Storing tents/smelly tents

[Donna C]

How do people store their tents or tarps? Is there such a thing as off-gassing from them? I find that when I pull out a tent, whether it is a single or double wall, there is an odor that is pretty awful. I end up airing the fly or the silnylon a few days before packing it up and taking it to the field. Any suggestions on how to minimize that stench? I fold my tents and keep them out of the stuff sack for storage.

[Erica R]

Sounds like it’s time for a new tent. Once they start to smell it seems like it’s downhill from there. To keep a newer tent from developing that problem, air it out in the house for awhile before putting it away.Truthfully, I usually don’t  bother with this step here in California, where our humidity runs about 30%.Maybe you live in a high humidity area where proper storage is more of an issue?

[Brad Rogers]

I’ve never had a problem with smelly tents as long as the are stored properly. They should be stored dry, and in a cool dry place (not an attic or damp basement).

[JCH]

I store tents in the conditioned house (not in the garage or an unconditioned storage room) in large mesh laundry bags or large cotton bags like those that come with a sleeping bag for storage.  The trick is to leave them loose, uncompressed and with lots of ventilation.

As Erica stated, there comes a time with the PU coating reaches the end of it’s life.  “That smell”, and we all know it when we smell it, is your notice that it’s time to get a new tent.

[Jerry Adams]

There’s a recent thread about this.  PU coating can start to smell.  Drying it for several days before storage helps.

I had one tent do that.  I recently checked two tents and they were fine (after being stored for years – I should get rid of them).

[Ken Thompson]

You should never be two tents Jerry.

 

[Jerry Adams]

ha, ha, ha,…

[Lori P]

Two things can happen – mildew, or rotting PU. Mildew smells bad. PU rotting smells like barf, and you’ll see it peeling and flaking. Toss it if it’s doing that, no way to restore it. Clean it and dry it thoroughly before storing it again if it’s mildew.

[David Thomas]

If it’s mildew, the best treatment is a modern laundry detergent, but that will also delaminate the PU coating.  So you’re left with a hand washing with a mild soap and throughly rinsing it.

Prevention is better:
1) build your garage with a 10-foot ceiling so you have lots of room to hang bikes, sleds and kayaks.

2) after every trip, hang your tent from those bikes, inverting it once or twice over the next 2 days.

3) only then storing it (as JCH states) in a low-humidity space.  Even in the conditioned parts of my house, there are more- and less-humid rooms (in order, for me) : bathrooms, kitchen, bedrooms, closets (which are heated from the radiant floor), utility room.  The side of the garage my wife parks in is more humid (snow melt evaporates off the radiant floor) than my side which is a workshop (more sawdust, less humidity).

[Jerry Adams]

wife uses her side to park, you use your side for woodworking? : )

[Mike V]

As others have said you can avoid tent odor by properly drying your tent prior to storage. If the tent does eventually get a funk soak it in myrzyme solution (mcnett sells this product) and then properly dry it out. I’ve saved some second hand tents this way myself on a few occasions this way.

[Elliott Wolin]

I’ve had good luck with Mirazyme when the coating is good but there’s mold/mildew in the fabric.  You soak it in and let it dry.  In most cases the odor was completely eliminated.

[Donna C]

Thanks. I dry my tents for several days inside because of the humidity here in Va. It isn’t mildew, it smells like toxic something or other, maybe the coating. I do store them in a plastic tub with the lid closed, so maybe now I will kepp the lid off to have better ventilation. I left the Contrail out for 2 days and it’s fine now.

Are you giving me permission to *gasp* buy new gear????!!! Just because my Hubba is 10 yrs old and my Contrail is not far from that age.  Perhaps a TT Moment?  : )

[Franco Darioli]

yes there is such thing as off gassing .

Apart from storing the tent clean and dry it is best to store them loose (and not sealed up…)  so that the fabric can breathe.

The gas tipically comes from PU degradation, storing it tight makes it worse.

(there is a very small amount of PU in some silnylon fabrics)

[Donna C]

Thanks, Franco. I had a feeling it was chemical. It makes sense. I will now just store them in an open container. I wasn’t sure about the silnylon but the Hubba fly is pretty old and already replaced once due to delamination.

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