A good tent lasts for years if it is put away dry, kept out of the sun and mended when something gives. Most tents that fail early are not worn out by camping: they are packed away damp, left pitched in the garden all summer, washed with the wrong thing or forced when a zip sticks. This guide covers what shortens a tent's life, drying, mould, cleaning, reproofing, storing, and the repairs you can make in a field and at home.
Why care matters: what shortens a tent's life
A tent is a set of thin materials doing a hard job: a coated fabric that keeps rain out, a water-repellent finish that makes rain run off, taped seams, poles under tension and zips that open hundreds of times a trip. Nearly all of their wear comes from a few causes.
- Damp. A tent packed away damp grows mould, which marks the fabric for good, and the PU coating on most synthetic tents breaks down faster when stored damp and warm, turning sticky and flaking off.
- Sunlight. Ultraviolet light weakens every tent fabric, slowly and without showing it, and wears away the water-repellent finish. Nylon suffers faster than polyester, and canvas is not immune.
- Dirt and grit. Grit in a zip spreads the slider until it no longer closes the teeth, and sand rubbed into the fabric wears the coating.
- Strain. A tent pegged out too tight, a pole forced into a bend or pulled through its sleeve, and a door unzipped while the fabric is under tension are where most tears and broken poles start.
- The wrong cleaning. Household detergent strips the water repellency, and a washing machine or tumble dryer wears the coating and lifts the seam tape.
The cures are cheap habits: dry it, keep it out of the light and the grit, pitch it without strain, and mend small faults early.
Drying: never store a tent wet, and how to dry it at home
This is the habit that matters most. In warm, damp conditions mould can begin in as little as a day, so a tent packed wet on a Sunday and left in the boot all week can come out spotted and smelling.
On the campsite
- If the morning is dry and you have time, wait for the dew to dry off the flysheet before taking it down.
- Shake off water, wipe the groundsheet and turn the tent over for a few minutes so the underside gets the air.
- Check the bottom of the inner tent as you fold it. Cotswold Outdoor points out that it can be damp even when the weather was dry.
- If it has to come down wet, fold it loosely, keep a dry inner apart from a wet flysheet if you can, and put the pegs in their own bag so mud stays off the fabric.
At home
Take it out of its bag the same day or the next, not at the end of the week. The best way to dry a tent is to pitch it again in the garden and leave it until every part is dry, doors open, turning it once the flysheet is dry so the groundsheet dries underneath. Cotswold Outdoor says drying at home can take a few hours, and canvas takes much longer. With no garden, hang the flysheet and inner in a garage, over a clothes airer or across chairs, and turn them so no fold stays shut. Never dry a tent on a radiator, in front of a heater or in a tumble dryer, because heat can ruin the coating.
Before it goes away, feel the seams, the corners of the groundsheet, the guy lines and the inside of the bag, which are the last parts to dry. A canvas tent must be dry right through, or the cotton grows mould and in time rots.
Mould and mildew: stopping it, and what to do if it starts
Mould shows first as small black or grey spots, often along seams and in folds, with a musty smell. It lives on damp fabric, so the cure is mostly prevention.
Stopping it
- Dry it completely before storing it: walls, seams, groundsheet, guy lines, pole bag and pegs.
- Keep it clean. Sweep out the inside and brush off mud, leaves and grass, because dirt holds damp.
- Store it in a breathable bag, not plastic. The Camping and Caravanning Club warns that a plastic bag can trap condensation. In a damp garage, a dehumidifier helps.
Some tents are sold as mould-resistant, such as the two Oxford yurts in bell tents. That helps, but dry them all the same.
If it has started
Let the tent dry, then brush off what you can outdoors with a soft brush. For light spots there are two mild treatments. One is white vinegar and water: one tent maker suggests one part vinegar to four parts water, left on for about 20 minutes and brushed gently. The other is a baby-bottle sterilising fluid, well diluted and sponged on. The Club says to leave either on for about half an hour and then rinse thoroughly. Vango says plainly that sterilising fluid may not remove the mould, but it should stop it spreading and smelling.
Never use bleach or household detergent: they weaken the fabric and strip its proofing. Mould deep in the fibres may leave a stain that never comes out, but cleaning stops it growing. Dry the tent fully afterwards and test it with water; if rain no longer beads on the flysheet, reproof it. For canvas, the guide to bell tents and glamping covers mould in more detail, and canvas and cotton tents explains why cotton needs drying more than any other fabric.
Cleaning: what to use and what never to use
After most trips, brushing off dried mud and sweeping out the inside is enough. A full clean is for a tent that is properly dirty, has been near the sea, or is about to be reproofed.
What to use
- Clean water, cool or lukewarm, and a soft sponge. A garden hose on a gentle setting is fine for rinsing a pitched tent.
- A mild soap that is not a detergent, or a cleaner made for tents. Makers sell separate cleaners for synthetic and cotton tents, so use the one for your fabric and follow its label.
