Tent maintenance: this way your awning will last for years to come

Your awning or awning provides extra living space, shelter from wind and rain or cooling shade on hot days. But unfortunately he does not have eternal life. With these maintenance tips you can extend the life of your tent, awning or awning.

A tent, awning or awning does not require a lot of maintenance. You can also think of the most important tip yourself: make sure you store them dry. Even if you have the slightest doubt, hang them out for a few days. Quite a job with a large awning, but fortunately you can unzip the side walls and the front - that makes a difference. Also make sure that you store the tent poles in a dry place, preferably in a separate place, so that they cannot stain the tent canvas.

Carpet beater

Over time, a tent, awning or awning can leak and intensive use may cause a stain here and there. Loose seams are also a concern, as are zippers that are on the verge of failing. At the end of your holiday, it is smart to make a list of things like that, so that you can have the professional take a look at them. But there are also things you can do yourself. Knocking out, for example. To do this, set up the tent on a rain-free day and knock off the dust from the inside with a carpet beater. Make sure you don't miss the windows, because they can't handle that. Then wipe the outside of the tent thoroughly with a brush.

Windows and flaps

Windows and the plastic flaps at the bottom - mud flaps - can be cleaned with lukewarm soapy water and a damp cloth. You can also use that soapy water to clean the tent poles and pegs. Steel tent poles can become a bit rusty where they slide together. You remove the rust with waterproof sandpaper and then spray some clear varnish over it. Make sure everything is bone dry when you put it away.

Stains and cracks

Over the years, stains can appear in the tent canvas. From bird droppings, for example, or resin if you have camped under conifers. You can remove dried bird droppings with a brush. Resin is a different story: if you tackle it with a knife, you damage the tent canvas. Over time, it dries further and further, after which it crumbles. It is not really possible to remove it. Never use soap in any case - it affects the waterproofness of the cloth.

During your inspection tour you may have come across small tears in the tent canvas – there are special repair kits for this in the camping shop, with adhesive strips. Larger cracks should be repaired by a professional - a good tent is worth the investment. There are self-adhesive repair kits for the groundsheet in the camping shop - take a spare set with you for your next holiday.

Mold and leaking seams

A major annoyance is mold in the tent canvas. We then say that 'the weather' is in the tent. This occurs if the tent is still damp when you put it away. Mold in a cotton tent is difficult to remove; in a plastic tent you can try it with a small dash of chlorine in a full bucket of lukewarm water, brush gently and then rinse thoroughly with clean water.

Leaks can be caused by old age, but also by children blowing bubbles at the campsite: soap affects the waterproof coating. Special products can be purchased in the camping shop to re-impregnate your tent, but you must first know what type of cloth your tent is made of - for cotton tents you need a different product than for plastic tent cloth.

Waterproofing

New tents can also leak, but this is almost always at the seams. These are stitched with 'swelling thread' that must first expand to fill the stitching holes - which is why a new tent needs a rain shower before it is waterproof at the seams. Seams of plastic tents are taped to prevent leakage. Over the years, that tape can become outdated. There are remedies in tubes to make them waterproof again. You apply that (neatly) and then such a tent can last for years.

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