Freshening up an old tent

[hwc1954]

So, back nearly 20 years ago, I bought two Sierra Designs tents. One was a 2-person Meteor Light (93 x 60 inches) for my daughter to sleep in and the other was a Comet -- same basic tent, but in a larger 3-person size (93 x 80 inches) for my wife and I.

Here's the Meteor Light. Nice 3-pole design. A little bigger and more substantial than most 2- man tents today. For example, the door has a solid ripstop panel that zips open if you want a mesh door. Extra weight, but a nice option to make the tent more ventilated or better on a cold night. Actually, a very nice one person tent:



When my daughter was in college, she took the smaller tent and used it a few times. Then, she traded it back to me for the larger tent for her and her boyfriend.

I dug out the Meteor Light a couple of weeks ago and it was in pretty good shape. A little dirty, not the freshest smelling tent in the world. It had not been packed wet, but it had been packed in the field. Had a bent pole section.

So, I ordered a replacement section of Eaton gold aluminum and managed to replace the bent section with a perfect match. Good as new. Shock cord is in good shape. Zippers on the tent work fine. One little rip in the fly, under the flap, not even visible but I've got some blue Tenacious Tape and Seam Grip to do a clean repair on that.

Today's chore. I took a bucket of NikWax Tech wash and a sponge and wiped down the the entire tent and fly, both sides.

Then I treated it in this stuff:



It's an enzyme cleaner (like OxyClean or pet stain remover) that kill any mildew and removes odor. You soak the tent in a bucket of the stuff for 15 to 30 minutes and then pull it out soaking wet and let it air dry. I did the tent, fly, stuff sack, etc. I think I'll probably do them a second time tomorrow.

Once I've completely dried the tent after than, I'll repair the one little rip in the fly and then wash the tent and fly in NikWax Tech Wash and a second time in NikWax Waterproof Treatment to restore the DWR water repellency to the tent and outside of the fly. That stuff is fantastic. I try to run a load for rain jackets, wind breakers, gloves, and so forth once a year.

I'm hoping this tent will end up practically good as new....

I haven't seen anything in the current product offerings that I like better than this for a solid one-person car camping tent. They seem to have downsized and lightened this category of tent. I'd just as soon carry an extra pound or two in the car and have something that's a bit more robust.

I'll still use the Marmot Halo 4 for two nights or more. But, this thing may be handy for a quicky one-night, one-person trip.

[Bigdog57]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

That enzyme cleaner sounds like a good product. Where is it available?

[Moss]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

Cool project thanks for sharing the photos and product! I scour eBay and Craigslist for older/vintage tents, have not bought one looking for something unique yet still functional, seen a few items that were "New in Box" so obviously I did not want to pay top $$$ for something I was actually going to use. :cool:

[hwc1954]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

That enzyme cleaner sounds like a good product. Where is it available?

It's made by the same company that makes SeamGrip, Tenacious Tape, and all the other tent repair products. I found it, in stock, at a local EMS store -- although nobody in the store could find it. It wasn't with the tent accessories. It was hiding in the scuba/kayaking department for wet suit cleaning...

REI, Amazon, and so forth all sell it:

http://www.amazon.com/McNett-MiraZym.../dp/B0000DYNSN

I suspect it is exactly the same product as OxyClean or any of the pet stain cleaners. Those are all enzyme cleaners that work by letting enzymes munch away at organic stains, mold, bacteria, etc. You could probably find something in the grocery store aisles that would work just fine for this.

I just mixed some in a 5 gallon bucket, dunked the tent and let it soak. Then, pulled it out and hung it over a deck railing to air dry. You could also do it in a bathtub.

Fortunately, these tents were always stored indoors. Not in a hot attic or garage. It wasn't that grungy to start with. Just a little "stale".

--------------

With my new tent, I'm trying to avoid the problem of dank old tents entirely. Every time I come home from camping, I take the tent out. Shake it out really well, and air dry it completely. Then take it in and roll it up neatly on the living room floor. It seems that, at least in New England, a tent is never 100% dry when you take it down in the morning. And, even if the tent is dry, you are rolling it up on damp ground.

[hwc1954]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

Thanks. I looked up OxiClean. That's hydrogen peroxide, so definitely not the same stuff. A lot of laundry pre-wash stain remover sprays are enzyme based as are pet stain removers. But, honestly, none of them are much cheaper than a bottle of this McNett's product, so might as well use that. Should work for any stank outdoor gear or clothing.

[hwc1954]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

BTW, giving a tent a good soak in a bucket of this stuff every so often (at the end of every camping season or very few seasons) would be a good way to ensure that the tent never gets moldy or musty. it's really easy to do if you've got a sunny day, a 5 gallon bucket, and some way to hang the tent and fly up on a clothes line or over a railing or something. Synthetic tents are dry in a couple of hours.

This stuff also works for nasty sneakers or hiking boots....