- For stubborn dirt, the Club suggests scraping gently with a flat piece of plastic, such as an old store card, rather than scrubbing.
Clean it pitched if you can, a panel at a time, rinse it so no cleaner is left in the fabric, and let it dry pitched. Sponge off tree sap and bird droppings soon, before they bake on, and after the beach rinse the tent, poles and zips with fresh water.
What never to use
- A washing machine. Vango says it risks damaging both the machine and the tent.
- A tumble dryer, which wears the coating and whose heat can ruin it.
- Washing-up liquid, washing powder, household detergent and bleach. Cotswold Outdoor lists all of them as things that strip a tent's waterproof coatings.
- Solvents, oil and grease. Keep fuel and insect repellent off the fabric where you can.
Poles, zips, pegs and the footprint
Wipe the poles with a damp cloth, especially the joints after a dusty or salty trip, and dry them. Brush grit out of the zips with an old toothbrush, rinse and dry them. Dry the pegs before they go back in their bag, so steel ones do not rust. Vango points out that a footprint keeps the groundsheet cleaner and is easier to clean than the tent: shake or rinse it after each trip. Choose one the same shape as the floor and a little smaller, so it does not catch rain and run it underneath. See groundsheets and footprints.
Reproofing a flysheet, and when it needs it
A flysheet keeps rain out in two ways. A coating, usually PU or silicone, stops water passing through, and that is what the waterproof rating in millimetres measures. On top of it, the outside has a water-repellent finish, so rain gathers into beads and runs off instead of soaking into the fabric. Reproofing restores that finish. It does not mend a failed coating or a leaking seam, which are repairs. The guide to tent waterproof ratings explains the coating and the rating.
When it needs doing
When the fabric tells you. The sign is rain soaking in instead of beading, leaving darker patches on the flysheet. Cotswold Outdoor adds two more: the inner getting damp, and more condensation than the tent used to have, because a soaked flysheet stays cold and wet. Some retailers suggest reproofing once a season for a tent used a lot, but a test with a watering can on the pitched tent is the better guide.
How to do it
- Clean the flysheet first. Vango says a cleaned flysheet will need reproofing afterwards, and proofer will not bond to dirt.
- Pitch the tent, so the fabric is taut and you can reach every panel.
- Read the proofer's label. Nikwax explains that a water-based proofer can go onto wet or dry fabric, while solvent-based products need dry fabric.
- Spray or brush it onto the outside of the flysheet, panel by panel, in an even coat. Do not proof the inner tent: it has to breathe.
- After a few minutes, wipe off any excess with a clean cloth, so it does not dry in streaks.
- Let it dry fully and naturally, then test it with water. Rain should bead and run off.
Some proofers also say they protect against ultraviolet light, worth having on a tent that spends weeks in the sun. Canvas and polycotton need a proofer made for cotton. Do not confuse that with the first soaking a new canvas tent needs, done with plain water to swell the threads shut, which canvas and cotton tents explains. On a silicone-coated tent, check the seam sealer each season too, as the guide to tent fabrics describes.
Storing between trips: loose, dry and out of the light
- Dry and clean first, every time.
- Loose, not crushed. Cotswold Outdoor advises against storing a tent in its tight stuff sack, and suggests an oversized breathable cotton bag or even a pillowcase. The Club says to store it unfolded if you have room, and to vary the folds so the fabric does not wear along the same creases. Robens suggests stuffing the flysheet loosely into its bag rather than folding it.
- Cool, dry and dark. A spare room, a wardrobe or a dry garage, out of direct sunlight and away from mice. Not a hot loft, where warmth speeds the breakdown of the coating.
- Poles and pegs in their own bags, so they cannot rub through the fabric. Tent bags has peg bags for pegs up to 20cm or 30cm long, pole bags from a 9g sack for poles 30cm to 55cm long to 600D Oxford bags, and large Oxford storage bags. A compression sack is for carrying, not for months on a shelf.
- Not pitched all summer. A tent left up in the garden between trips ages faster in the sun.
Take it out a day or two before the next trip, as Cotswold Outdoor suggests, to air it and look it over: count the pegs, put the poles together, try every zip and look along the seams.
Repairs in the field: patches, tape, a pole splint, a broken zip
Most faults on a trip can be held together until you get home. The Club's list of what to carry is a good one: a spare pole section, a spare guy line, fabric patches, cable ties, gaffer tape, extra pegs, a mallet and a peg puller. Add a pole repair sleeve if the tent came with one.
A tear or a hole
Dry the fabric and clean off sand and grit. Cut the patch to cover the tear with room to spare all round, and round off its corners, because square corners are where a patch starts to peel. Smooth it on from the middle outwards and press it hard. Where you can reach both sides, a patch on each side is stronger, and near a pole, where the fabric is under tension, it is worth doing. Tent repair kits has clear TPU patches, 7.5cm square or on a roll, for smooth fabric, ripstop repair tape 5cm wide, and heavy-duty tape for canvas and awnings in widths up to 18cm. A small tear in mesh can be taped on both sides until it is mended properly.
