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Why Does Your Tent Begin To Smell?
Sometimes, your tent can begin to smell. Especially if you go camping frequently. There are a lot of things that can make your tent smell musty on the inside. Things on the ground, and possibly the ground itself could smell. There are also a ton of factors like what is in the air.
Or if you camp in the rain a lot. In order to solve your issue of “how to get the musty smell out of your tent”, you need to do first is to find out why your tent has started to smell.
What Is Causing Your Tent To Smell?
We have found that rain can be a HUGE factor, and is the main factor in most situations, as to why your tent can begin to smell. Water attracts bacteria and bacteria can begin to smell when it builds up because bacteria produce a lot of gross stuff.
Mold will grow in a damp tent. For example, if you put your tent away wet without drying it, mold will begin to grow, and as a result, your tent begins to smell musty.
How To Get The Musty Smell Out Of A Tent:
There are many different ways to answer the question of “how to get the musty smell out of a tent”, and we almost wrote a post here listing a lot of different ways to get that nasty smell out.
However, we decided to try out best to provide you with the most valuable answer we could conjure up. So, here are the best ways that we have found to get out that smell that makes you want to vomit A.S.A.P!
Method #1 – Rinse It Down:
If you tent only has a faint musty smell to it, try simply washing it down before you do anything else. Your tent might simply have not been put away properly and as a result, it has adopted a foul smell. As mentioned previously, mold and bacteria in general with find a comfy hoke in your damp tent. Washing it down will do the trick if it doesn’t smell too bad.
Method #2 – Soap And Water:
If your tent has a strong odor, it will not be fun to go camping in. Believe us, because we speak from experience throughout our entire lives. You won’t be able to sleep as well as you would in your tent if it has a putrid smell to it. If method #1 did not do the trick, then move onto this method by washing your tent with soap and water. For the majority of tents, washing it thoroughly with soap and water will make that musty smell go away permanently.
Method #3 – The Washing Machine:
If neither method #1, nor method #2 worked. You can throw your tent in the washer. As long as your tent can be run through the washing machine, you can throw it in the washer, you will be all set and ready to take your tent camping in a matter of hours!
Method #4 – A Special Tent Cleaning Formula:
The previous methods are almost fool-proof ways to clean your tent. However, if all else has failed, no need to worry. There is one more option. A specialized formula that is meant to clean the material that your tent is made up of. This could be nylon, polyester, or other similar material. There are many sprays and cleaning formulas that are specifically made to clean your tent material. For example, check out Nikwax Tent & Gear Solarwash Cleaning and UV Protector
Method #5 – Buy A New Tent:
If none of the above methods work in cleaning your tent and it still has that nasty musty smell to it, we would recommend you to just buy a new tent. This will probably be your best option if all has failed. Yes, it sounds harsh and it is not fun to have to replace your tent if it is still perfectly fine, but smells really bad. Unless you would rather just deal with the smell…that will always be an option. It’s your tent and if you can deal with it, then keep it around a little longer.
How To Prevent Your Tent From Smelling Musty:
Taking precautions and properly taking care of your tent will help BIG TIME in preventing your tent from smelling musty. If you take proper care of your tent you will not only prevent it from smelling bad, but it will last a lot longer as a result as well!
Make sure that every single time that you put your tent away, that you let it dry out completely. As we have mentioned throughout this entire article, bacteria and mold LOVE to make their comfy and nasty little homes in a damp tent. Feel each part of your tent before you put it away and be absolutely positive that it is not wet because you will end up with this same problem again.
Summary:
We hope that you have found this article valuable. May your tent never smell again! If you know anyone that could use this, feel free to share this with them! We want to help as many people as possible with this question! For more awesome camping and outdoor tips, check out the rest of our site. Maybe we can add even more value to your visit!
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