so i've a nice tent, which i haven't used for a couple of years.

last time i used it it was pissing down, when i got back life got hold and i never removed it from its polythene bag 😳

i'm off to norway on friday, camping. and i need my tent…

so i opened it up, and of course there is a lot of black mold on the outer fabric.

what should i clean it with? will i need to re-waterproof it? how/what do i use? do i have time (considering i'm away on a bothy trip wed and thurs…)???

aaagh!!

Think your tent is b*ggered basically. Depending on the material, you could try washing it in very mild Milton fluid solution to kill the mould but it's likely that the water proofing will be a thing of the past.

get to millets and get a cheap one to save your trip, chances are it'll be drier than what you got and a lot less hassle – other tents suppliers are available!!

assuming it s a synthetic outer and not a cotton one like say and old Vango, Id start with a milton solution in the bath first to remove/bleach the mould.

Then use some of the Grangers range, depending on the time and space you have:

http://www.grangers.co.uk/productview.cfm?id=23
http://www.grangers.co.uk/productview.cfm?id=22

Oil of cloves

Dry it out. Wash it with some waterproof friendly agent (tech wash or similar) dry it out again and then put back in the wash with some water proofing or get a waterproofing spray and dry out once more.
Used to happen to me a lot when I used to do loads of carp fishing, it's the drying out inbetween that's s pain. It's only worth the hassle on more expensive tents though IMO.

First hot day we get put it outside with the doors open kills it outright.

I'm afraid it's not easy to get rid of. The process that eventually killed mine:

Wash in milton-type stuff
Wash in concentrated milton type stuff
wash in concentrated lemon juice
leave it in the sun all day
soak in neat lemon juice
wash again with some bleach
wash and rinse
leave it out to dry
still smells/looks minging, re-bleach
put it in washing machine, lose some patches of fabric coating
finally usable but still stained.

Never again will I be lazy and forget it for a couple of weeks.

😐

the tent itself is bone dry. i think some miltons and then some grangers may be the way to go.

arse.

A 5% Hydrogen Peroxide solution (or Milton) brushed in will kill off the bugs and should remove some of the staining. You need to leave it for a few hours to work once you've worked it into the fabric – do this on both sides of the material.
Rinse that off and then clean it with Tech Wash/Grangers equivalent.
Then brush in FABISIL (click here). Personally I prefer this to the spray-on ones.

Unfortunately you need to leave it to dry inbetween washing & proofing, so no – you've not got enough time to save this tent before reusing it at the weekend.