How to Dye your Bongo Carpets

What you need?

• Protective suit (i.e. decorators coverall)
• Gloves
• Dust mask
• Goggles
• Nylon brush (I used a scrubbing brush)
• Dye (details below)
• Spray bottle
• Small funnel
• Tarpaulin
• Socket set
• Screwdriver

Time Needed: 

Allow half a day depending on final colour required and drying conditions. It took me about 3 hours on a warm May day to apply and work in three coats.

Difficulty Level:

Easy

To Complete the Job:

Step 1:

Firstly you'll need to remove the carpets that you want to dye. The grubbiest in my van were those under the driver and passenger seats and I chose to tackle those.

They are easy to remove - simply undo the five bolts holding each seat in place. Two bolts are located at the front, two at the back and one at the side behind each seat. Under the driver seat you will also need to undo the wires (this is simply a case of separating the chock block). There is also a small black screw both sides.

You will also need to remove the footrests (two bolts each).

Step 2:

Once you have removed the carpets make sure you vacuum them thoroughly to remove any grit and debris.

Step 3:

Set up the area you are going to dye the carpets in. As the dye is spirit based it is best to do this outdoors to avoid inhaling the fumes - as you will be using a spray bottle to apply the dye choose a still day.

I covered the area with a cheap sheet of tarpaulin and covered myself with a protective decorators coverall suit, vinyl gloves, dust mask and goggles. All these items can be found in most discount shops and / or on ebay.

Step 4 (prepare the dye):

I chose to use a dye produced by Auto Smart International which can be purchased from ebay or to find a local stockist visit their website: Auto Smart Dye Distributors

I went for Midnight (dark grey / black) to match the new upholstery on my rock 'n' roll bed.

You'll need to decant the dye into a small spray bottle - this is messy as the dye is a thin liquid and I found using a funnel helped (a bit!).

Step 5:

At this point you may want to test a small area of the carpet. 

If you are happy with the test area then begin spraying the carpet. I found that spraying a small area at a time, then working the dye in with the brush was the easiest method. You'll need to work the dye in to ensure it works its way down through the pile; to do this work the brush in different directions.

The dye appears darker on first application and will fade on drying.

I repeated step 5 a further two times ensuring I covered the carpet evenly and worked the dye in with the brush as much as possible each time.

If you want a darker finish then you can apply more coats.

Step 6:

Allow the carpets to dry completely and then refit them into your Bongo - the result is amazing.

The True Lovers Knot, Dorset - Campsite Review

Date Visited: Saturday 8^th April 2017

Number of Nights: 1

Who Stayed: 2 Adults, 1 Small Dog (Lottie)

Outfit: Mazda Bongo (Betty) with pop-up awning

The True Lovers Knot is a pub owned by the Hall and Woodhouse brewery and is situated in Tarrant Keyneston, a small village near Blandford Forum in Dorset.

The pub offers both in-house accommodation as well as a small campsite with eight hard standing pitches and a few grass pitches, all of which are available with electric hook up for an additional cost.

The campsite area is adjacent to the overflow car park and there is little definition between the two. In fact, when we stayed several pub patrons parked on the grass pitch next to ours which meant lots of talking and car doors slamming when they left at around 11pm (the pub shuts at 11:30pm)

Aerial View

Betty on Grass Pitch

We paid £15.00 for a grass pitch for one night, if we had opted for gravel this would have gone up to £20.00. We also paid an additional £4.00 for electric and £3.00 for an awning. Both charges apply per stay which is great if you are stopping for several nights but as we were only there for one night it felt rather expensive.

Toilet and Shower Room

The campsite is served by a single unisex toilet which doubles up as the laundry room and a separate unisex shower room. Both rooms adjoin the pub and beer garden. There is also a small area with a fresh water tap, grey waste and chemical toilet disposal points.

Facilities

Unfortunately, the amenities left a lot to be desired and when I used the toilet on the Saturday night it had obviously been frequented by a pub goer who liked to smoke! It stank of cigarettes and when I went back over on the Sunday morning the smell was still lingering and I found a half drunk pint of beer on top of the tumble dryer.

