Sticky Tents

Eucalyptus oil (maybe mineral turps) would probably do the trick on the vinyl, but it seems warm water is the only thing that we should ever use on canvas (IE - the sticky stuff might be there to stay). As well as buggering up the waterproofing qualities, agents such as detergent will discolour the canvas to a noticeable extent - you end up with visible, pale patches.

With due regard to the above warnings about de-waterproofing the tent material, try a product called DE-Solv-it, available from supermarkets in a 100ml bottle.
Lable makes some impressive claims and it is good for tar & pine removal from duco.
Warns against use on leather, suede and silk. Silk tent? Now there's an innovation waiting to happen!
Cheers,
Camper

Alan - your post is confusing. What is the sticky stuff - sap? What is the bottom of the tent made of? If the ground sheet is sticky why not replace it? If you were camped under trees how come the worst bit is the bottom and not the above ground bit of the tent? I think you'll need to elaborate before you can get useful info from this forum.

This might sound stupid but you could try using sticky tape to grab the gum of the tent and I am serious about this.
Regards Charlie

Gum trees don't usually drop sap. Pine trees are the usual cause of sap droppings which makes the affected area of the canvas go clear where it lands. The canvas still stays water proof but you can't change the state of the canvas once it has happened.

Alan, if you can't actually remove this "sticky stuff" just put talcum powder all over the tent. No it's not a joke. It will not effect the polyurethane coating on the underside of the fly and the inside of the floor which provides the waterproofing. The talc may need to be reaplied after heavy rain but in the meantime the tent will be infinitely easier to handle.

Heh .... I just had the missfortune of having to clean a very large canvas tent which due to my own stupidity I left too long to put back up after it getting wet a week ago... the mould and mildew, twas a flamin mess.... after tryin canvas cleaners and just about every other flamin spay about the wife discovered a product called "Selleys Mould Killer" available in Woollies and Coles for about $3.50 a bottle, it was the only thing that even looked like cleaning the canvas and when it was hosed off 1\2 hour later it also removed any sap build up and other marks the canvas had. Its come up like a new tentwhich is great after 14 years of grime build up. Yours being a different material you may want to test a patch first but if it works for you as it did for us your home and hosed.
Good luck... let me know how ya go...

Update,

Last weekend when grocery shopping I went looking for De-Solv-it or Selleys Mould Killer and as a last resort, talcum powder. I couldn't find either of the solvents but I needed some more WD40 and the new cans had advertising saying "removes sap". Anyway, I gave a few areas a wipe with it last night and then washed it clean with soapy water and hey presto, most of its gone. I'll test it later to make sure the water proofing properties haven't changed but it looks fine,

Thanks to all who contributed, much appreciated,