out after every use now. Last few Glasto’s have been dusty. If you don’t have the garden then the park is a good place to do this. 

[scaryclaireyfairy]

2016 killed our tent. Mouldy as hell. We’d wombled it in the aftermath of ‘07 so it had served us well. 

The 2017 purchase’s dna is now about 50% Glasto dust. Can’t be removed, it’s literally part of the fabric. We waterproof it every year but it’ll no doubt leak like a crazy thing now if we get a really wet one. However 2022 was meant to be my swan song. 2023 definitely is The Last (honest!) so I’m not buying a new tent. I’ll take tarps and cable ties and positive thoughts tho. 😬 

Edited February 11, 2023 by scaryclaireyfairy

[Zoo Music Girl]

32 minutes ago, dotdash79 said:

We had this after a really wet Kendal calling, but because we moved house afterwards it got lost in all the chaos. 
 

Now tent is cleaned and aired out after every use now. Last few Glasto’s have been dusty. If you don’t have the garden then the park is a good place to do this. 

Yeah I've been known to air a tent in the park before. It is tricky without a garden but we used to just have it airing around the flat for a few days before putting it away.

Now we have a garden I'll always give it all a good airing, even in a dry year.

[Quark]

Need to give mine a wash.  Recommendation I've seen is to use a tent cleaner solution from somewhere like Blacks and give it a good handwash in the bath, then hang the bits up to dry on the line or dryer outside.

[maelzoid]

Friendly reminder: Do not wash your tent in a washing machine. It can destroy the washing machine.

[Willy-wam-wam-wozzle]

6 hours ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Yeah I've been known to air a tent in the park before.

We borrowed a big family sized tent last year for WOMAD, took it to a local park to practice putting it up / make sure all the poles where there….

Had two or three people come and chat to us, to see what we were up to. The last fella was quite suspicious, asked if we had permission from the ‘park keeper’, about 15 mins later the police turned up to make sure we weren’t moving in 😂

[Quark]

10 minutes ago, Willy-wam-wam-wozzle said:

We borrowed a big family sized tent last year for WOMAD, took it to a local park to practice putting it up / make sure all the poles where there….

Had two or three people come and chat to us, to see what we were up to. The last fella was quite suspicious, asked if we had permission from the ‘park keeper’, about 15 mins later the police turned up to make sure we weren’t moving in 😂

The park keeper? Do you live in a Beano comic? 😄

[Crazyfool01]

anyone else see the topic tittle and think of tent / money laundering ? 

[Willy-wam-wam-wozzle]

4 minutes ago, Quark said:

The park keeper? Do you live in a Beano comic? 😄

Apparently so… a dog catcher with a big net ran by a few minutes after 😂

[Zoo Music Girl]

15 hours ago, Willy-wam-wam-wozzle said:

We borrowed a big family sized tent last year for WOMAD, took it to a local park to practice putting it up / make sure all the poles where there….

Had two or three people come and chat to us, to see what we were up to. The last fella was quite suspicious, asked if we had permission from the ‘park keeper’, about 15 mins later the police turned up to make sure we weren’t moving in 😂

Ha! This has crossed my mind before, that people might think we were moving in.

[Johnnyseven]

If it's a Fresh and Black tent i'd be very careful when washing it so you don't rub off the reflective material on the inside of the outer skin.

[Leyrulion]

On 2/11/2023 at 6:52 PM, Willy-wam-wam-wozzle said:

We borrowed a big family sized tent last year for WOMAD, took it to a local park to practice putting it up / make sure all the poles where there….

Had two or three people come and chat to us, to see what we were up to. The last fella was quite suspicious, asked if we had permission from the ‘park keeper’, about 15 mins later the police turned up to make sure we weren’t moving in 😂

I always try to go in the morning to avoid this, some people are too busy for their own goods.

[Neil]

On 2/11/2023 at 11:24 AM, dotdash79 said:

the park is a good place to do this

if you did that around here, people would presume it was your bedroom for the night.

[balti-pie]

At the beginning of the summer I always get out in the communal gardens round the back of my flat and pop the tent up for a couple of hours - give it an air, check it over, clean it, look at little repairs etc etc. and every time someone comes out, one of the neighbours who I never see, and they smile pleasantly as they desperately check to make sure I’m not trying to actually live in it 🤣 it’s the epitome of polite worried enquiries, it’s so English 

[dotdash79]

On 2/11/2023 at 6:52 PM, Willy-wam-wam-wozzle said:

The last fella was quite suspicious, asked if we had permission from the ‘park keeper’

Had there been a spree of picnic hampers being stolen recently?