All about tent canvas

Down-mentioned you will find lots of background information about tent canvas:

Informationchapters:
- Choose the tent canvas that suits you. Background information on cotton, All-Season, Nylon as
  tent fabric.
-Environment and tent canvas 
-Tent canvas. From yarn to fabric. All about making tent fabric.
-Testing of tent fabrics

 
More information on cotton tent canvas. Below.
 
Choose the tent canvas that suits you: cotton or synthetic
With the purchase of a tent you stand for the choice: it becomes a cotton or synthetic
tent canvas? Each of these two tent fabrics has advantages and disadvantages. In general, in case of tent canvas to take into account the following aspects:
-The climate and comfort
-The colour- and weatherfastness(u.v.-effect)
-The life also on the basis of use
-The presentation appearance, form
Here's what features, plus and minus points the listed substances have tent. With this information you may be better able to choose the tent canvas, that suits you.

 
Cotton as tent canvas 
Traditionally the natural cotton fibre is an excellent textile materials for tent fabric. Cotton is strong and in wet condition even stronger. Cotton can be woven a regular tissue and as such a fabric impregnated with the right resources, it is very suitable for tents. Cotton tent canvas is durable, waterrepellent treated and dyed with colours which tolerate weather and u.v.-influences excellently.If the new tent has defied the first rainstorm, the tent will be tightly to the frame. Moisture does all fabrics shrink slightly. Is the tent canvas again dried up, then relaxes the tissue itself and gets it pretty much the same length and width back again. ESVO has taken note of the fact that all cotton tent canvas slightly shrinks. If your brand new tent for the first time not punctual close tightly around the frame, it is therefore no reason to be concerned. Cotton is a natural fiber. Everything what nature produces, knows the nature itself again to destroy. The reason is simple: fungi can only come to growth in a wet environment. Cotton contains cellulose, a nutrient for fungi. The result is ' weather ' in the tent fabric. If this is very serious, the fungi even – indeed – a devastating impact on the natural fiber. Care is therefore always a proper ventilation in your cotton tent, hold down the tent canvas, pick up the tent clean 100% dry (happens very quickly in the Sun) and keep the tentzak in a dry environment. Our tent fabric avoid this problem, incidentally, as much as possible, because it is impregnated with a fungistatic (environmentally friendly).
Cotton is moderate to good resistance to a long-term influence of ultraviolet rays from the Sun. The lightweight cotton tent fabric is more sensitive than the cotton tent fabric of 250 gr./m² or heavier, that a significantly longer service life. Request our specialist which 'blootstellingstermijnen ' are per grade.
Cotton is a breathable and therefore good ventilating tent fabric, so very comfortable and cosy.
 
All-Season Touring Tent Canvas as tent fabric
The technical name for All-Season Touring Tent Canvas is polyvinyl alcohol (p.v.a.). This is a synthetic textile materials, which has a lot of conformity with the natural fiber cotton. The fibre swells in contact with moisture, which further increases the weatherproofing, dries quickly and is elastic, so this after shrinking the old form. Furthermore they waterdampdoorlatend ("breathable") and take it unlike other synthetic fibers good moisture and an advantage over cotton is that p.v.a.-fiber at least twice as strong (depending on the fabric weight) and that the water resistance is higher (by the waterproof coatings layer). Because All-Season tent fabric 100% synthetic, it has no natural enemies. All Season can be very good sunlight treaties. Fungi affect the all-Season fibres. This gives incidentally not a licence to all good advice for cotton fabric, to neglect. Fungi have no influence on the strength of the all Season-fabric, but they can for example be heavily soiled and damp spots ugly smears, because these are food-or living conditions of fungi. Therefore, even a tent with All Season tent fabric to be treated carefully. Leave the tent not to dirty, but wipe with a soft brush to clean the dry tent on a regular basis. Whether it's cotton or All Season tent fabric, chemicals, e.g. to remove 'presentjes ' birds, the dye and even the waterproof coatings layer. Let the dirt dry up and then brush it off. After all, better than a taint a leaky tent. As each tent fabric should also our fabric properly to be treated. But then there are also many, many years of fun, because it is the job of the highest quality requirements. And because it is so difficult to weather influences, it is All Season fabric also eminently suitable for intensive use in the early and late season.
 
