While waterproofing sprays and waterproofing wash solutions can be quite effective in certain situations, it is important to know what situations actually call for it and what situations are not appropriate for it.
For instance, waterproofing spray is not designed to make any material waterproof; they are commonly formulates specifically for synthetic or synthetic blend fabrics, like those used for tent rainflies. They work by forcing water repellent solutions and chemicals into the threads of the fabric, which is what causes the water to simply bead off instead of being absorbed.
However, waterproofing spray is really only good for clothing and rain flies. You can’t really use it on the body of the tent, mostly because of all the mesh windows, zippers, and openings.
When it comes to the type of cabin tents that we feature here, it is even more important to know that a can or two of waterproofing spray is going to have very little effect on a tent that doesn’t even have a full rain fly. Most of the models that we features here have very short rain flies which are not designed to repel much more than the occasional light shower. If there is even the slightest bit of wind, the rain and/or snow could very well get in through the windows or soak the walls until they start dripping.