Clearing away gravel and twigs from your pitch reduces the chance of tiny holes appearing in the groundsheet; using a cheap tarp under it will help protect it and make it far easier to clean.

A regular sweeping out of the tent takes just a couple of minutes and keeps your tent clean and tidy. Without it, debris can puncture fabric when it is tightly packed away.

Even synthetic fabrics don't like mould and mildew, so it's no surprise that airing the tent and drying it completely before packing it away for a while is very important!

Tents can take quite a battering from families. You'll no doubt have your favourite places for storage inside the house or garage, and thus the tent fabric will rub countless times against bags, cool boxes and so on. Eventually, those areas may leak due to this wear, but reproofing the sections with a handy spray, or the whole tent with brush and proofer is pretty straightforward, restoring and maintaining your tents performance.

Don't mistake condensation for rain leakage through fabric or seams. A few moments' investigation and reflection should make it obvious. Open up the doors or any vents and allow any moisture to escape- the tent will soon dry out.

If you're tempted to clean stains off the tent that may have occurred over the years, avoid detergents or washing up liquid as they'll affect the waterproofing of the fabric. Instead, use plain soap or a proprietary tent cleaner to deal with the likes of ketchup and mayo fingerprints.

It's worth checking out guylines, tensioners, eyelets, knots, zips and poles for damage each time you use the tent. Tents are durable and resilient but over time the various components will wear and suffer damage. Hopefully, a small spares and repair kit won't be needed but, if you have one handy, there's no drama; prevention is better than cure!

Zips can take quite a beating and it helps if they run smoothly. They tend to get yanked all ways and can be put under quite a lot of strain, so make sure the stitching around the zips is sturdy and make any repairs before loose threads lead to frayed tent fabric. If a main or mesh door won't zip closed easily, reposition the pegs rather than trying to force the zip closed; often the tent can be pitched too taught and the zip can struggle to close up; allowing the tent shape a little more slack can make all the difference.


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