DIY Marquee offer helpful advice in looking after your marquee

DIY MARQUEE feel so confident with the quality of their products they have written several interesting articles on how to care your marquee.  Have a look at this helpful article we found on their website:

How often do marquees need cleaning?

It depends on the frequency a marquee is used, the environment it is erected in, the material in question and the weather conditions but in general marquee hire companies will lightly clean a marquee nearly every time it goes up but do a thorough ingrained clean maybe twice a year.

By lightly clean I mean wipe down any marks or mud that may have splattered on to the sides, this can be done when the marquee is erected on site. By ingrained clean I mean using a power washer, a floor scrubber or brush and strong marquee cleaner product or getting a professional marquee cleaning company in. Ingrained cleaning removes the grey film that builds up on marquees over time.

There are three categories of dirt on a Classic DIY Marquee:

  • mud splatters or other marks on the covers. These can be removed by light cleaning
  • grey film that builds up over time, to be removed by an ingrain clean
  • dirt and residue from trees. If it rains when your marquee is under a tree a lot of dirt gets washed off leaves on to your marquee, there may even be some sap on there too. The dirtiest marquee I ever saw was one erected under a tree. These need ingrain cleaning immediately as they won’t be good enough to hire out and leaving sap on PVC would not be good.

Different marquee materials, different cleaning methods:

  • Canvas cannot be cleaned without removing it’s FR coating
  • PVC can be cleaned as above; good quality PVC (like ours) will have a laminate coating to make it easier to clean.
  • Clear PVC (window panels) must be cleaned very carefully so the clear material isn’t scratched.
  • Poly/PVC you have to be careful as the PVC coating is a single layer than can be scratched off with aggressive cleaning.
  • PE material can be cleaned similar to PVC though doesn’t have a laminate coating so will not come back as new.

The most important point of all – never put your marquee away when wet. A wet stored marquee will create mildew (PVC & PE) or may rot (canvas & the stitching in any stitched marquee).

Speak to DIY Marquee for further information on their stunning range of marquees and Commercial DIY Marquee

DIY Marquees for sale

Are you thinking of starting your own marquee business? Have a read of some useful information which will help you to plan which marquees for sale and party tents for sale. slider3

How big a marquee do I need?

Asking how big a marquee is required is one of your main jobs as a marquee supplier. Often the size of the garden will dictate the size of marquee but you still need to know how much space everything takes up to then plan suitable numbers.

Here’s how most marquee hire companies work out the space required in a marquee:

Round table seating up to 10 (usually 5ft or 5ft6in tables): Allow 3x3m -this includes space for walking between tables so for example a 6x12m area can fit eight 3x3m boxes so can fit eight round tables with space to walk between. Saying that it is more comfortable leaving one out to stagger the tables like this example.

Tradition long top table (usually three 6ft trestle tables but oval tables are similar): Allow 3x6m

Buffet (again usually three 6ft trestles): Allow 3x6m

Bar: Allow 3x3m for small functions, 3x6m in larger ones

DJ: 3x3m is usually fine

Band: 3x6m for a small band, larger bands you have to ask them (though be careful as they often want to take over half the marquee)

Dance Floor: A blog post in itself which will be written soon

Catering area: 3x6m or 6x4m for small functions, 6x6m for medium (80+ guests), 6x8m+ for larger functions (160+)

When planning layouts you also want to consider where people walk in to the marquee -ideally you don’t want guests walking straight in to a table so you may have to leave a gap. For marquees that are a bit tight consider having the entrance near the bar or dance floor to give some space.

Often you are asked to put marquees up over features like bushes, flower beds, small trees, water features or even swimming pools. This really adds character to a marquee so in my eyes should be encourages though as the marquee supplier it does make life a little harder and you should point out that it is not useable area. Often customers will need a larger marquee to allow for incorporating these features.

When planning the marquee remember which direction guests will be arriving from – you want it to look impressive. Windows make the marquee look more inviting – you don’t want guests believe that they are walking in to the back of the marquee. Also keep in mind access to the toilets, this may require an additional exit in the marquee.

Experiment with layouts using our interactive marquee planner, it allows you to drag furniture in to a marquee to experiment with capacities and layouts.

Are you looking to buy a marquee? Speak to the experts

Buying a marquee has never been easier with the professionals in Marquees for sale. DIY Marquee not only sells Marquees they also have a large variety of party tents for sale, offering a wide range of accessories to suit any occasion.

Dont stress about what marquee you should choose with their expert staff that have years of experience they will guide you according to the environment and weather conditions as to the correct marquee purchase.

DIY Marquees not only sell Marquees they also have several marquee hire packages available to suit everyone’s needs.

slider2