tent care and such

[jarnold46]

good morning folks,
i have an outfitters tent manufactured by rainier tent co. it is about 6 years old and setting it up and taking it down it has gotten dirty. also the waterproofing has dissapated or has worn off. this september was somewhat rainy and it gathered water on the rafters (metal) and dripped sometimes pretty badly. i need good advice on cleaning it if that is posstble and what to treat it with to make it water resistant again. the original waterproofing seemed slightly "gummy" and seemed to contribute to it getting dirty.
any comments and recommendations would be appreciated
good hunting
jarnold46

 

[Me2Hunter]

I have the same problem. Although the dirt or should i say smoke is on the inside. Probably from the wood burner. Mine leaks so I went to Sportsmans warehouse and bought a gallon of Canvak and it didn't work. I don't know if I applied it wrong but only seemed to stain my tent rather than seal it. I now just put a blue tarp over it and it works great. As far a cleaning it, not really sure. I thought about setting it up and then pressure washing it, But I am still debating whether this is a good idea or not. I called a local tent company and asked them if they clean tents and their price was way too much and he pretty much to me that it is a pain to clean them. So I just live with an off white tent covered with a blue tarp.

Nothing like guttin' a 6x6 elk at 7:30 in the morning.

 

[Canoe]

Good question. I have a wall tent that is about 4 or 5 years old. I have never treated it with anything. I always use a tarp as a rainfly and it has never leaked, but I have been wondering if I should treat it with something anyway. I even thought about buying some canvak, but after the previous post I am glad I didn't.

Maybe someone who knows or has worked with tents a lot will see this post and give us some good info....

 

[ghost hunter]

I bought one new in 2001. On a deer hunt, it got into some red dirt as we were setting it up. When I called the manufacturer, he suggested using Woolite and a small brush and just cleaning where it was dirty. Of course, it has to be completely dry when put away. Havent tried it, but it made sense to me.

 

[marlinmark]

I talked to a couple of old timers once and they told me that they were using the same tent since they were "kids." There secret was to set it up in the back yard every 2-3 years, hose it off, and when it was dry again they would spray Thompsons water seal all over it. Let it dry and roll it up. Couple of cool old boys. I shoulda got there names and learned more tricks from them later.

Mark

"When there's lead in the air, there's hope."

 

[kingfish]

We have a 14x18 wall tent and have had it for approx 12 years we have never waterproofed it with anything. We have always put a big blue tarp over it anytime we used it and it not only keeps it dry it keeps it very clean too. I woild suggest contacting one of the tent manufacturers and ask them what to use.

 

[Gator]

I seal mine every couple of years, Canvas waterproofing that you can buy at any boat tarp place will work, I use a regular bug spayer to put in on and I try to do it during the summer when it hot, I do the inside and outside, I do the seams a couple of times, hasn't leaked in awhile so it must be working, As far as dirty mud and snow will just make a tent a dirty color,I mean try setting up or breaking down in a rain storm your tent is going to get dirty, I don't worry about it just blends in better to the surrounding forest.