My cotton Vango Force Ten has got muddy, needs a good clean and re-proofing.
I find it hard to believe that (like expensive Goretex waterproof coat cleaner) specialist tent cleaners are anything other than soap (like soap flakes, not detergent).
Can Valkscot or one of the other sources of all wisdom on these matters confirm that such is the case?
You can do it with pure soap flakes.I like Grangers tent clenn, brilliant stuff .If you do clean the tent you may not have to re proof it as its the dirt that lets the water wick through.You will bea able to tell on how the water 'beads ' of not when you clean the tent.
Just so happens that we've got a Force 10 here too....bought it in the 70's and it's never yet been proofed. We've cleaned it a few times though. Start off by erecting the flysheet and using a soft brush (we have a child's pure bristle hair brush for this) brush it off carefully, not too rough, to get all the loose mud off. Don't scrub or rub. You can brush the inside too, remember. Then take it down and holding it between two people, give it a really good shake out to dislodge loose dust. Re-erect, then sponge down with plain water really well, working the water into the canvas from inside and out. It helps if you have one person inside as well as outside, though they'll get dripped on. Finally hose down well and let it dry completely. In my experience this will take care of 95% of dirt. You can then check the waterproofing by hosing it down again.
You can clean most inners by washing them in the washing machine on a 30'C wash using non-bio detergent and running them through the rinse cycle twice. You have to be 100% sure the detergent residue is rinsed out though and be prepared for a tiny bit of shrinkage if the inner has never got wet before.
As to using a specialist tent cleaner yes, you can use pure soap flakes instead. the liquid cleaner stuff is easier to rinse out though and that's the real secret...rinsing the residue out. I always say rinse six times minimum then untill you're happy you've got it all out. I've never used an all-in-one tent cleaner and reproofer, have to say. I don't actually see how they can work that well since you presumably still have to rinse well to lift the mud and dirt particles out of the tent fabric, so what would be left to re proof the tent?
I'd try the brush and rinse method first, whatever cleaner you decide to use. Any proofer will take much better on a clean tent. It isn't going to hurt the tent and it may well be all you need unless you have grease stains or similar.
Wow i didnt realize that I had got so dirty (slopes off to look in mirror)
If it was me and it was beyond cleaning with just fresh water then I would also use Grangers Fabsil universal cleaner it costs about £9.00 per litre and it should do the job fine
Also as said once clean give the tent a good soaking and leave it to dry out and then repeat a couple of times to see if once clean the tent fibers swell and tighten the weave
If that fails then look at reproofing with something like fabsil liquid,I am also a user of Nikwax and wouldn’t use anything else on my foot ware, but when it comes to tents the large bottles that grangers sell work out better value than the Nikwax products
I had a Litchfield frame tent that leaked at the seams one weekend and thought the time had come to re proof but when I pitched it to reproof I did what I suggested above and it tightened the seams and stopped the leaks
This is fantastic stuff! I have two canvas tents, very old, one from the 60s and one from the 80s. (a Lichfield, funnily enuff, which also used to leak at the seams something chronic!). It looks as if both these old timers might have some life in them yet, which is kinda beautiful, because I love them both.
Waiting for the grass to recover after the horrid winter, then I'm going to put them up on the lawn and start applying the good advice here, and the advice I got from a thread I posted last autumn.
Once again, thanks to the founts of wisdom on UKCS!
Can't actually remember what I used to clean the TT when I gave it a spruce up a few yrs ago(might have been some brand Name cleaner) but going on the theory that it couldn't hurt I gave it a good going over with Fabsil as well...Have since seen on here that I should have brushed the Fabsil on...but I poured the liquid Fabsil into one of them spray gun thingies...and sprayed it on..and that did the job a bit quicker..with no harm done...Think If I ever have to do a canvas tent again I will try the water(from a hose ) test before waterproofing it.....
Jelboy.
------------- Campers of the storm,Into this world are born
Very useful thread as I need to clean one of mine. Thanks!
Val, can I ask though as you mention grease stains, how should I tackle these? I have two large circles which appear to be grease as the canvas is darker.(My attempts at getting rid of bird poop with a less than spotless cloth). I have no idea how to remove and can't reproof until I have.
Thank-you!
Quote: Originally posted by splendidisolation on 28/3/2010
Very useful thread as I need to clean one of mine. Thanks! Val, can I ask though as you mention grease stains, how should I tackle these? I have two large circles which appear to be grease as the canvas is darker.(My attempts at getting rid of bird poop with a less than spotless cloth). I have no idea how to remove and can't reproof until I have. Thank-you!
So you tried to remove bird poo with a greasy cloth? Urgh....does it leak though? I have a very high tolerance for stains as long as they don't leak. Any stain that doesn't come out with a brush and water as above but isn't leaking I tend to just ignore.
But if they're causing problems, Grangers Tent and Awning Cleaner is one of the best. Rinse really, really well and then some more as the soap residue will stop the proofer taking. Dry out totally and reproof with Fabsil. Fabsil will darken the canvas a tad btw so it might be worth doing the entire panel, if that's reasonable.
I was thinking the other day............. i wonder if steam cleanig would work for grease spots - you know, with one of those littel penguin steam cleanerthings.
Steam the small areas and blot dry (like you would do for jeans and cotton shirts).
I did what Val says as well. Erect, good brush down then soak through (and we used Grangers, and pressure washer, on the BL because it was particularly dirty). I've never reproofed a tent with fabsil, or anything, at all as it's never been necessary - no leaking.
That's apart from one of the caravan awnings which I fabsil'd once I seem to remember for some reason or other
I do sometimes brush the tent down whilst we are camping or just before de-camping. Odd I know but .........
I personally wouldn't try putting steam near cotton canvas. Canvas can cope with a cold soaking in rain but steam is HOT and it might cause the canvas to shrink at that point. And if you put steam near a polycotton canvas you might well distort the polyester fibres.
I also brush my tent down at the end of the trip, btw. Usually the day before if the weather is good and I sponge off any marks as well. It's best not to store a tent with dried bird poo on it if at all possible! I also do any required maintenance to the tent on the same day, like renew guylines or rubbers or any stitching required. Otherwise I probably will forget about it till next trip, and doing repairs while trying to get set up after a long drive is one chore too many imho.
Val, thanks for advice and sorry for late reply...been away.
Yes the cloth must have had something on it! I'm normally so careful with my tents, but was rushing and flapping trying to get packed up! It does leak, but seemed to stop after a day of rain. I have a feeling it will leak again. I'm also reluctant to mess with it and am fine with a few drips! It's the fact that I think the whole tent is due a reproof that's maklng me ask. Not 100% sure it's grease...a residue of some sort....I've told myself off a million times about it!
Tent cleaned with mild soap solution in accordance with Val_scot's instructions.
Didn't need to spray it with Fabrisil, the tent seems much more waterproof than it was, probably because the firbres got wetted inside the tent as well as outside.
I'm wondering whether to have a go at cleaning my old Lichfield ridge tent, it definitely leaks in a fine mist all over. When we bought it the man that sold us it said it needed reproofing because it hadn't been used for years. We decided to see if a good soaking would do it, so it was soaked and left to dry three times, but still it was letting a mist in all over.
Do you think cleaning it might do the trick, or should i just bite the bullet and buy some fabsil?
Do you think cleaning it might do the trick, or should i just bite the bullet and buy some fabsil?
Well you should clean it before you Fabsil it anyway, otherwise you're just sealing in dirt and the Fabsil won't take properly. So why not clean it and test it for leaking again, before paying out for Fabsil that you might not need?
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Topic: Cleaning cotton tents
