We have all experienced that moment when we stand back to admire our neatly
pitched pride and joy only to discover that one of our avian friends has
used it for target practice. The expletives often accurately describe the
subject matter…
Bird excreta is a nasty mix of faeces and urine. It’s not the best
combination to land on your tent but it is easily removed by brushing off
when dry or gently washing away with mild ph-neutral soapy water before
swilling well. A good proprietary tent cleaner, like Clean Guard, can also
be brought into play but rarely necessary. Reproof? Only if that soap has
stripped off the external Durable Water Repellent (DWR) finish - again, rare
with ph-neutral soap but a detergent will. If needed, just respray with
Water Guard or similar.
However, the real pain is tree sap. This tends to fall into two categories:
that awful conifer resin that smells delightful yet spreads mayhem like
napalm, and a sticky substance often mistaken for tree sap – the aphid’s
wax-based defensive honeydew much loved by ants.
The latter creates a splattering effect of tacky dirty rain that looks a
disaster. But you’ll often find it easily washes off if treated like bird
mess. Heavy rain can also clean it away. Resin is more serious.
Resin becomes a sticky mess if heated by the sun. The temptation is to
scrape the worse away using something like the edge of a credit card but
this can spread the problem. You could leave to dry before trying to crack
it off but by then it will be hard to separate from the outer’s fibres.
Of course, if left to deal with when you get home the chances are, unless
liberally sprinkled with talc, it will adhere to any part of the tent with
which it comes into contact. Remember, it gets stickier and more liquid the
warmer it is – and think how hot your car gets when left in the sun while
you grab a bite to eat on the trip home.
There is lots of advice on the Internet about removing resin with everyday
items but our advice is to spot clean using
Clean Guard before reproofing the area with
Water Guard treatment – it’s worth carrying these items with you as part
of a general in-the-field tent maintenance kit.
The reason for this is simple. While mayonnaise and peanut butter will lift
resin if worked in, the majority of home-grown remedies are not only likely
to leave a stain but will strip the tent’s DWR finish and, worse still,
could damage the PU-coating on the inside of the fabric that keeps it
waterproof – and this represents a major problem that could lead to you
having to scrap your tent.
Article and details supplied courtesy of
Easy Camp
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