Let’s Learn How to Make a Tarp Last Longer
Tarps may not be the most exciting equipment in a rental operator’s warehouse, but you can’t understate how important they are. Heavy duty tarps play an integral role in the success of any event and party rental company. So knowing how to make a tarp last longer is arguably as important as prolonging the life of a party tent or bounce house.
Heavy duty tarps aren’t cheap. At least not cheap enough to only use a handful of times. With proper care, your tarp can and should last a lot longer. And that smidge of extra work pays dividends when you’re still using that tarp a good long ways down the road.
Let’s learn how to make a tarp last longer. Here are six simple, low-cost or no-cost heavy duty tarp care tips. Most of them are relatively low effort, too. And keeping these tips in the back of your mind while working can save you a lot of time, frustration, and money down the road.
Tip 1: Don’t Overwork or Overuse Your Tarps
Heavy duty tarps are incredibly versatile. You can use them for all sorts of jobs throughout your business and around the house. But that versatility can be a double-edged sword; you’ll sometimes overwork or overuse your tarp, or use it for the wrong job.
Keeping your tarps tip-top means never using them improperly. Whenever it can be helped, try to use the best tarp you have for the task at hand. If you don’t have one that suits the job, and it’s something you do repetitively, it may be time to buy a new heavy duty tarp specifically for that purpose. give us a call at 1-716-832-8368 and we’ll help you find the best tarp for your needs.
Likewise, if you find that one or two tarps are doing the same jobs over and over again, you may want to buy a couple more and spread out their workload as evenly as possible. It’s better to wear down multiple tarps slowly over time than to use one tarp to death.
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Tip 2: Clean Your Tarps Regularly
As a rental operator, you spend a lot of time cleaning your commercial inflatables and party tents. You may even use your tarps to help with that cleaning; laying out tent tops or tent sidewalls on your tarp keeps one side clean while you’re working on the other. But how often are you cleaning the tarps themselves?
Your customers may not directly interact with them often, but tarps still need regular cleaning, especially if you can visibly see dirt and grime on them. This is a simple step that goes a long way toward improving the longevity of your tarps.
You don’t need anything special to clean heavy duty tarps. Just some bleach-free dish soap and warm water will get the job done (with ample rinsing, of course). You may need to use a soft thistle brush and scrub them. Don’t use bleach to clean your tarps. As with commercial inflatables, only use bleach if you’re trying to remove mold and mildew. Be sure to thoroughly dry your tarps, too! Speaking of which ...
Tip 3: Never Store Your Tarp Dirty or Damp
Wetness and muckiness are like welcome mats for mold and mildew that will use your tarp as a chew toy. Cleaning your tarp is a critical step, but so is thoroughly and entirely drying it. Never, ever store tarps dirty or wet, especially long term.
If you’re already using a leaf blower to help dry your bounce houses, water slides, or party tents, you can use it to dry your tarps after you clean them, too. Just anchor the tarps so they don’t blow away. And while we’re on the subject of wind, let’s segway into another tip again!
Tip 4: Anchor Tarps Firmly, Especially in Cold Weather
As you may already know from working with party tents, wind whip can do a whole lot of damage in cold weather, especially to PVC vinyl. Always make sure your tarps are anchored firmly and securely, especially when temperatures outdoors dip below 40 degrees fahrenheit.
Tent and Table’s heavy duty tarps feature arctic flexibility to significantly reduce the risk of damage. They hold up a lot better in cold weather than most other tarps. But it’s better to be safe than sorry, and if you don’t have TNT tarps with arctic flexibility, this is an absolute must.
Tip 5: Don’t Wait to Repair Damage
If your tarp gets damaged, you should patch or repair it as soon as you’re able. Rips and tears are only going to get worse the longer you wait. If a tarp is damaged, stop using it as soon as possible and make the necessary repairs. Depending on your tarp’s material, you can use inflatable repair kits or party tent repair kits for tarp patches and repairs.
Tip 6: Store Your Tarps Correctly
When the season is over and you’re storing your party tents and commercial inflatables for months on end, don’t phone in your tarp storage. Make sure tarps are thoroughly cleaned and dried. Fold them well, and store them with the rest of your equipment in a warm, dry, clean area.
Knowing How to Make a Tarp Last Longer Saves You Money
As we stated earlier, tarps aren’t a particularly interesting product. But properly caring for them saves you a lot of time and money down the road. And as event and party rental equipment goes, tarp care and maintenance is too easy to not get done.
Keep your heavy duty tarps clean, dry, and repaired, and your tarps are going to last you a good long time. Don’t phone in any of this work or cut corners, either. The time you save in the short term won’t be equal to the time you lose long term. It’s always best to just do something right the first time, you know?
If you need help finding the best tarps for any given task, give TNT a call at 1-716-832-8368. We’ll help you find the perfect heavy duty tarps to compliment your equipment and your workload. And coupled with these six tips on how to make a tarp last longer, you’ll save money coming and going.
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