Our tips on how to maintain and extend the life of your tent.
As your trusted companion on your most beautiful weekends and vacations, your tent may need some attention. Make sure you extend its lifespan with regular cleaning and care. On this page, you’ll find all our tips for using and maintaining your tent. With the help of Charlotte, product manager for camping, we’re sharing our best tricks for getting the most out of your tent!
The first step to maintaining your tent is to use it correctly. Before setting up your tent, make sure the entrance is fully closed. This will prevent you from over-stretching the canvas when you assemble the poles.
While the guy lines are there to reinforce your tent’s resistance to wind, you should avoid tightening them too much as it can create excessive tension on the canvas.
To extend the lifespan of your tent, we advise you not to overexpose it to the sun. UV rays can damage the tent’s fabric and accelerate its wear.
Our tents are designed to withstand an annual exposure of three consecutive weeks in the sun. Of course, you can use your tent for more than three weeks a year!
But we recommend keeping it out of direct exposure to UV rays when possible, otherwise it will wear faster than expected.
The easiest way to wash your tent is to brush it with clean water, making sure to use a soft-bristled brush. Brushes that are too rough can damage your canvas. If necessary, you can use soapy water. However, we advise against overusing cleaning products as much as possible to maintain the canvas’ quality.
You must rinse your tent thoroughly to ensure it is clean of soap residue. In the rinsing process, avoid high-pressure jets as they could damage the canvas and its structure.
For the inside of your tent, the most effective method remains using a dustpan and brush to remove small stones, twigs and dust.
What to do if you have resin on your tent?
First off, wait until the resin is completely dry, then place an ice cube on the inside of the canvas, directly behind the resin stain. The resin will then become brittle and detach more easily with gentle scraping.
Cleaning the canvas with a mild detergent can also work, but be careful! The use of solvents will significantly reduce the waterproof quality of canvas tents. Use it sparingly as a last resort for tough stains.
The idea has probably crossed your mind, and ours too, though our engineers strongly advise against it! The friction against zippers and cords, caused by the drum of the washing machine, could damage the canvas and its coating.
It’s best to stick to spot-treating and washing your tent by hand.
Storing a tent that’s still damp will surely encourage the growth of mold and undesirable odours. Even small amounts can accumulate over time and will be difficult to get rid of.
The best thing you can do is to dry your tent thoroughly, either at the end of your camping or trekking trip, or once you’re back home, by hanging it up for a few hours in the open air away from UV rays. You may need to adapt based on the space you have available.
The simplest solution is to separate your tent: flysheet on one side, inner tent on the other.
Dry each element separately on a clothesline, a drying rack, a shower curtain rod, a balcony… anywhere as long as it’s not too close to heat source like a radiator or fireplace.
If you’ve hung the inner tent and fly sheet on a balcony railing, you can secure your tent with the guy lines.
You can set up your tent outside when it’s sunny and dry. If there’s a light wind blowing, even better! Open the components of the flysheet and those of the inner tent. Avoid exposing it to direct sunlight, and your tent will be dry in no time!
If you’re in a hurry, you can also remove excess water with a microfibre towel.
“Don’t forget to thoroughly dry the underside of your tent. The simplest way to do this is to fold your tent in half after removing the poles. This allows you to dry the underside of your tent on one side and then the other. I also advise you to dry your storage bag well! It would be a shame to store your perfectly dry tent in a damp bag.”
Is your tent completely dry? It’s ready to be folded and stored in its bag, then kept in a dry place at room temperature.
To pack it away, don’t forget to remove all the tent poles, including those installed above the entrance as well as the reinforcement bars (mainly found on large tents for more than four people).
It’s also important to close the entrance of your tent when you pack it away. Otherwise, your tent may be too taut when you unfold it again.
The environmental impact of a discarded tent is equivalent to more than 3,000 km travelled by car. To limit this impact, all Quechua and Forclaz tents are repairable! Do you need to change a pole? Replace the inner tent?
Two solutions are available to you:
- Contact the workshop at your nearest Decathlon store to have your tent repaired. Several services are available to meet your needs.
- You can also purchase any spare parts you need for your tent and necessary repairs.
The tent is made of natural but delicate materials. That's why it's important to know how to take care of it. Since part of the tent is made of cotton, the canvas must be completely dry before storing it to prevent mold. So, be mindful about managing moisture! Furthermore, it's important to keep the canvas clean and to wipe away stains as quickly as possible. It's best to brush off dust with a soft brush.
Polycotton, also known as technical cotton, will provide you with:
-Better UV resistance
-Better breathability than a traditional polyester tent
-A longer lifespan
-A lighter tent than one made of 100% cotton
-A more pleasant environment in terms of noise, for example.
However, you will need to be careful as polycotton is a fabric that requires particular attention regarding drying and stain removal.
Related products: Air Seconds 6.3 Polycotton Tent
Our inspiration? To design an easy-to-pitch inflatable tent featuring our polycotton fabric for greater comfort and durability. An insulating mat is included to protect you from the cold.
When your tent is new, it has a certain level of waterproofing that also needs to be maintained. Ultraviolet rays, friction from its storage bag, and natural wear and tear from the elements necessitate re-waterproofing more or less frequently, depending on its use. We advise you to regularly (every year, for example) apply a waterproofing spray to the outer fabric and groundsheet of your tent, making sure not to forget the areas around the seams.
You are now ready to head back out on your adventure, or to pack away your tent before the next one!