Help! Mildew/Mould in tent

I’ve unpacked the tent after a winter in a dry garage and have found dark spots all over the fabric.
Always very careful to ensure that it is put away dry. Can only think that there was some residual moisture on bottom of groundsheet. Not happy.

What are your best solutions/suggestions for returning it back to a decent condition? It’s an outwell montana.
Also I may need to fix a couple of the seams as they had very slight leaks last year.

Cheers.

Quite some time ago this happened to one of my tents and from memory my grandfather used Milton. Did the trick, but my poor tent never looked the same again 🙂

If you can get it in the washing machine you could try techwash?

That’s annoying. Grangers do a tent wash stuff that claims some anti mildew properties but it’s quite pricey. You could try washing it in pure soap / nikwax then rinsing in a dilute milton solution to kill off the mould spores that are left, then rinse again. Dry and reproof, and test it as it to check waterproofness.

Not sure what to do to kill it but I’d let it get wet again after you’ve treated it (particularly inside with condensation) and see if it comes back again.

You don’t want to find out it reappears and stinks the place out immediately it gets damp just after you’ve put it up again for a week long family camping trip.

I’d have a go with white vinegar or baking soda

if not try some of that dettol mould and mildew remover then wash it off

I’ve had a lot of success on bean bas that have been left damp using Starbright Mildew Remover. It works.

Cheers for the replies so far, still open to other suggestions too.

tomd – do you have the name of the Grangers cleaner you mentioned? There isn’t any information
on their cleaners on the website that mentions anti mildew (or I can’t find it if there is.

sharkbait – Did you find any bleaching effect?

So far the escalating order of attack is baking soda -> white vinegar -> Starbright -> Milton

I’ll also give it a good wash, reseal and then waterproof with Fabsil

Be impressed if you can ever get rid of Mildew fully, it eats into the Nylon and is very persistent.

yup, white vinegar and bi carb of soda in a big bucket, rinse well then Reproof and leave it over the line for a while the put it up to dry properly.

sharkbait – Did you find any bleaching effect?

Not that I’ve seen and the bean bags (Fat Boy) are bright colours.

Ace Bleach would be on my list of attack chemicals.

I’ve used bleach on inner tent (very mild mix) and it definitely works, kills the mould. The bleach smell stays around for a while is the main downside I found.