I went camping this weekend and positioned my tent under trees for protection. Being new to the world of camping I didn't consider the negative of this action, my tent is now covered in sap😱. Any advice on removal would be greatly appreciated.
Leave it, its organic, it will gradually break down & turn to powder then can be brushed off. To remove it would require the use of solvent like meths which might damage proofing on fabric.
You're not the only one who has done it! At one site I went to, we had no alternative, as that's where the wardens had put us. Awning covering in sap, bird poo and crawly things...
I used a microfibre cloth and plain water to clean mine.
Hi, camping directly under trees, Is not always recommended if you can help it.
The risk of branches falling on to the tent, which is dangerous.
------------- New Year: Hesketh Bank
Feb/March: Red Squirrel
March: lakes
June: Morecambe
Aug: Lake District(not camping camping)
October: Red Squirrel
I learnt my lesson about camping under trees when I arrived home after a trip and placed my tent on the bedroom floor. Shortly afterwards my wife started screaming about hoards of earwigs coming out the bag. There were quite a few and must have fallen out the tree I had camped under and hidden in the tent pole sleeves. My tent was banned from the house after that and had to take up residence in the shed...that was nearly my fate too!
On another occasion when I had a caravan I had no choice of pitch and had to camp under a tree. Debris falling down on the roof all night was no joke and the caravan roof was a total mess by the time I left there.
Add that to the cases of people being killed by falling trees and branches and camping under trees is a complete no no. I try to avoid trees completely now if I can.
As for cleaning the tent, as suggested I would leave it and hopefully after awhile the marks will fade. The sun is a great cleaner if we get any.
Pitching under a tree dosen't even protect from rain. In the open once the rain stops, the noise stops & you can go back to sleep. Under a tree & you then have the noise of the water dripping off tree long after rain has stopped.
If you have a garden big enough to erect your tent you could try hosing it down. That might remove some of the staining but I wouldn't use any chemicals or harsh scrubbing as that might remove the outer silicon coating. As stated, the weather should remove it gradually although you may not be doing much more camping this year if the weather turns bad.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Sap sadness!