Polyamide (Nylon) as tent canvas 
The generic name of this tent canvas is 'polyamide ', but the brand name "Nylon" of Dupont has become so well known is that it has become a generic name. Nylon is a light, strong and resistant fibre, which for many years to ' technical ' tent fabric is woven. The fibre is not affected by micro-organisms, but it is quite sensitive to UV radiation. This enables the fibre in the long term aging and long term, pulverize. This weakening is nylon coated with plastics, which are less gevoeligd for UV and who work as ' filter '. In addition to the quality of the fiber itself is the lifetime of nylon tent fabric so also depends on the quality of the coating. Also for the water resistance to a nylon tent fabric with a coating. The fiber itself assumes no moisture, and therefore dries nylon fabric very quickly. Nylon stretches out when it gets wet and shrinks as it dries.
Other species are still tent fabric: Polyester, acrylic (Dralon) and Viscose. Further information will follow later in the same block.

When cotton and when nylon as tent canvas?
If tent fabric Cotton is still the preferred material for nok tents, which are not absolutely super-light. Cotton is more expensive than a normal nylon tent, but that is largely compensated for by a longer life (when the tent at least good). For a tent that an entire season is cotton should be sure to recommend above nylon. But also for a holiday tent is cotton by its natural properties far preferable to nylon. When a tent three or four weeks per year in the Grand or Spanish sunshine, the longer life of nylon cotton vis-à-vis the price difference will make up for. For cotton Ridge tents is a minimum weight of 175 g/m² recommended, at least when it comes to a dubbeldaks tent. For enkeldaks tents, a fabric weight of no less than 200 gr./m². More is always better, unless the weight plays an important role in the transport. The water column that these fabrics minimal halls is respectively 18 cm and 22 cm. Heavy cotton fabric is used for large tents or tent trailers. For all information about coated tent fabric we like to refer to the information about all-season tent fabric, also on this site. This tent fabric is used for roofs, canopies, awnings, marquees, and more sustainable use.
Lightweight cotton fabric is made from the best long-yarn cotton species which thin but strong yarn. The fabric weights of lightweight cotton fabric, such as that by specialised tents makers is processed, range from approx. 90 to 150 gr./m². Because it is very finely woven fabrics, with many threads per cm², the properties are good enough for use in tents. Even for intensive use. Lightweight cotton fabric is relatively expensive and because it usually also with reinforcing tape is processed, the tents that are made of this material in the highest price classes at home. Cotton lightweight tents are often very heavily used (sometimes many weekends all year round) and go in spite of a long time. That calls for the quality of this tent fabric.
Nylon is not recommended for use as a tent in a caravan or tent on a seasonal place. Nevertheless, there are excellent nylon tents that live. When it comes to a tent as light as possible, because this for example in the backpack must, nylon (or polyester) the most appropriate materials. A big advantage of a nylon tent is that NAT overwrapping hardly objectionable. The tissue itself assumes no moisture and what stands there before packing easy 'afgeslagen ' or wiped. A disadvantage of nylon is that it is quite a stretch when it gets wet. In varying weather conditions must the roof quite often to be spun. The nylon tent fabric shrinks again once 't dry.
 
 
 
An environmentally friendly tent
We carry out tent canvas of Ten Cate, Dutch best producer of sustainable tent fabric types.
This tent fabric effortlessly finds its way onto the market of international recreation kampeertenten, trailer tents, awnings, canopies and other textile constructions. That is because the consumer the tent fabric are experiencing as well as very high-quality, comfortable and environmentally friendly. Especially as far as the latter is concerned, it takes Ten Cate tent fabric in a prominent place. Yet for a political item was, had Ten Cate has a stringent environmental policy. In concrete terms, this means, that is, since many years, strict standards for raw materials, production, use and waste disposal.
That is why our tent fabric environmentally friendly:
-Bleached without chlorine
-Dyed without (Azo) carcinogenic dyes
-Painted with colours, which do not cause skin irritation
-Coated with non-solvents
-No treatment with L.P.C.P. and CFCs
-No discharge in surface waters
' Environmentally friendly ' tent fabric starts with the appropriate fabric. But also touches you, as a user. When it comes to tents, then that is your own environmental issues closer to home than the politics and all the organizations and people, who have something useful to say. It then goes to the environment in your own tent. Who chooses to TenCate tent fabric, by definition, environmental pollution and to his tent.
 
 
 
Tent canvas. From yarn to fabric.

