Mould/mildew on bell tent

[Bumpinthenight]

Hi!
My brother has acquired a bell tent for me - love him, love him, love him!
When it was packed away it was slightly damp so has mould/mildew on it. I haven't seen it yet;camping in Mum's garden to try it out tomorrow and to give it a clean. Can anyone suggest the best course of action for cleaning/treating it?
Wondering whether I need to just camp this weekend and send it to bell tent to be cleaned professionally.
Thanks

My first reaction is try Milton sterilising solution - it works great on DD's clothes when I have occasionally left them damp in the laundry basket. Also on any mould that pops up on the grout in the bathroom. However, it is a bleach so you have to be careful about not leaving it on too long. Also I am not sure how it would affect waterproofing but then again you can just re-proof with some spray.

However, I am pretty sure someone on here had this problem last year so hopefully they will be along to tell you what worked for them.

Best of luck and welcome to the wonderful world of bell tenting!

Hello, this happened to mine last year :( I had packed it away bone dry but stupidly forgot that the ZIG was damp on the bottom so when rolled up it got mottled and stained.

After some reading up I used the Dettol Mould & Mildew remover spray and a soft bristled brush which removed the vast majority of the marks, I then hosed it down thoroughly (a few spots got bleached out but nothing noticeable and not half as bad as the mildew had been), left it to dry and never put it away with the ZIG zipped on again (it now has its own spare bag).

However, having done that I then had to rewaterproof the tent. This took 10 litres & 1 spray can of Fabsil (it would cost a fortune to do it with the spray cans alone) to do the entire tent (if yours is localised you could probably get away with the spray and/or 1 small can of paint-on stuff). It then sat on my dining room table for a week drying out...

I think it was something stupid like £400 to get it cleaned and reproofed via Belltent - nearly the cost of buying another tent!

£400!
Will give water a go to start off with and work up to chemicals! I am liking the arty suggestion though!

Thanks all! Can't wait to see it and choose all the new accessories I 'need'!