A good general cleaner will be able to tackle any dirt, dust, or mud that has settled on the tent during the event, setup, takedown, or transport. The best answer is some sort of concentrate that can be diluted in water. It’s important to test your cleaning products thoroughly before committing to one; it will be needed in much larger quantities once you begin using it on your tents, and it’s the most frequently used chemical in your arsenal of cleaning products. Choosing the best product is one of the most effective ways to save time and cut costs. Picking the wrong cleaner will cause you to spend a lot more time and money to maintain your tents. For your test, select 3–5 concentrates. Be sure to use products that are safety-certified for use on tents. You’ll also need samples of soiled tent material that can be discarded. Finding hand-sized samples of a tent allows you to run the test in a convenient location, such as an office desk or table.
Once you’ve gathered the necessary materials, you’ll need to mix three different dilution samples of each concentrated product. There is usually a recommended dilution ratio on the label; mix
one solution at this ratio, one that is stronger, and one that is weaker. Do the same for each concentrated product. If you bought three different concentrates, you should have nine different test solutions when finished mixing. Use a toothbrush or small scrub brush with relatively soft, thin bristles to test each solution on a different vinyl sample. Use the same amount of pressure and number of strokes with each test. The goal is to find the solution that cleans the best with the least effort, so using the same number of strokes and amount of pressure for each test is more important than getting the sample piece completely clean. When you’re done cleaning each sample, label it with the type of solution that was used so it can be identified later. Make sure the brush is thoroughly rinsed out between each test. Once you’ve finished all of your tests, examine each sample under intense light. An OTT brand magnifying light works great for this purpose (www.ottlite.com). Decide which solutions cleaned the dirt the best. Have three employees make independent judgments and compare opinions to decide which product and dilution ratio did the best job. As stated earlier, the best solution is the one that will clean the most in the least number of strokes. In the long run, this will mean that employees are spending less time scrubbing on tents, which means less money spent on labor costs and a faster turnaround time between events.
– The Teeco Team
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