Tent canvas weaving
You are not so silent, but virtually all tent fabric, which you see around you at the camping, consists of textured yarn. Here a brief summary of the weaving process, but first a quick trip through time.
The textile arts was the man already powerful in the Neolithic, around 5000 years ago. From livestock (wool) and vegetable fibres (especially flax), produced the man a kind of felt by the fibres wet and compress. When the man managed single fibers into coherent yarn, he could make substances through the wires by each other to braids to tissues, using primitive handloom who hardly differ from the current one.
The high level of tissue engineering is also apparent inter alia from the woven linen that the Egyptians used when developing their embalmed kill. In ancient India used cotton and silk in China. Through the Greeks and Romans, who with much pomp and circumstance, have relocated their robes, we are right in the middle ages. About 1000 years ago was weaving true homeworking. The development of the technique is actually started in the monasteries.
A lot of prosperity brought the Leids Laeken in Belgium and also linnenwevers and Germany and the French zijdewevers were in their time world famous. Ten Cate In Netherlands is still the only major surviving eminent weaving mill, due to the globalisation and low wage countries where tissues equal can be processed.
A tissue is basically composed of two yarn systems, which cross at right angles. A number of parallel threads are stretched (the so called 'ketting ') and with another thread (the 'inslag '), the connection is made. In the loom are the chain wrapped wires side by side on the warp. This chain tree is on a chain shaving machine and the strong machine. From the warp yarns run by the siphon eyes of the shafts, which serve to be a part of the chain to get up and down at the same time, another part. The space, which in this way between the omhooggehaalde and yarns creates omlaaggetrokken, hot 'sprong '. This leap serves to the weft thread through to shoot. Then run the chain wires through the reeds, consisting of many smooth metal rods, that vertically close side by side and both above and below. Through the weeflade, where the cane is confirmed, the different one after the other overgrown strikes one parallel and close to the tissue to be printed. The warp threads that the jump forms, swap after each entry from top to bottom and vice versa. Va a chest tree is the woven fabric to a doekboom, containing the substance opwikkelt.
A woven fabric is composed of: 1.2: the chain and the entry into storage; actually a continuous thread, which return of selvedge to selvedge runs. This thread is alternately under or above in one or more threads.
The way in which this occurs, you receive the "binding". The binding is, among other things, determine:
-the overall look of the tent canvas
-the strength
-the flexibility
-water resistance
This binding is very important for tent fabric. You can make a tissue konstrueren based on desired properties. A combination of thickness of the yarn and the number of threads per cm².
Nowadays there are many weeftechnieken and systems worked, which each have their own specific advantages. After all, tent fabric is intended for different uses. The contemporary weavers of tent fabric use state-of-the-art air looms. Here the thread with compressed air shot back and forth what a high tension on the yarn. In addition, the yarn smooth, smooth and easy to dyeing. Irregularities are out of the question.
 
Yarn for tent canvas 
The raw material for the weaving of the tent fabrics is so the yarn. This is spun in a very advanced spinning mills. The selection of the raw material is decisive for the quality. For example, in the case of cotton, determines the verbouwtijd or the way the harvested is already the final properties of the yarn.
The raw materials come in the spinning mill in highly compressed bales. These bales by a special machine ' opened '. In this machine the fibres are as it were taken apart and, if necessary, mixed with other fibres. Then, the fibres 'gekrast '. The fibre material is placed in one line so that it has the form of a thread. This is called a kraslont and this is many times thicker than the ultimate yarn. On the Rove verdeelstoelmachine is the stripped of fine dust and fibres are even better geparaliseerd, before the spin machine really yarn. The Rove is here even further out, rotated or edited further. On large reels is the yarn to the weaving mill.
Requirements on the yarn of tent fabric are very high. This is why the entire production process under a continuous quality control. Continuous sets the thickness, composition, dirt etc. Because the yarn so decisive for the finished product, the spinning mill also participated in the product development team in today's modern weaving mills of tent fabric.
 
