Tent care

I'd never heard of machine-washing a tent! I'd be afraid to do it but I'm interested in what other BPLers think.

I know, pretty much everything else I can find discourages machine washing

Washing machines can really tear up mesh on tent, and I wouldn't trust one. I clean my silnylon tents by spraying them with a garden hose and then touching up any dirty areas with a cloth rag and 70-99% isopropyl rubbing alcohol. The alcohol works great to clean an area before seam sealing with silicone.

You'd have to use a machine without a center agitator, and wash on delicate cycle. But I agree with the previous poster, just set it up and rinse it off. You could always get one of those things that hooks onto your hose that mixes the contained liquid with the water if you wanted to actually use soap, and then rinse well with just water, and let dry.

Thanks, so how about re-sealing seams? Do I need to be concerned with the existing sealant that LHG applied? It's peeling in a few places and missing from others.

I'd just remove any sealant which is obviously peeling, clean with alcohol, and reseal.

Remember though that only the actual thread and threadholes need sealed. If it's peeling from areas beside the stitched seam, then that's pretty typical with no resealing needed.

Does the isopropyl alcohol remove the waterproofness of a tent? Thank you

Nemo guidelines. I didn’t know about the long term storage in original stuff sack could damage a tent.

https://www.nemoequipment.com/blogs/journal/cleaning-repairing-and-storing-your-tent

“For long term storage, roll the tent and contents loosely in a breathable storage sack; do not store it in its stuff sack. Compressing your tent for long periods of time in its stuff sack can damage the tent materials and seam tape.”