July 2021
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glamping, festivals and outdoor events
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glamping, festivals and outdoor events
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GLAMPSITES<br />
TRADE SECRETS<br />
BELL TENT HACKS<br />
We’ve rounded up some of our favourite tips and tricks for the ubiquitous bell tent<br />
Protect the top cap<br />
TOP<br />
TIP<br />
For tents kept up for long periods of time, or for tents exposed to windy conditions,<br />
consider protecting the top cap to stop the king pole bursting through it and incurring an<br />
expensive repair bill. Buy a metal bowl with a 7-8cm diameter base from a kitchen shop<br />
or Amazon and place it up inside the top of the tent where the king pole stopper rests.<br />
This increases the surface area of where the pressure is applied and prevents wear on the<br />
rubber of the stopper – it is when this rubber perishes that the pole can push though the<br />
canvas.<br />
There is an additional benefit to this hack too. Punch holes around the rim of the bowl<br />
and use metal hooks to provide a handy hanging function – great for lights, decoration and<br />
hanging storage.<br />
Mould or<br />
mildew?<br />
Nothing beats a professional<br />
wash and reproof, but even then<br />
you might end up with stubborn<br />
mould around seams. Treat any<br />
spots with Astonish Mould and<br />
Mildew Blaster. The great news<br />
is that it is just £1 from a number<br />
of places including Wilko, The<br />
Factory Shop, ASDA and Amazon.<br />
We tested it on a very mouldy<br />
4x2.6m awning. It took two<br />
bottles (£2) but brought it back to<br />
gleaming canvas.<br />
Timber treatment<br />
Looking for a cheap way of staining wood?<br />
Consider soluble ferrous sulphate (often used<br />
to kill moss and improve lawns). You buy it<br />
in power form from garden centres, eBay or<br />
Amazon for about £5 per kg – also known as<br />
iron sulphate.<br />
Mix with hot water (2.5kg of powder to<br />
15–20L of water) and either spray or sponge it<br />
on to any timber that you want to artificially<br />
age. Coverage is 8-10 m2/L for planed timber<br />
and 4-5 m2/L for rough sawn timber.<br />
The solution will work on any wood and<br />
will turn it an attractive and lasting browngrey<br />
to silver-grey colour by reacting with the<br />
tannins when left in the sun. It is also believed<br />
to enhance protection from rot and mildew.<br />
It doesn’t contain any VOCs, is super cheap<br />
and you will find various DIY recipes online<br />
for further increasing its protection abilities<br />
by adding baking soda and other natural<br />
substances.<br />
38 WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM
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