Washing, bleaching and dyeing of tent canvas 
After the tent canvas is woven, there is still a lot to be done, for it is ready for use as a tent fabric. Rough fabric undergoes then sometimes 15 different operations. There are three main steps in the process: the operations such as washing, bleaching and dyeing.
The first thing that needs to happen is the 'zengen '. This includes using gas burners that vezeltjes, which protrude above the tent canvas burned. This is designed to smooth out the fabric. Then the tent canvas ontsterkt. For the weaving is the yarn which is strengthened by means of Wenonah. By the tent canvas in enzymes, Wenonah enzymatic aborted.
Then the natural contaminants that sit in the cotton, be removed. This is done in a bath with sodium hydroxide. This substance does fiber swell, causing the contaminants are macerated. In order to obtain a maximum swelling is the tent canvas into a steam Cabinet. After this treatment, the fabric is washed with water several times.
To get a good paint result to be achieved, it must be bleached fabric. This is done in a bath with alkali and hydrogen peroxide. Then follows the process of steaming, washing, rinsing and blackmailed. On drums that are heated with steam, the fabric subsequently dried. The tent canvas is now ready to be painted. There are samples from the tent canvas taken to verify the Wenonah look like, or the fabric white enough and that the fabric enough liquid.
Dyeing of tent fabric happens with different kinds of dyes, pigments, for example. In the computer be more than 4500 recipes for making colors. The tent canvas is going through a drawer (the foulard) with dyes and chemicals and is then dried in infrared shafts. After that, the tent canvas ' baked ' (the so-called anchoring). During the last operation in the dyeing is the tent canvas crops. The non-aligned dyes and tools from the tent canvas crops. Of course, is the tent canvas once again checked: the color is good, there are no harmful residues left behind, etc.
 
Finishing and coating of tent fabric
The tent canvas is after all these operations still no 'tentdoek '. It must further be evaluated. The tent canvas is still finished and possibly still be coated. These operations are done to the fabric water-repellent and more sustainable.
For a water repellent finish is the fabric impregnated with antifungal and repellents. The repellents are on the basis of paraffin and fluorocarbons. This varies depending on the fabric. In addition, there are now even more advanced methods, including nanotechnology, to achieve this. There are also tent fabrics, which equipped with 1 or more coatings layers, such as polyvinyl alcohol and polyester. In combination with finish creates a sustainable product. The top of the tent canvas is a coating layer provided and is therefore better cleaning than a coated product.
During and after these treatments is the fabric extra crushed (the so-called 'kalanderen '). This creates a smooth and dense tissue.
After finishing and coating shall be tested on the tent canvas are water repellent properties. During this test examines how much water pressure we can put on the fabric before the drops by the tent canvas. It also looks or the fabric is resistant to leak through. Uses 3 gallons of water and then put on the tent canvas after 24 hours will be judged or the fabric is leaking.
Before the tent fabric to the customer (the tents manufacturer) can, it is also a further inspected visually. Each meter is unrolled and with both light from below and from above inspected for errors. The Auditors give any errors with a sticky note or string to the tent canvas. In this way, our production department in processing makes it easy to keep in mind. The quality of this control is ensured by regular spot checks on the already approved parties tent fabric. Thereafter, each role is also the color compared on the basis of standard languages. The color must of course comply with the requested color. Has the tent canvas all baths, machines and checks pass, the packed and delivered. We will process the tent canvas to beautiful tents, which you years and years to enjoy.

Testing of tent fabric
When the tent fabric is developed, it is thoroughly tested. This is usually done under very extrame conditions to ensure that the tent fabric itself everywhere feel at home.
A production Party tent fabric is routinely tested, and only then will be released if it meets the highest technical requirements regarding tent fabric. A brand like TenCate can precisely for this reason, the quality guarantee for normal use. Making tent fabric and related articles, of course, as a consequence that must be tested to properties that are expected, according to international accepted standard methodologies.
 
The most common tests of tent canvas are the following:
Water column
On a given surface tissue is slowly a pressure, through water, built up. Number of cm water pressure to 3 drops by the fabric. Pressure buildup from the bottom up.
Bundesmann
On a given surface tissue is a tropical rainstorm released. Viewed the afpareleffecten, recorded by the tissue and the quantity of water by the tissue come amount of water.
Mul den test (Bag-test)
A quantity of water is placed on the fabric and assess after, or within 24 hours. The humidification, the amount of allowed water. For coated articles is a container with seam.
Weathering
Both within on home-made equipment, and outside. Lists all parameters that are important for tent canvas. Therefore the mechanical properties such as tensile and tear strength.
Xenon weather authenticity
A 98%-tig correlerende test with outside, where the change of color is being watched.
All tests are based on worldwide accepted quality standards such as ISO, DIN and BS.

Please click here for all background of tent fabrics of Ten Cate, producer of Europe's most durable tent canvas.