How to Wash and Renew Your Tent
Tents provide not only physical security but also mental security when you're out in the wilderness all night. Not to mention that your tent is one of the biggest ticket items you will purchase when gearing up for adventure.
It makes sense then, that taking care of your tent is critical. Of course, you carefully pack your tent, making sure it's dry when you store it, and relatively dirt free. But you also need to give it a good wash from time to time. Dirt, grime, smoke and dust can clog up zippers making them difficult to use and break down the waterproofing barrier on rainfly's and tent bottoms. So how do you fix this? It's actually an easy process that will leave your tent clean, smelling fresh, and renewed for the next adventure or downpour out in the backcountry.
What you need:
A tub (or large basin or kiddie pool)
A neutral soap--not Woolite. I use Dr. Bronners Pure-Castile Liquid Soap
A space for air-drying
Durable Water Repellent (DWR). I use GEAR AID Revivex DWR
The Method:
Start by shaking out your tent, making sure it's free from any large pieces of loose debris--chunks of dirt, leaves etc.
Unzip all the zippers
Fill a tub with cool water, and submerge the tent (and rainfly if it fits)
4. Push your tent and rainfly down to release any air bubbles, and completely soak the material.
5. Add your soap--the amount will depend on how large your tent is, but I added 4 capfuls for a LARGE two person backpacking tent. (Note: This backpacking tent weighs in at 8lbs...we actually typically use it for car camping because it's so large...I would call it a three person tent.)
6. Agitate your tent in the water and use the tent fabric itself, rubbing portions of the fabric together, to scrub your tent. I agitated the water and scrubbed the tent for around 5 minutes.
7. Next. allow your tent to soak for about 20 minutes.
8. Lift your tent out of the water and carefully squeeze out the water. You don't want to wring out the water per se, you just need to get the tent up and begin the drying process, making sure there's no water pooled inside.
9. AFTER the tent is up out of the water, drain the tub. I placed my tent on a drying rack in the tub to begin drying.
10. After your tent is no longer dripping wet, move the tent somewhere it can be stretched out to air dry. It took our tent about 2 days to completely dry, but depending on the size and shape, you may need to rotate and flip your tent every day for up to a week to completely dry your tent. You can also set it up to dry it, if you have a dry place for it be assembled.
11. To renew the waterproof coating, set up your tent and spray it with your DWR spray. GEAR AID Revivex Durable Water Repellent can be used on breathable fabrics, so I lightly sprayed the entire tent. Optionally, you can spray just the bottom portion and outside floor of your tent, and the rainfly.
12. Spray your tent in a well ventilated area, with your sprayer about 5 - 10 inches from the fabric. Flip your tent on it's side to spray the bottom portion of the floor as well.
13. Then, spray the rainfly with an even coat of DWR.
14. Allow you tent and rainfly to air dry for 24 hours. Then pack it up, and take your fresh tent out with confidence!
