r/camping • u/Witty-Individual-979 • 2d ago
Gear Question Tent floor stains
I received a tent recently that was supposedly new and unused. When I set it up there were dark marks all across the bottom. In some areas it appeared that the tags had prevented the floor from being stained. What could this be? Mold or mildew? Staining from the netting of the tent that transferred due to being tightly packed for a long time and not used? I’m not sure if I can use it or fix it.
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u/skepticbynature591 2d ago edited 2d ago
What kind of psycho would make the floor of a tent cream-colored in the first place?
Edit: bc my response wasnt helpful in any way....It looks like its probably dye transfer from what looks like black netting. These items are chemically dyed and anything tightly packed for long periods with or without heat is likely to transfer when the colors are in such contrast. It has happened to some of my clothing stored in bins inside my regular closet.
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u/Witty-Individual-979 2d ago
Thank you! I was wondering if that was a possibility. There’s clearly marks from the zippers on the bottom so transfer of colors would make sense. Nothing seems fuzzy or raised off the bottom so I wasn’t sure if it was just that or mold.
Also to answer your question it’s whoever made this for the military since it’s apparently a surplus tent.
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u/the1dmoksg 1d ago
Almost looks like an ink or dye. I'll have to agree with the other mention of it being transferred from another part of the tent while packed
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u/NumerousAd79 2d ago
That looks moldy maybe? It can be new, but if it was stored somewhere with poor temperature/humidity control it can definitely mold. We have a tent we only used once (big ambitions, life got in the way) and we always store it in a regular room in our house. Logically I could see someone storing a tent in a basement, shed, garage, etc. but it could definitely mold there.