How To Clean Your Tent And Other Camping Gear - Earning and Saving with Sarah

To get the longest life and most for your money out of your camping equipment, make sure that you know how to properly take care of it. Check out the easy-to-follow instructions below about How to Clean Your Tent and Other Camping Gear.

How To Clean Your Tent

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Do NOT put your tent in the washing machine.

Just a little dirt on and in your tent? A soft cloth and a mild, preferably non-scented dish soap or Camping Gear Wash will be needed. Simply remove all loose dirt with the cloth or your hands and then spot treat dirty tent areas. Make sure tent is Completely Dry before you pack away for storage.
Tent look like it has been mud wrestling? Grab your bucket of mild soap (mentioned above), your sponge, and garden hose. With the tent assembled, gently wash down fabric tent surfaces and rinse until all surfaces are clean and soap free. Use a dry or slightly dampened cloth to clean tent poles as needed. Tent fly and detachable tent floor footprint can be removed from the tent and washed by hand in bucket if needed. You may wish to dry these detached parts of tent over a clothesline. Make sure all part of the tent are Completely Dry before storing.
Zippers in on the dirt action? Use your soft cloth or toothbrush to gently remove dirt and debris that is stuck to the zippers. Keeping the zippers grime free will extend their working life.
Is it time for a clean your tent tune up? Follow your tent manufacturer’s instructions as to how often you should reapply waterproofing to tent. Depending on use and general care for tent, it should not be too often? When you do need to apply a waterproof coating, use a quality product such as Nikwax Concentrated Tent & Gear Solar Proof Waterproofing. It offers both water and sun protection. Also, give your tent seams a good eyeballing periodically. If any seams are beginning to come loose, a product such as Gear Aid Seam Grip Repair Adhesive and Sealant can be used for repair.
At a loss about how to best store your tent? While most tents come with a compact carrying bag, tightly wrapped up is not the best way to store your tent. If you can spare the storage room, loosely folded when Completely Dry reigns far superior. Keep the tent in a cool, dry place when not in use. Avoid the hot/freezing garage, back porch, or attic.

How To Clean Your Sleeping Bag

Not much grime on your sleeping bag? Just some spot cleanup with a soft cloth and a cleaner such as Nikwax Tech Wash or Nikwax Down Wash Direct will do the trick. Make sure sleeping bag is Completely Dry before you store. And if you have the room, store bag loosely folded rather than tightly wrapped in carrying bag.
Funky, smelly sleeping bag? Unless the manufacturers’ instructions say otherwise, you can clean your bag in a front loading washing machine or top loader with no agitator. Use some of the cleaner mentioned above.. Either hand dry or dry on low setting in dryer.

How To Clean Sleeping Pad

Need to clean and freshen your sleeping pad? A non-abrasive sponge and non detergent cleaner will work for a good wipe down. Once completely dry, store the sleeping pad laid out flat under a bed or in a storage closet.

How To Clean Your Camp Chair

Camp chair looking and smelly funky? Grab your soft sponge, Tech Wash, and garden hose with spray nozzle. Wipe down and thoroughly wash off the chair. If you own a steam cleaner with hand nozzle, it is a great tool for cleaning the camp chair, as well. Dry thoroughly to prevent rust and mildew.

How To Clean Your Backpack

Backpack needing some loving care? Depending on its size and the manufacturers’ instructions, you may be able to put it through a non-agitator washing machine with Tech Wash cleaner. Air dry. If backpack is too big for washing machine, hand wash in bathtub.

How To Clean Dutch Oven And Other Cooking Utensils

Got the dutch oven cleaning blues? Dutch ovens can be lots of fun to cook with, but not much fun to clean up. First, if possible before you put food in the dutch oven, place a Disposable Oven Liner or aluminum foil inside it. This liner will dramatically help cut down on clean up. When done cooking and oven has cooled, remove liner from oven and scrape off any excess food left on sides of the dutch oven. Then rinse dutch oven and dry thoroughly.