During pub opening hours you can use the toilets inside which I would do in future.

Pub Menu

If you choose to eat in the pub, which I would highly recommend as the food is excellent, make sure you are given the 15% discount that campers are entitled too. The staff seem to have little awareness of the campers discount and even when we paid for the pitch at the same time as the food they still failed to apply any discount.

I only realised this when I checked my receipt on the Monday and phoned the pub to explain what had happened. They have since given me a refund.

Beer Garden

Four Legged Friends:

If you are taking a dog with you they are welcome in all areas of the pub and beer garden but the immediate vicinity is not ideal for dog walking. The narrow road next to one side of the pub has no footpaths and the busy B3082, on which the pub sits, can be difficult to cross and the footpaths soon run out.

Interesting Fact:

The pub is said to be haunted, this is the story on the website:

‘The True Lover’s Knot came into existence to serve people who had stopped at the toll gate that was located on the road next to where the pub is today. Here the landlord’s son met and fell instantly in love with the local lord’s daughter as she accompanied her father to collect the toll money’s. They then began a secret relationship in fear of the reaction of the lord if he found his daughter with a commoner!

Unfortunately the lord’s stableman spotted the two love birds together, when visiting the blacksmiths shop which was next door to the pub, and promptly told his master. Full of rage he forbade his daughter to see him again and planned to have her packed off to relations far away. Overcome by grief, she hung herself from a tree on his estate. The boyfriend consumed by the loss of his girlfriend also hung himself from the same tree, realising he didn’t want to live if he could not be with her.

The tragic footnote to all this is that having already lost his wife in childbirth the landlord could not carry on without his son and in a fit of depression he hung himself from the same tree as the tragic youngsters. So the locals soon referred to the inn as the True Lover’s Knot because a true lover’s knot has 3 loops (to depict the 3 people who died) ,and when tied correctly it has a heart in the middle.

As a tragic and spooky ending to the tale, the pub is said to be haunted by the landlord to this day. Certainly unusual things do indeed happen and who knows you may see or hear him still.’

We did do some ghost hunting when we stayed but I can’t report seeing anything unusual or spooky. Maybe you’ll have more luck?

Booking:

To book the site you need to go through www.pitchup.com and you will need to pay a small, non-refundable deposit. I paid £3.30 on a £22.00 total and the rest was payable on arrival (pitchup states the deposit is 15%). The pub is very flexible if you need to change dates, cancel etc and even emailed to tell me part of the beer garden would be shut when I stayed as they were hosting a wedding and I was offered the option to book an alternate night if I wanted.

On arrival day be aware that you can only check in when the pub is open (at the following times):

• 13:00 to 15:00 and 18:00 to 22:00 Mondays to Fridays
• 13:00 to 22:00 Saturdays and Sundays

You may be able to check in outside of these times with prior notice but always call ahead if you need to do this.

Handy Hint:

Be aware each Thursday night (April to September) the pub hosts a bike meet so do expect some noise and the last Friday of each month sees live music.

Ratings:

Cleanliness 1/5

Poor. The facilities need updating and to be for campsite users only. The fresh and waste water areas were dirty when we stayed.

Location 4/5

Lovely views but the road can be noisy

Pub 5/5

Quaint, excellent food, great beer garden, love the fact its meant to be haunted

Pitches 3/5

Gravel pitches looked level but grass pitches are very uneven and there are some very deep ruts

Value for money 3/5

Average – would be better if the facilities were improved

Lottie’s Verdict 3/5

I enjoyed the views and being allowed in the pub and beer garden but I was disappointed with the walks in the immediate area.

Overall 2/5

I thought the pub food was excellent, staff were friendly and welcoming and the view from our pitch was perfect but the standard of the facilities was a real let down. If you have your own toilet and shower then you’ll be ok otherwise I wouldn’t stay for more than a night and would shower at home or on arriving at your next destination.

Enjoying the sunshine :)

 If you want to see more check out my youtube video (can you spot the ghost?)

True Lovers Knot You Tube Review