How To Clean A Tent That Smells Full Guide
Reading Time: 8 minutes Many of those who have a tent in their storage do not think about throwing these tents when they are taken out of the warehouse to the garbage can because of the unpleasant odors they emit, and a bad-smelling tent is enough to destroy the best camping trips.
But do not worry, we have created this complete step-by-step guide in which we will share many tips for cleaning smelly tents, and how to prevent these smells from arising in the tent, so let’s start with the most important tips.
Tips for Cleaning a Tent That Smiles
We will go over the best tips that you can do to clean and maintain your tent in order to prevent bad odors from developing.
Prevention is Key
If you are tired of cleaning the tent every time you go camping, you must identify the most important reasons that create the unpleasant smells of the tent, and the most important of these reasons is the humidity that the tent is exposed to, especially when you store it while the tent is still wet or you have stored the tent incorrectly that allows Moisture seeps into the tent keeping bags.
Moisture can cause mold to start in your tent, not to mention foul odors caused by mold.
Here Are a Few Pointers For Preventing Odors:
- Bringing a footprint to the tent in order to prevent the tent from being damaged or water collecting at the bottom of the tent, increases the humidity of the tent and the emergence of unpleasant odors.
- In the event of rain or the event of dewdrops in the morning, wipe the water that fell, and if you want to fill the tent in its bag, you must dry the tent well from this water in order to prevent the formation of unpleasant odors in the tent.
- Avoid eating food inside the tent or even entering with shoes inside the tent, as moisture and food are among the things that cause mold to form inside the tent.
- At the end of the camping trip, clean the tent well after the camping trip, and it is best if you did not go out for the camping trip to check and clean the tent periodically.
Determine Why You Have a Smelly Tent
As we mentioned previously, the most important factors that help create unpleasant odors in the tent, but many reasons will make your tent smell bad, and it is important to identify the causes of unpleasant odors in the tent in order to better eliminate that smell.
Dirt is one of the main reasons for the bad smell, and on camping trips, there is much dirt that forms in our tents due to outdoor activity, and for that, you should prevent dirt from entering the tent, especially on shoes and some pets.
The sweat on our bodies may be one of the reasons for the formation of unpleasant odors, especially if you are doing some outdoor activities such as walking long distances and causing the smell of sweat to make the tent smell bad.
Mold is one of the most important causes of unpleasant odors, and some fungi in the air cause mold to form heavily on the walls of your tent and mold grows larger when there is high humidity. If your tent suffers from the spread of mold, we have created a complete guide on how to clean the tent from mold.
The collapse of the polyethene component of the tent, which is not a common thing often, but the cracking of polyethene leads to the release of some unpleasant odors, and this smell is like the smell of urine and sometimes it smells like vomit, and we will present a solution to this problem through this article.
How to Air Out A Smelly Tent
The outdoors is one of the best ways that can treat the problem of unpleasant odors, and it is one of the most wonderful ways that you can use, and it is free and often does the job perfectly. Here’s how to ventilate the tent in the right way:
- Take out your tent a few days before you head out for your camping trip.
- Put the tent on a clothesline and if you can’t find a clothesline, put the tent on a table in the yard and expose it to the open air.
- Leave the tent for two days in the open air in order to release unpleasant odors from inside the tent.
How to Clean a Tent with White Vinegar and Lemon Juice
Lemon juice with vinegar is an ideal way to get rid of odors, fungus and mold as well, and all you will need to do this method is in all homes, all you need to bring is some vinegar and lemon juice and your bathtub in order to submerge the tent.
Vinegar is one of the best ingredients for removing mold largely because of its high acidity, and when you add lemon juice to vinegar, you will get a deadly ingredient in order to remove unpleasant odors and mold and remove harmful bacteria that help create these odors.
Here is the correct way to use vinegar with lemon juice to clean the tent:
- A cup of white vinegar.
- A glass of lemon juice.
- cup of salt
- Mix the ingredients and put them in the bathtub and mix them with hot water.
- Submerge the tent in water for two to three hours.
- After the tent has been submerged for two hours, remove the tent from the bathtub.
- Remove the solution from the tent and then allow the tent to dry completely.
Read More: The Perfect Guide To Camping For Beginners
Saving a Tent that Smells like Rotten Eggs and Vomit
If you smell unpleasant odors such as the smell of vomit or rotten eggs, you do not need to worry. You can solve the odors easily. The main reason behind this annoying smell is the collapse of the polyethene used in the manufacture of the tent, as we mentioned previously.
In order to solve this problem and eliminate the unpleasant smell, you must bring some things such as a large basin, warm water and a large amount of special soap for washing dishes.
After bringing these things, mix warm water and household detergent in the bathtub, and then immerse the tent in the bathtub for between one to two hours, and after the tent has been submerged, take it out and use a soft brush to gently clean the tent, and after finishing rinse The tent and let it dry well in the open air and then store the tent in its bags for going out for camping trips.
Handwashing Your Tent
One of the most important things that you must follow in cleaning your dirty tent is to use your hands and manual methods to wash the tent, and you should use a little degreaser to rub the dirty areas in the tent with a soft sponge in order to keep the tent from tearing.
Wash the outer fabrics of the tent by hand and avoid rubbing the tent vigorously, but rather gently rubbing it in order to maintain the waterproof layer.
There are many chemical solutions that you can use, but I use some mild detergents such as soap or natural methods such as using lemon juice, white vinegar and warm water.
Cleaning a Smelly Pop-Up Tent
For effective cleaning of your Pop-Up Tent is to take out the tent with a cleaning solution by using a spray bottle, and you can make your own solution which you use every time to clean your tent, you can also use a solution of lemon with white vinegar for Tent cleaning.
After making the solution, but the solution in a spray bottle, and then spray the tent with this solution for 30 minutes in a well-ventilated area. After the period has expired, start rinsing the tent using water and then leave the tent to dry completely in the open air.
Never use the washing machine
In order to preserve your tent for as long as possible, you should not use the washing machine to clean the tent. The washing machine is a quick way to end the life of the tent. The components and fabrics used in the manufacture of tents are very thin and cannot withstand the rotation that occurs in the washing machines.
And if some instructions refer to the use of the washing machine on your tent, I advise you not to use the washing machine, and also you should not use the electric dryer in order to dry the tent, all you have to do is put the tent in the open air and the air will take care of drying the tent well.
Long-term Care Of Your Tent
Smelly tents are not comfortable, and they can ruin your wonderful trip, and for that, we have provided some tips that can help you get rid of unpleasant odors, but we will give you some tips for the long-term care of your tent.
There are some steps that you must follow in order to extend the life of the tent and use it several times in the future:
- Do the waterproofing of the tent, as this step is considered one of the important steps in order to extend the life of the tent for longer periods.
- Periodically inspect and maintain the seams and fabrics that make up the tent.
- Use the original bag or a loose pillowcase to keep the tent inside. Pillow bags are good, as they help to ventilate the tent and prevent moisture.
- When you arrive at the camp, choose the appropriate place to put the tent, and when setting up the tent, prepare it gently.
- Read the tent manufacturer’s instructions in order to get a better understanding of the tent and how to use it the right way.
Conclusion:
The unpleasant smells of the tent are one of the annoying things that you may encounter on camping trips, but following the tips in this article that are safe for all tents, but you should also read the instructions of the tent manufacturer in order to know the best methods that you can use in order to clean the tent Don’t forget to clean the tent manually and don’t use washing machines.
In order to maintain your tent after each camping trip, clean it every time you want to store it, and even before going out for camping trips, clean the tent at least 3 days before camping.
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