A clean tent is a happy tent for a happy camper; and there’s no worse feeling than getting your tent out of the garage, unpacking it and figuring out that mildew and mold started growing on it. You can clean a moldy tent, but it’ll take a while and set back your starting date by a day at least. So keep your tent clean.

how to wash a camping tent

How to Clean a Tent: Step by Step

1. Wipe it down with a mild soap and warm water

Use a mild dish soap and lukewarm water. Don’t use detergents, laundry machines, dryers, or fabric softeners. Tents are covered with a special waterproof protective coating, and if you damage the coating your tent is no longer waterproof.

2. Rinse, rinse, and rinse some more

Rinse your tent thoroughly, and hang it to dry. Tents take a long time to dry because the moisture can get caught up in its seams. Tents are waterproof, and water can’t freely flow through them and dry through them (unlike your cotton t-shirts). It’ll take a while.

3. Clean your tent poles

Use the same soap-y lukewarm water solution to rinse your tent poles. Dry the tent poles with a regular soft cloth rag. Dry them thoroughly, because steel poles may corrode or stay gritty, and plastic poles might get limestone spots on them.

4. Clean your zippers

You should clean your zippers; sand and dirt makes the metal or plastic teeth wear out. If you don’t regularly clean your zippers, you’ll eventually ruin the teeth and you’ll be stuck with a stuck zipper. You can brush the zipper with an old toothbrush and the soap-y lukewarm water.

bright red zipper

5. Check for damages

While you’re cleaning your tent, check for any damages, tears, nicks and cuts. You might have holes that little mice tore through that you never noticed, or your tent might suddenly tear due to UV damage it took over the years.

It’s better that you know your tent is damaged or unusable while you’re cleaning it in your driveway rather than finding out in the campsite, away from home.

You’ll also accidentally check your tent’s waterproof qualities; if it leaks water now, you’ll know it. If your tent is no longer waterproof, refresh the waterproof coating.

6. Store your tent safely

After the tent is 100% dry (make sure it is!) you can store it in a dry, cool place in your garage/house/apartment. Loosely roll up the tent and cover it with a cloth. This lets the fabric breathe and dry off.

Do not store your tent in the carry sack, as it’ll crumple up the tent and trap any moisture inside. Most people just stuff it in the carry sack and leave it somewhere, and this often leads to a moldy tent.

Fully assemble the tent poles before you store them if you have the space for it.

store your camping gear

How to Repair a Tent

You can do a couple of home repairs on your tent. Tents are hardy and durable gear that can pretty much take anything you throw at them. The only certified tent killer is UV exposure, and after several years in the sun, the tent’s polyester fabric will become brittle and torn easily.

Repairing tears and holes:

  1. Clean the area around the tear with medical alcohol
  2. Cut a piece of repair tape that completely covers the tear and the 1”-1.5” are around the tear.
  3. Apply the piece of repair tape to the tent
  4. If the tent’s structural integrity is at risk (a tear near a pole), patch it from the inside too.
  5. Most patches take a day to dry, so try not to pack your tent. This isn’t easy to do on the trail, but it’s very easy to do in your home.

Repairing leaks:

Sometimes, the waterproof solution gets washed off or simply gets too old to function properly, and your tent will start leaking. Most of the time, the seams and their seam tape are the first to go, so you should inspect them in-between hikes.

  1. Gently remove the flayed damaged seam tape; you’re not supposed to remove big parts of the seam tape, just the obviously damaged ones. We need a clean seam to properly apply the new seam sealer.
  2. Clean the seam with a rag and rubbing alcohol
  3. Apply the seam sealer. Be sure to use the right seam sealer, as not tents use the same water-coating protection. Consult the manufacturer.
  4. Allow it to dry for several hours.

Take good care of your tent, and it’ll take good care of you. Most tears smaller than two inches are easy to fix and you don’t have to replace your tent. In the case of UV damage or big tears, you should buy a new tent.