A little time camping on weekends will help your mind unwind from work stress. People go out of their house or office and visit the woods for a quiet time away from the city. Camping and hiking are some of the best ways to spend your free time.
We could not dismiss the fact that it is more exciting to spend your outdoor activity overnight. So make sure to have a clean and comfortable tent. (Read Beginners Camping Guide)
Types of Tent
Let us first discuss the common types of a tent for you to know the basic care for the one you already have. This will also be helpful if you have not yet bought a tent.
Before considering buying a tent, make sure that you know how large or small you want to have. The bigger the tent, the more people it can accommodate for sleeping. So, if you are a solo camper, then a small tent won’t be a problem.
A small tent’s advantage is that putting it in your car is less of a hassle and can only occupy a small space. A small tent is not advisable if you are going on a trip with family or many friends compared to a more massive tent.
- Basic Ridge Tent – this type of tent is stable. Basic Ridge Tent has a pole at each end. The ridge, which is the horizontal pole, holds up a tent-shaped roof.
- Dome Tent – from the name itself, a dome-shaped tent looks like a dome or an igloo in some ways. This is a good tent that provides stability in strong wind. Unfortunately, dome tents are more stable when smaller than they are when you scale up in size.
- Tunnel Tent – if you are looking to go on a weekday camp with your whole family, a tunnel tent is one of the right choices. This is simple to put up. You will have to insert a tent pole into a sleeve at a well-ordered interval.
- Large Family Tent – there is never too big for a tent. Tent designers added more rooms only designed for a family. Tunnel tents are one of the tents you can stand up in, but large family tents have two sleeping chambers. It is a 12’ by 12’ tent pad which can accommodate your whole family.
- Frame Tent – frame tents still exist, but only a few are using it. This tent needs to have a rigid framework of straight poles that has angled joints. These are advisable for long term installations because they have high wind tolerance.
- Inflatable Tent – another term for this is an air tent. Inflatable tents are more costly since they use better quality materials. These are also popular among campers.
- The Knuckle-jointed System – best known as ‘instant tents’ with knuckle joints. Khyam, the manufacturer, whose broad range of tents never left the market for more than a decade. The poles can straighten using the ‘knuckle’ or elbow joint to allow the tent to adopt its final form.
Tents an adequate shelter during outdoor activities. But have you heard about a bivy sack? Bivy sacks are for one-person, minimalist types of shelter. They are much warmer than tents because they add around 4 to 8 degrees of warmth.
The best bivy sack in the market is the Tennier Woodland Camouflage Waterproof bivy sack. It is a good comfort in all weathers.
Key features:
-
- Military modular all-weather sleep system
Heat-sealed seams
Spacious interior
Affordable price
Specification:
- Brand: Tennier
- Weight: 40 ounces
Tent designers love to create more sturdy and aesthetically pleasing tent designs. Let’s have to wait. What more can there be to the market for the happy campers.
By the way, have you ever thought of washing a tent in a front loading washing machine is the best option to clean it? After all, you need to take good care of it to guarantee long-lasting use and comfortable camping.
Front loading washing machines came better than top-loading according to people’s reviews. Front-loaders can remove heavy stains effortlessly. This is also good since it only uses less amount of water and energy.
What a front-loading machine is capable of can be tempting to try loading your tent in it. This may be possible but not the wisest idea for cleaning your tent. Remember that tents are of delicate materials. Loading it inside a washing machine can tear of fabrics and reap
Yes, it is easier to machine wash your tent, but the heat generated by the machine may cause the laminate to corrode. Another reason is that it may cause cram-up unless you use an oversized unit.
Compromising quality over physical effort may not be a good option. Do not worry, you can always go back to the traditional way of cleaning a tent. Continue reading to learn more.
It is best to keep your tent clean and in a stable condition. Practice to wash it if you have extra time after camping.
How to wash a tent?
For the usual way of cleaning a tent, you will need the following:
- Cloth or sponge.
- Mild dish soap.
- Rubbing alcohol – to clean off sap.
- Tech wash – for basic clean, or
- Mirazyme – for tents with mold or intense odors.
- A bathtub – (or any tub) for water.
Steps on how to manually clean your tent:
- First, spot cleans any extra dirty areas with a damp cloth or sponge and some dish soap.
- If you have a sap on your tent, you can dap it with rubbing alcohol or even an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Fill your tub with cool to lukewarm water and add your tech wash or mirazyme,
- Follow the directions on the bottle to see how much cleaner to use.
- Unzip the door of the tent to turn it inside out.
- Soak it in the water.
- Review the directions from your tech wash bottle to see how long to let the tent soak and how to rinse it.
- Make sure to keep your tent out of the sun while it dries.
- Move it around occasionally, so every surface gets a chance to dry completely.
- Once it is dry, you can either pack it away or take the opportunity to refresh the waterproof coating.
Conclusion
The use of a front-loading washing machine can damage your tent. But the final decision to take a risky try will still be up to you. (Read How to Wash a Down Sleeping Bag)
This decision depends mainly on your preference. If you are still asking yourself, “can you wash a tent in a washing machine?” think about the quality over anything.
