One of the ways to take care of your tent so that it functions adequately and at its best is impregnation, which will prevent rain from coming inside at night. Impregnation is far from being used only for footwear, even though it is most often associated with footwear. It is also used for clothing and, in addition, for tents.
Tents, like other fabrics, gradually lose their waterproof properties after a certain period of time. And if we don't take care of them adequately, it can happen that they get wet or moist in an unguarded moment. Having a wet tent in the morning on a multi-day hike is something we would definitely not wish on you. You will then lose precious morning kilometers by having to dry the tent instead of walking. Not to mention the potentially depreciated gear you stashed in your tent in good faith that night.
What is impregnation anyway?
Impregnation is a process that works on the principle of saturating otherwise absorbent textile materials. These materials include polyester and others, from which tents are made. The textile material is carbonized using a spray in the form of an aerosol. This applies tiny droplets of active substances to the surface of the tent. And what material is the impregnation made of? The more traditional, natural ones include wax, then we have synthetic impregnations and finally a combination of both.
The surface of the tent must be clean
The impregnated surface of the tent must be clean and dry. Cleaning tents is a rather difficult matter, so it is in everyone's interest not to get the tent too dirty during use. Even if it doesn't always work out naturally. We should clean the tents by hand, of course they are not very suitable for washing in a washing machine. But we can use special cleaning and washing agents for them, which we also use for functional clothing, where we want to preserve its desired properties.
Use according to the instructions
Always use the given impregnation in accordance with the instructions for use. Apply the impregnation evenly over the entire surface of the tent. As a rule, only one layer will be enough for you - for most products, even using two or more layers is not recommended. Impregnation not only repels water, but also protects the surface of the tent—thus extending its life and better protecting it against external influences.