Well, we're back from Latitude. Apart from the godawful weather, we had a great time :o
However, disaster has struck and I need to vent - DH doesn't get it....
We last camped over the May bank hol, it rained on the last day, so I had had it up in the garden until it was bone dry. I swear, it was dryer than a dry thing in the middle of the Sahara. It had then been kept in the dining room for fear of it getting damp in the attic. Got to Latitude, unpacked the soulpad, pegged it out...
Mildew. Dirty streaks of mildew and filth all over it. Inside it, when we got it up, the ZIG was awash with dirty water. I nearly cried (this may have been more to do with the fact we'd just wheeled the camping gear 2 miles in 8 inch deep mud and were utterly knackered).
How did this happen? I'm utterly bemused. And the lovely cream calmness of the tent is destroyed. We mopped out the tent with DH's towel (bless him), scraped off the worst of the dirt and it was still waterproof, kept us dry and stayed upright in the 4-day storm that ensued, but that mildew isn't ever going to come out, is it?
The only thing we can think of is that when it was up drying in the garden, some water must have got inside/the groundsheet was wet underneath and it dribbled through, but I could have sworn it was all dry when we folded it up, it was on a baking hot day.
DH says it doesn't matter as long as the tent works (is he right?), but I'm feeling very :( Bless him, he said 'we'll buy another' - then I told him how much it cost (
) - so we're stuck with the problem, unless anyone has any miracle cleaning tips.
When we repacked it coming home we unzipped the ZIG (first time ever, we thought at one point it wasn't going to unzip, which was a panic!) and stored it separately and will do so in future.
But we still have the mildew problem. And I now look like a sloppy tent owner who can't even put her tent away properly. Wah!
Could I paint over it (I'm not as good as the lady on UKCampsite but I have vaguely artistic leanings), or would it still look spotty from the inside?
Meh. Anyway, we're off to Cornwall for a week on Sunday, so I'm just hoping the rain keeps off long enough to dry the canvas so we can pack it up again!
(btw, the tealight chandelier packs away to nothing and it looked amazing. It kept the tent warm too, in the deluge!)
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Come and hold my hand, I fear I may cry... tent disaster!
lovecat · 19/07/2011 09:03
Oh, I was waiting for your update yesterday.
What a terrible shame - I'm not in the canvas "gang" but I do look after all of my kit very carefully and I would be gutted if that had happened to me.
I'm sure all the wise ladies of Soul will be along soon to give you support and advice.
In the meantime, top result with the tealight chandelier - irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but sometimes you have to take your pleasure where you can 
What toppest tips did you take with you that worked?
Oh no your poor tent 
I too am useless at suggesting a mildew solution - could you phone soulpad and ask? We also have a zig which is stored separately as Lakey would be unmovable with it in. We shall do the same with our new Hypercamp Dutch jobby. Just wanted to commiserate in a canvas way
Oh Lovecat - how awful. I would be gutted too. If noone comes along with a better idea, my only suggestion would be to try Milton. It has worked for me when we had black spots around our bath and (yuk) on baby clothes which I had left in the basket too long. I would try it fairly dilute first of all and if that doesn't work go a bit stronger. It must be fairly mild as you can sterilise baby bottles in it but even so, you don't want to take a risk of the canvas perishing.
Hope you get it sorted out and glad you had a great time at Latitude otherwise
Oh Lovecat. How horrible for you. I did see some 'tent mildew remover' 
in a small and very expensive jar in my internet ramblings yesterday. Have no idea if it would work, though. here. Agree that Soulpad might have some helpful advice too.
Glad Latitude was great, despite the mud!
Oh God, those black tents wtf?. And would be so hot inside.
You could paint big black spots over the top of the little black mildew spots. A leopard print bell would be very, um rad and easy to spot at future festivals.
Little sis had much success with the Milton that slubber mentioned, however it was a nylon tent & not canvas.
Lovecat - you poor thing, your DH obviouosly doesn't understand - heartless bastard!
I feel your pain
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