[tplife]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

HWC, Sierra Designs tents carry lifetime guarantees. Just call for a return auth. #, send them the broken part, and a brand new one comes back to you - all you pay for is the initial postage. Their customer service is as good as the quality of their tents!

[hwc1954]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

Good to know! It cost me a whopping $3.20 plus shipping to buy a replacement pole section and end tip. Next time, I'll just send the pole to Sierra Designs. It actually didn't have to be fixed. The bend didn't prevent setting up the tent. Just annoying...

The fly is completely dry after the second round of enzyme soak. The tent is almost try on the railing of the deck. Smells fresh as a daisy.

[hwc1954]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

So after drying outside in nice weather for a day, I set the Meteor Light up in the living room. Boy, it really cleaned up nicely! Even the white ripstop returned to near-white!

Next step is to repair the small tear in the vestibule door with Tenacious Tape and some Seam Grip. Then, the final step is NikWax water repellent treatment to restore the DWR finish to the tent and the fly (makes water bead up instead of soaking in). This really helps the waterproofing.

[jhat]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

Thanks for posting this thread. I need to do the same thing to an old well used Sierra Deaigns tent.

[hwc1954]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

SeamGrip and tape repairs to the fly today. One big rip a couple inches long on the flap that covers the zipper. Looks like maybe a massive zipper snag/rip. Tape on one side. AquaSeal on the other. Then, tape covering the AquaSeal. Good as new.

Tomorrow is the NikWax treatment.

This thing has really cleaned up nicely. The biggest invention since I bought this tent is reflective guy lines. Gotta update. Those things save SO much tripping over tent lines in the middle of the night....

[hwc1954]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

Did the final step today. Nikwax TechWash and DWR treatment. I broke all the rules and did it in the washing machine. Put the tent in a mesh wash bag so it wouldn't snag and ran the washer on the delicate cycle, once for the wash, once for the water repellent treatment. Turned out great.

The NikWax wash in treatment restores the DWR finish so that water beads up and runs off. Really helps water proof fabrics (like tent flies) by not having them wet out. I'l leave it ouside drying tomorrow and then set the tent up in the living room again to make sure there's no moisture left in any crevices.

This tent gives me an option for a quick one-night outing. No tarp. Just a small tent, a sleeping pad, a sleeping bag, and a one burner propane stove to boil water for coffee. Easy setup. Easy tear down.

[Mike]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

All this fancy pants cleaners...

I knew I had to re-coat my old tents with waterproofing anyway, so i just throw mine in the washing machine with some Oxyclean. Ya OK gentle cycle, whatever.

I water-proof with a good brush on waterproor instead of aerosol spray because a lot of the aerosol stuff is mostly solvents that evaporate or penetrate and then evaporate.

Many of us like to breath new life into old tents or keep old faithful alive, but the truth is that good tents are so dang cheap today. You can buy a good new tent for the cost of the water-proof coating needed to re-coat an old tent.

[Mike]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

This thing has really cleaned up nicely. The biggest invention since I bought this tent is reflective guy lines. Gotta update. Those things save SO much tripping over tent lines in the middle of the night....

Sounds groovy, HWC.

I like the reflective guy lines. Good for when you camp with girls who have to go outside to pee. I usually camp solo or with my dog, so I rarely leave the tent to pee. Just open the tent door and aim to the side and back into the sleeping bag I go. No flashlight, no tripping on stuff, no excuse to ninja my way around in the darkness to know what my neighbor campers are doing..... On cold nights, I don't even get all the way out of the bag. So reflective guy lines just let the racoons know to walk around them.

Better than reflective rope is reflective tape or fabric that you tape to the lines. The reason is that most guy-line tripping I see is in the daytime. People stumbing over tarp guy lines especially. The tripped gets all flustered and mad. The folks under the tarp get their mellow harshed by the tarp shaking and by the swearing of the person who tripped. You really need something to keep people from tripping over guy lines in the day time.

And we really need to figure out a way to keep people from stepping on the dog that seems to sleep all over the damned place - getting in the way all the time. Anybody know of some reflective dog paint?

[hwc1954]

Re: Freshening up an old tent

AI water-proof with a good brush on waterproor instead of aerosol spray because a lot of the aerosol stuff is mostly solvents that evaporate or penetrate and then evaporate.

Many of us like to breath new life into old tents or keep old faithful alive, but the truth is that good tents are so dang cheap today. You can buy a good new tent for the cost of the water-proof coating needed to re-coat an old tent.

Yeah. If the actually waterproofing is shot, I think I'd buy a new tent. Particularly if we are talking something small. This NikWax treatment isn't full-on waterproofing. It restores the DWR (durable water repellent) properties to the fabric. That's the stuff that makes water bead up and run off a brand new wind breaker, rather than soak in. They use it even on stuff that has a true waterproof layer because getting water to bead up and run off like that is a big help. Great stuff for gathering up all the wind breakers and jackets and bringing them back to life every couple of years.