Sprache wechseln
My ARB Skydome had seen nearly almost daily use during the preceding sixteen months. With a trip to Romania on the horizon, it seemed like an ideal opportunity to give the swag a thorough exterior clean and a consequential reproofing against rain and damp. There hadn’t been any cause for complaint on my part until now, but I feared that a proper clean involving a brush might negatively impact its ability to fend off the elements.
Fortunately, the forecast at the weekend promised ideal conditions for cleaning and drying the canvas.
Using a cotton/canvas shampoo, the tent was washed and gently scrubbed where dirt and moss had set in the worst. As it turned out, it was the first really hot day of the year and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. The upside was that the canvas dried really quickly. The downside…well, I wouldn’t learn about that until much later. Let me just say that the surface was far too hot for the spray-on waterproofing which dried upon impact and left a powdery residue.
In Romania, we got caught up in a wrathful storm which started late at night and lasted until the early hours. Shaken by wind (I actually thought I would be blown off the stretcher at one point), the deluge took but a few minutes before I heard a drip fall on my pillow. Then another and another. Just in case you don’t know how a Skydome is manufactured, the floor is made of a 100% water-resistant material which creates a basin with an approximately 80 mm high wall. This, of course, is brilliant at keeping moisture out—it’s also equally good at keeping water in. After half an hour, I had to escape. My sleeping bag was soaked through. The pools of water that collected on its surface emptied when I turned to try and avoid the stream of water coming through the roof. I was soaked, the mattress was absorbing water like a sponge, and the level of water in my indoor pool was rising fast.
It took a couple of days before everything eventually dried properly.
Back at home, I researched other waterproofing alternatives on the internet and contacted Nikwax’s Chrissy Dorn for advice. I’d read some good reviews about their Cotton Proof, so it was high time to see if it stood up to its reputation.
Cotton Proof is supplied as a concentrate in a 300 ml bottle. Depending on the size of garment or equipment you want to waterproof, you can either hand or machine wash—for clothing, the machine-wash is the simplest solution. As far as my tent is concerned, it was a case of lying it out in the garden and applying the diluted mixture with a sponge so that it really soaks into the material. Doing this section by section takes time, but does ensure all surfaces and seams are drenched in an adequate amount of the white liquid. I then erected the tent and let it dry. Any excess material should be wiped off after about twenty to thirty minutes to prevent unwanted marks.
The canvas dried remarkably quickly, considering it was wet inside and out, and didn’t changed its appearance in any way. That was it, nothing else to do.
Since the application, I’ve had an opportunity to sleep in the rain, and I’m glad to say my Skydome is waterproof again. I haven’t noticed any excessive condensation on the inside either, so it seems the canvas is performing as it should.
With this positive result chalked up, I’m now going to revitalise one of my favourite jackets which has remained in the cupboard during the last season because it, too, had lost its repelling attributes due to age.
VERDICT
Nikwax is a water-based environmentally friendly product, PFC-free, and simple to use. At the end of the day, waterproofing either works or it doesn’t, and in this case, the product has fulfilled the task just as it says on the packaging.
For the best possible results, Nikwax recommend washing a previously used tent with Tent & Gear SolarWash in order to prepare the material for treatment with Cotton Proof. The Tent & Gear SolarWash review will be published shortly.
€14 | nikwax.com
