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Tips for cleaning a tent in a flat with no garden


offmytrolley
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So I've got two pop up tents to tidy up, my two-man and a three-man one which I liberated after the group next to us abandoned it.

They're both pretty caked in mud around the bottoms, but I'm not sure how I can clean them as I live in a fourth floor flat without access to an outside tap. The popup tents are too unwieldy to do in the bath or shower.

I imagine most simple solution is probably to borrow a friend's garden and hose, but does anyone else have any ideas? Maybe a petrol station pressure washer? I could probably also just find a quiet outdoor spot not far from my flat and take down a bucket or two of hot water and then sponge it down rather than hose it down.

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Most years I don't actually bother cleaning my tent at all, although I can understand why this year you may want to. :)

I'd just go with the second option - find a suitable spot and sponge it down. You only really need to give it a decent clean if you intend to waterproof it again. It's something that's never really occurred to me before but pop up tents must be a right pain to clean decently for proofing. I guess they intended to be disposable. :(

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If it's very muddy, I'd recommend leaving it to dry, then it will come off more easily by a scrubbing brush or broom etc. After that wash it with a wet sponge or brush, trying to minimise its wetness on the fabric, then leave to dry.

Charity shops are a good source of sheets which you can put down in your flat to wash the tent on, without drenching your carpet or flooring. It then doesn't get blown away by the wind !

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  • 4 years later...
On 6/29/2016 at 4:45 PM, offmytrolley said:

So I've got two pop up tents to tidy up, my two-man and a three-man one which I liberated after the group next to us abandoned it.

They're both pretty caked in mud around the bottoms, but I'm not sure how I can clean them as I live in a fourth floor flat without access to an outside tap. The popup tents are too unwieldy to do in the bath or shower.

I imagine most simple solution is probably to borrow a friend's garden and hose, but does anyone else have any ideas? Maybe a petrol station pressure washer? I could probably also just find a quiet outdoor spot not far from my flat and take down a bucket or two of hot water and then sponge it down rather than hose it down.

When we lived in our flat we had to do a pre-Glasto trip to the mother in laws to use her garden. 

Not the ideal option, as it meant I actually had to spend time with my mother in law, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good! 

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1 hour ago, Quark said:

Completely forgot to clean mine or even unpack it after 2016.  Went to check it for 2017 and it had black mould growing inside.

Lessons to be learned there kids.

Cillit Bang do an awesome black mould remover. I had some on an inner window and it cleared it overnight.

My tent had a can of coke physically explode in it in 2019's heat - I can't remember if I ever checked it. 😬

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2 minutes ago, vintagelaureate said:

Cillit Bang do an awesome black mould remover. I had some on an inner window and it cleared it overnight.

My tent had a can of coke physically explode in it in 2019's heat - I can't remember if I ever checked it. 😬

Bang ... and the tent is gone ... 

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2 minutes ago, vintagelaureate said:

it was in the porch, but I think it was worse for my mate who was asleep by it at the time.

Good luck opening the tent back up then if you haven't checked it!  I suspect you'll be on the Go Outdoors website at some point!

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11 minutes ago, Skelts said:

Good luck opening the tent back up then if you haven't checked it!  I suspect you'll be on the Go Outdoors website at some point!

We had to clean it at the time - which wasn't a great job in the Saturday heat. I feel like I've cleaned it since but I lent it someone who said they were going to do it too, but then didn't. 😬 I only got it back two weeks ago!

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/26/2020 at 10:13 AM, gigpusher said:

Could you find a park or field that you could put them up in? 

wise advice - Was working at Glastonbury 2009 with friends from Iceland { long story } by sods law early Monday morning there was a heavy downpour as we were packing - the crew Coach dropped us at Clapham Common and it was nice and dry - as all the camping gear was mine I was keen to dry it out so we dried all the stuff in the park and even put up the two tents . 

we did attract attention from a local Police car so I went over to chat to them to explain we were just drying it out and we would be gone within the hour.

The photo is of my Icelandic friends just after we had packed.They were happy that was over as it meant we could go for a drink.

it solved the problem as I had to get all the gear back to Enfield as I did not have a garden.

glasto-54-1000.thumb.jpg.427948732dbb1d62d507fc9a613f6b6e.jpg

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Always always always clean and / or air your tent after use, especially if it has been exposed to wet conditions. I had this drilled in to me by my scout group over the course of about 20 years and must have lost days of my life hanging, banging, scrubbing down and packing away patrol and hike tents. When I got my own tent for the first time when I was about 17 I thought that it was just overkill on part of the scout leaders, but six months later had to throw away my pride and joy having lost it to mould, as others have mentioned above. 

When in flats, I used to use the shower to clean the bottom of the inner if it wasn't too bad. If it was pretty bad it got taken to the park and scrubbed off. I didn't often need to clean the flysheet, but would use a damp cloth if needed. Everything was hung outside or in the shower - after turning it inside out to completely empty it of detritus and bugs - until completely dry. A year ago I had to scrub some tents with disinfectant in order to get them imported here and was so grateful that I had cleaned them on arrival home while the weather was fair, meant I could do it inside the living room. 

A final tip for people using double layer, non pop-up tents is to put the outer and inner together if you can before you pack it away. If it's raining when you come to use it you can whip it out of the bag, throw the poles in and get you and your gear under shelter. Doesn't work for every tent, but saves much time and can stop the inner and your gear from getting too wet. 

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On 9/15/2020 at 4:59 AM, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

O and D! They look different there.

Something's will never change.

I reckon Disa was still in shock as that was her first time at a huge festival.

I am allowed to set the shifts so I split the team up so they would always be working with me { as they had never been behind a bar in their life }the rest of the team was split into 3's -

unlike other bars that one is open nearly all the time so shifts start at 6am and will run onto 3am or 4am { depending which night - its about 6 hours shifts } - My team will always work late on the first day and the last day as that is when its very busy - so on Monday we will stop work - pack and go so none of us had any sleep on Sunday night.

some years we pack before we start the last shift but that year we decided to do it early in the morning hence how we got caught out with the rain.

glasto-41-1000.thumb.jpg.83364c08858d8468bbb2063feff586ac.jpg

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On 9/15/2020 at 6:01 AM, sirjonnyp said:

Always always always clean and / or air your tent after use, especially if it has been exposed to wet conditions. I had this drilled in to me by my scout group over the course of about 20 years and must have lost days of my life hanging, banging, scrubbing down and packing away patrol and hike tents. . 

I was in the Scouts too, and was told similar things. 

These days however, i leave my tent for the tatters to take, and a couple of cans of lager in the tent for them to drink whilst they do it. My tent is never worth much anyway, so getting a new one each year isnt too much bother/expense.

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On 9/23/2020 at 2:38 PM, Diamond Geezer said:

I was in the Scouts too, and was told similar things. 

These days however, i leave my tent for the tatters to take, and a couple of cans of lager in the tent for them to drink whilst they do it. My tent is never worth much anyway, so getting a new one each year isnt too much bother/expense.

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