A broken pole
Slacken the tent so there is no strain on the frame, then splint the break. A repair sleeve, a short tube a little wider than the pole, slides over it, is centred on the break and is taped firmly at both ends. Without one, lay a tent peg along the break and tape it tight above and below; the Club also suggests gaffer tape or string lashings. Pitch a little lower and slacker for the rest of the trip, and replace the section or pole at home.
A soft air beam
Look at the valve first: a valve not screwed fully home, or with grit in it, is the most common cause of a slow leak. If it still loses air, take the tube out of its sleeve, pump it up and brush on soapy water, and bubbles show the hole. Patch it with a repair made for PVC or TPU, let it set, and put it back with the valve in its socket.
A zip that will not close
When the teeth come apart behind the slider, the slider is usually at fault, not the zip. NEMO explains that dirt builds up inside it and slowly spreads its two halves apart, so it no longer presses the teeth together. Brush the grit out and check no fabric is caught. If it sticks, never force it: hold the track steady, back the slider up a little and wiggle it gently, as Cotswold Outdoor advises. If the teeth still stay open, squeeze the top and bottom of the slider together very gently with pliers, a little at a time, testing after each squeeze; NEMO warns not to press too much. A zip lubricant or candle wax helps a stiff zip. Zips last longer if you zip the doors shut before pegging out and use two hands round the curves.
A guy line or a peg
Replace a frayed guy line with spare cord; see guy lines. On hard ground a thin peg bends again, so carry stronger ones: tent pegs has forged steel pegs for stony ground. How to pitch a tent covers the peg angle and the guy lines that take the strain off the fabric.
Repairs at home: seams, coatings and air beams
Seams
Many tents have tape over their seams from the factory, and with age it can lift and let water through the stitch holes. On PU-coated fabric, hot-melt seam tape is the fix: it is laid over the seam and pressed with a household iron, with a thin cloth between the iron and the tape. The 20m seam tape in tent repair kits gives medium to medium-high heat. Do it flat on a table.
Seams that cannot be taped are sealed with a liquid seam sealer made for the fabric; silicone-coated fabric will not take tape, so it needs a silicone sealer. Clean the seam, brush on a thin film and follow the label. One maker gives a curing time of 2 to 12 hours, depending on the sealer, and the Club warns that it must be completely dry before packing, or the fabric sticks to itself.
Bigger tears
For a lasting repair on a large tear, the Club suggests stitching the patch in place and sealing the stitch holes. On canvas and awnings, heavy-duty tape up to 12m long covers long splits. A tear in a door or a pole sleeve may be a job for a tent repairer or the maker.
Coatings
A coating that has gone sticky, smells musty and flakes off is breaking down, and reproofing will not bring it back, because reproofing only renews the finish on the outside. A coating can sometimes be renewed once all the loose coating is scrubbed off, but it is a big job, so first ask the tent's maker whether they sell a replacement flysheet or groundsheet.
Poles
The lasting fix is a new section or pole of the same outer diameter and full length. Tent poles has replacement poles from about 7.9mm to 11mm across and 3.2m to 5.2m long, and an aluminium pole fits a tent that had fibreglass ones if the size matches. Tired elastic inside a pole can be replaced too; tent poles explained covers both jobs.
Air beams
After patching, test a beam overnight at the maker's pressure, which on most air tents is around 5 to 7 psi. Never pump it until it feels hard, because a beam over its pressure can burst at a seam. A leak along a welded seam of the tube cannot usually be patched, and the lasting fix is a replacement beam from the maker. See air beam tents and inflatable air tents.
Questions people ask
Can I put my tent in the washing machine?
No. It wears the coating, lifts the seam tape and, Vango says, can damage the machine. Clean it by hand with a sponge, water and a mild soap that is not a detergent, or a tent cleaner.
How long can a tent stay in its bag wet?
As short a time as possible. Mould can begin in as little as a day in warm, damp weather, so dry it the day you get home, or the next day at the latest.
How often should I reproof my tent?
When rain stops beading and starts to soak in. For a tent used a lot or left in the sun, that may be every season; for a few nights a year, much less often.
Is water inside the tent a leak?
Often it is condensation from your breath, spread over a wide area, while a leak drips from one spot. The guide to tent waterproof ratings explains how to tell them apart.
Does a canvas tent need different care?
Yes: a first soaking when new, drying right through every time, and a proofer made for cotton. See bell tents.
Where to go next
- Tent waterproof ratings explained: the coating, the rating, seams and condensation.
- Tent fabrics explained: how each fabric wears, and caring for each.
- Bell tents and glamping: canvas, mould and storing a big tent.
- How to pitch a tent: pitching without strain, and packing a wet tent.
- Tent repair kits, tent poles and tent bags: patches, seam tape, replacement poles and storage bags.
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