Cleaning silnylon tent (TarpTent Notch)

[Bryan S]

Hi all,

Recently got back from a 4 day trip backpacking in the Grand Canyon (great trip!). I used my TarpTent Notch and my 2 friends used a REI QuarterDome 1 and the Big Agnes Fly Creek 1. Most of the sites were covered in a very fine dirt/dust. It seems that my tent got much dirtier than the others. So first question – is silnylon somehow more prone to getting dirty – is it "stickier" somehow? And now that I'm home – how best to clean it? Prior to this trip I had set the tent up in the backyard, hosed it off, and even tried scrubbing some of the dirty spots with a washcloth. It helped but still didn't get it completely clean.

Am I just being vain worrying about a dirty tent? Can the dirt harm the tent if not cleaned off completely?

Other than the tent looking like it was camouflage from the brown dirt mixed with green fly, it performed well. Have yet to get rain while camping with it so can't speak to that. Had some trouble getting the stakes in at times but a large rock usually helped with that.

Thanks all!

[TAG in AZ]

Yes, the fine dirt of Arizona is a bit of a pain to get off gear sometimes. I use a soft sponge and warm soapy water. It usually does the trick. Hosing the tent down doesn't do much.
Also, yes, it appears that sil-nylon picks up more of this fine dust than other tents that I have.

[Henry Shires / Tarptent]

Set it up and then wipe down the surfaces with a soaking wet towel–circular motion, rinse as necessary. That will take off most it and is much better than just hosing it down.

-H

[Eric Blumensaadt]

After backpacking in dusty southern Utah's Grand Escalante area I've always put my Tarptents in the bathtub and rinsed them several times until no more sandy dust appeared in the tub.

Then I draped it over my patio picnic table turning it inside out then later right side out to dry thoroughly.

NOTE: For double walled tents, of course, wash tent and fly separately.

[Bryan S]

Eric – no issues with the mesh getting wet or stretched or anything like that?

[Franco Darioli]

I think that we have very similar dust/dirt in our arid areas , for example the Northern Grampians or the Little Desert, a few hours from Melbourne.
looks a bit like brown stain.
For that I first hose the tent down then add a few drops of pure soap to a bucket of warm water and wipe down.

[Valerie E]

Try the manufacturer's (Henry's) suggestions, but realize that you may never get 100% of it out — that red dust is infamous! I have at least two pairs of socks that will NEVER look right again, no matter what I do…

[Bryan S]

Actually, most of what we encountered wasn't the red dirt/dust but your typical brown. I'll give these suggestions a try – thanks everyone!

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Bryan,

No problems with mesh when washing either the TT Contrail or TT Moment and both had a lot of mesh area.

Just treat it gently and when it's wet lift only by the silnylon areas.

**BTW, I just watched Franco's video of tent cleaning below. To me it is quite labor intensive and if I put that tent in a bath tub of warm water I'll bet I'd still get see sand in the tub.

To me rinsing it tent a few times (right-side out then inside-out) It seems that I'm able to get it very clean.

[Franco Darioli]

The daughter of a friend returned from her second camping trip with my Moment , filthy , coated with sand and dust pretty much as described by Brian the OP of this thread.
She was instructed ,by me, not to clean the tent.
So I shot a video on how to clean that type of dirt from silnylon but should work with most tents too..
Here it is :
Washing silnylon
Nothing new nor spectacular but maybe useful to some.
BTW, this is Sophie having just set the Moment:

I demonstrated to her how to set it up once .
Sophie is 14.

[David Ure]

Thanks for this, Franco.

[Sharon Bingham]

Just read through this post and watched the video.

I’m wondering if this sort of surface cleaning would work to remove odors as well? Or if not, if the tent could be washed with pure soap in the washing machine on gentle? Maybe inside of a cloth sack to protect it?

I have the Rainshadow 2. I’ve had it since 2007. I’ve always made sure it was dry & cleaned off (free of loose dust & debris) before stowing in its stuff sack, and I’ve never had a problem with odors of any kind. But somehow this last time it was stowed, it developed a foul smell. I can’t even really describe it. It doesn’t smell like any mold I’ve ever encountered. I’m assuming it must be something else. I had it pitched all night last night and even after airing out, it still smells — though notably far less strongly.

Has anyone tried washing in a washing machine? Hand washing in a tub?

 

[Franco Darioli]

I can’t see any problem washing it in a tub.

Using a washing machine inside a cotton bag could work too but I would first have a couple of hot cycles to get rid of detergent residues then do the tent.

BTW, do the same if you ever do sleeping bags.

[Author]

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