Mildew on my bell tent

[Fenellapitstop]

I very foolishly lent a friend my 5m canvas zig bell tent who is called Isa (isabelle). She was sold by dusky deer with pretty wooden sliders and a dolly. She's finally returned it missing the pegs, dolly, a frame pole patches of mildew on the outer. And yellow patches on the inner that smell like bleach. I'm not a very happy person. She's apparently attempted to clean the inner and has said that she will see if she can find the missing bits and will replace her if necessary. She's in the process of buying a house and I can't find anything as beautiful as isa anywhere. Does anyone know of any good tent repair/slash cleaner people. Person formally known as friend will be paying

That’s AWFUL! What was she thinking? How could anyone mistreat a loved and valuable tent like that?

I take it Dusky Deer are no longer trading?

I think Soul Pad had brilliant pages on their website about care, repair and maintenance of tents.

And I would ask on the Tent Advice forum on UKCampsite.co.uk . There are some real canvas experts on their who are often advising about cleaning mildew.

I would ask her to be 100% truthful about what she did and how she tried to clean it.

If she has tried to clean the outer canvas with detergent if any kind she has wrecked the waterproofing.

In the end though, no matter how clean you can get it it’s no use without the A Frame so.,,,

Soul pad are no longer trading unfortunately. Bell tent boutique have priced up all the replacement parts which comes to over £100. They've put me in touch with someone who may be able to rescue the canvas but I'll have to take it to them to assess it which is a 3 hour round trip and they think due to the bleach the inner will be too damaged. I'm never lending a friend anything again

This is how bad the mould is

I would worry that the bleach had got on the canvas, too.

Though people seem to use a weak solution of Milton to clean mildew.

I would never lend my ‘good’ tents to anyone.

How awful for you and what a crappy "friend". I never lend any of my good tents to anyone and have even declined lending to my grown up children apart from an old one. Ive just bought my first 5m canvas bell tent and would be devastated if it got ruined. I would, as someone else has mentioned post on UK Campsite for advice, but try some of the other canvas tent specialists for advice. If you do manage to clean it, re proof it too. Hope you managed to get sorted.

There are a couple of good bell tent groups on FB. I’ve seen people use vanish gold or Milton with good results

To echo the others, you can clean off the mildew using Milton, especially if they are smaller patches: I bought a soft brush to help the process along, with ours (DH put it away with wet guy ropes, by mistake). Once that is done, it needs to be pegged or hung out to properly dry: it's a pity it is February.

You will also need to reproof it. Not a job for the fainthearted: it means spraying or painting the affected parts, pegged out to ensure you don't miss a patch. If it crosses a seam, do it twice.

If it's bleach on the inner, there's not much you can do, except patch it (if you have the skills) or replace it. WTF was she thinking?

I would also give serious consideration to simply buying a new tent as getting it professionally cleaned and replaced could cost more than buying new. Your former friend paying of course.

I've taken isa to a canvas cleaning company. They aren't sure they can rescue the inner as well but will try, friend has said she will cover the cost, we will see

Fingers crossed!

Would an inner from another brand of bell tents work if yours is wrecked?

Should do, I'm hoping they can fix her up though

I’m sure there’s a cream for that...