Anyway to dye white canvas tan?

[Turtle2]

For a few years now I've thought about trying to dye (or stain, I don't know..) my 12'x12' pyramid tent a tan or soft brown. I'm just wanting it to blend in a bit with surroundings instead of being stark white. Curious if anyone has done this type of thing or if it's just better left as is.

 

[Carbon 6]

I'm guessing that tent is not plain canvas but sunforger or vivatex treated, at any rate any treatment/ waterproofing flame retardant etc.. will likely inhibit dye setting. Attempting to dye it may also result in reduced life of the product.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Tea works -- but I would strongly recommend you try it on a little corner first and see if it's what you want.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

lend it to me. . . . .I can't get from the house to the car wearing a white shirt without getting a stain on it that will NEVER come out.

Kidding aside, I think it will mellow with age, nearly all the Wall tents in Elk camps I have been in, pick up a grayish yellow from sun, smoke, dust and dirt. You could camp in Moab for a week and have a nice pinkish hue to your tent.

 

[Nyckname]

smoke

Set it up inside out, and pipe some of that in?

 

[springfield art]

For a few years now I've thought about trying to dye (or stain, I don't know..) my 12'x12' pyramid tent a tan or soft brown. I'm just wanting it to blend in a bit with surroundings instead of being stark white. Curious if anyone has done this type of thing or if it's just better left as is.
View attachment 24773

Probably best to leave as-is and let nature take it's course; over time it'll dull out. Nice tent!

 

[springfield art]

Tea works -- but I would strongly recommend you try it on a little corner first and see if it's what you want.

Wonder how many tea bags it would take! Too big for that!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Nature won't take it's course, except perhaps to keep it just about as white as it is.

IF it's water resistant, you're done.

IF it's not...., you should look into about a dozen boxes of RIT brand brown dye, in a large machine at a laundromat, and don't get caught. The RIT won't chemically harm the fabric as walnuts might. Soaking it in a plastic 55 gallon drum would probably work better than the industrial machine at the laundromat.

LD

 

[tenngun]

Put it up inside out, put a small fire inside, dump wet leaves on it. Tipees smoke up even though the canvas is treated.

 

[Turtle2]

Thank you guys. All good points/great ideas and I appreciate all the input. It is sunforger canvas so maybe it is what it is. Maybe I'll try and smoke it and see what happens. I'm thinking I could set it up without the stove but open the stove flap and put a small fire inside and see what happens. If it works, set it up inside out and repeat.

 

[springfield art]

I wish you luck; it's a BIG (12x12) thing to work on. The old-timers were not as interested in the "camo" look as us modern guys. I bet they just let it get as dirty as it would thru normal use and re-use.

 

[smo]

2018

Jan. 2020

Smoke and time, will darken it somewhat.

I don’t think I would try dying it, it seems it would be hard too keep it uniform.

 

[Yewbender]

No sence of messing up a great tent! It will age with time and use.

NOW if your have plenty of money to waste then go ahead and mess it up with dyes or stain.

 

[Rifleman1776]

My Panther Bay pyramid acquired a genuine 'olde timey tan' after a couple rendezvous. The smoke of nearby campfires was probably the reason. Suggest you just let it be to age naturally. Especially since you have an indoor stove set up.

 

[kansas_volunteer]

The old timers may well have used tents of hemp canvas, which would have been a grayish tan and less stark than modern white cotton canvas. So the camo look may not have been on their minds they nevertheless had camoed tents.

 

[BillinOregon]

Do I dare mention walnut dye? You'd need a heap of it. Wonder how Sunforger would take it.

 

[Brazos John]

Put it up inside out, put a small fire inside, dump wet leaves on it. Tipees smoke up even though the canvas is treated.

I inadvertently aged my wall tent when the spark arrestor on my stove pipe blocked up, and smoked the interior of the tent. I'm probably lucky that I woke up and didn't die. But, now, the interior of the tent is a pleasing tan, while the outside is still white.
So, tenngun's suggestion is quite solid.
I just noticed that the last post was in 2020. I wonder how he made out?

 

[Eterry]

Being this thread has been resurrected;
I've read where they treated canvas with linseed oil to waterproof their tents and wagons. Furthermore, we had horse drawn wagons in the 80's thru 2010, the old timers back then told us to coat our cover with linseed oil to make it waterproof. We never did, saving the linseed oil for the wagon bed and frame.

 

[tenngun]

In the movie Bounty with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins there is a shot of the men in foul weather gear. Very stiff canvas clothing that I suspect was waterproof with oil or pine tar. Almost wood stiff.

 

[Red Owl]

Tea will turn it into a tan color and tea is pretty cheap BUT, what is historically correct? You might want to leave it as is. I think that is the color Miller painted at the Rendezvous, etc.