On Tue, 12 May 2015 14:12:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 2:18:24 PM UTC-4, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 5/12/2015 1:51 PM, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 11 May 2015 04:33:56 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Well, brought the boat home and tried the new stuff, Vital Oxide. While it may kill mold and mildew, it does nothing to *remove* it. It still took as much elbow grease to get all the seats clean as it has in past years.

This year I'll be treating the surfaces with 3M's mildew preventative. We'll see if it helps in the battle with mildew.

I had good luck with clorox and water. Then wash with one of the spray cleaners to
get the clorox off.


Use the weakest bleach water solution that will do the job. A water
rinse should get rid of the bleach. Most anything except mild soap and
water will affect the fabric and stitching. It must really suck to have
to put your toys in storage for the winter. ;-)

It's not just the winter. During the summer months it sits in the slip with the cover on it, and it builds enough moisture under that cover that it will start developing mildew spots. Those are easy, but the ones that develop during the SC winter are much worse.

I'll probably pull it out of the water this year for those four months where we don't use it much. Maybe that'll cut down on the moisture and mildew.

I could just leave it uncovered and let the sun and rain take it's toll. Probably no mildew, just would have that fresh "sun-baked" appearance after a while.

What kind of boat is it? If you've already told us, I apologize for asking...but my
memory sucks.
--

Guns don't cause problems.
Gun owner behavior causes problems.

On Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 5:17:52 PM UTC-4, Justan Olphart wrote:

Figure out how to make a sun cover with lots of ventilation. Better yet
get a surry top like Harry has on his little pah-kah.


harry uses it on his Picnic Table in the backyard....cause he don't HAVE a pah-kah.

On Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 5:59:57 PM UTC-4, John H. wrote:
On Tue, 12 May 2015 14:12:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 2:18:24 PM UTC-4, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 5/12/2015 1:51 PM, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 11 May 2015 04:33:56 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Well, brought the boat home and tried the new stuff, Vital Oxide. While it may kill mold and mildew, it does nothing to *remove* it. It still took as much elbow grease to get all the seats clean as it has in past years.

This year I'll be treating the surfaces with 3M's mildew preventative. We'll see if it helps in the battle with mildew.

I had good luck with clorox and water. Then wash with one of the spray cleaners to
get the clorox off.


Use the weakest bleach water solution that will do the job. A water
rinse should get rid of the bleach. Most anything except mild soap and
water will affect the fabric and stitching. It must really suck to have
to put your toys in storage for the winter. ;-)

It's not just the winter. During the summer months it sits in the slip with the cover on it, and it builds enough moisture under that cover that it will start developing mildew spots. Those are easy, but the ones that develop during the SC winter are much worse.

I'll probably pull it out of the water this year for those four months where we don't use it much. Maybe that'll cut down on the moisture and mildew.

I could just leave it uncovered and let the sun and rain take it's toll. Probably no mildew, just would have that fresh "sun-baked" appearance after a while.

What kind of boat is it? If you've already told us, I apologize for asking...but my
memory sucks.

It's a 25' tri-toon. The cover does have vents, but they're just four small ones where the tent posts plug in. Talking about it with a boating friend, we think it's worse because the floor is carpet covered wood, there's a large area under the cover that doesn't get as hot as a fiberglass boat so it doesn't dry out as much, and it's sitting out on the water year-round so it's exposed to moisture constantly.

On Tue, 12 May 2015 14:12:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 2:18:24 PM UTC-4, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 5/12/2015 1:51 PM, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 11 May 2015 04:33:56 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Well, brought the boat home and tried the new stuff, Vital Oxide. While it may kill mold and mildew, it does nothing to *remove* it. It still took as much elbow grease to get all the seats clean as it has in past years.

This year I'll be treating the surfaces with 3M's mildew preventative. We'll see if it helps in the battle with mildew.

I had good luck with clorox and water. Then wash with one of the spray cleaners to
get the clorox off.


Use the weakest bleach water solution that will do the job. A water
rinse should get rid of the bleach. Most anything except mild soap and
water will affect the fabric and stitching. It must really suck to have
to put your toys in storage for the winter. ;-)

It's not just the winter. During the summer months it sits in the slip with the cover on it, and it builds enough moisture under that cover that it will start developing mildew spots. Those are easy, but the ones that develop during the SC winter are much worse.

I'll probably pull it out of the water this year for those four months where we don't use it much. Maybe that'll cut down on the moisture and mildew.

I could just leave it uncovered and let the sun and rain take it's toll. Probably no mildew, just would have that fresh "sun-baked" appearance after a while.

===

We recently had a new cover built for our Searay runabout. Our canvas
guy installed support poles with vented top hats which are supposed to
minimize mildew issues. We'll see. Mildew is a significant issue
even in Florida if the boat is not used frequently. Here's what the
vents look like:

http://www.boatcoversdirect.com/products/accessories/category/19/

If you have a good canvas guy he can probably install them in an
existing cover.

Another product that we're using successfully on the trawler is solar
powered exhaust vents. The solar cell charges up an internal battery
during the day which has enough power to run all through the night.

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/nicro-ventilation--day-night-plus-solar-vents--P012_363_001_516

They are easy to install if you have the correct hole saw. I went out
and bought one since I was doing 6 vents.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 12 May 2015 14:12:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 2:18:24 PM UTC-4, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 5/12/2015 1:51 PM, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 11 May 2015 04:33:56 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Well, brought the boat home and tried the new stuff, Vital Oxide. While it may kill mold and mildew, it does nothing to *remove* it. It still took as much elbow grease to get all the seats clean as it has in past years.

This year I'll be treating the surfaces with 3M's mildew preventative. We'll see if it helps in the battle with mildew.
I had good luck with clorox and water. Then wash with one of the spray cleaners to
get the clorox off.

Use the weakest bleach water solution that will do the job. A water
rinse should get rid of the bleach. Most anything except mild soap and
water will affect the fabric and stitching. It must really suck to have
to put your toys in storage for the winter. ;-)
It's not just the winter. During the summer months it sits in the slip with the cover on it, and it builds enough moisture under that cover that it will start developing mildew spots. Those are easy, but the ones that develop during the SC winter are much worse.

I'll probably pull it out of the water this year for those four months where we don't use it much. Maybe that'll cut down on the moisture and mildew.

I could just leave it uncovered and let the sun and rain take it's toll. Probably no mildew, just would have that fresh "sun-baked" appearance after a while.
===

We recently had a new cover built for our Searay runabout. Our canvas
guy installed support poles with vented top hats which are supposed to
minimize mildew issues. We'll see. Mildew is a significant issue
even in Florida if the boat is not used frequently. Here's what the
vents look like:

http://www.boatcoversdirect.com/products/accessories/category/19/

If you have a good canvas guy he can probably install them in an
existing cover.

Another product that we're using successfully on the trawler is solar
powered exhaust vents. The solar cell charges up an internal battery
during the day which has enough power to run all through the night.

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/nicro-ventilation--day-night-plus-solar-vents--P012_363_001_516

They are easy to install if you have the correct hole saw. I went out
and bought one since I was doing 6 vents.

The pole vents are easy to self-install. You cut a circle (it doesn't
have to be perfect - just not too large) in the cover and the vents have
a base that forms a seal with two large rubber washers. They are
clamped in place by spinning the vent onto a threaded piece. This is a
similar product to the one I used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W7YUn5gzR4

On Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 7:09:01 PM UTC-4, Wayne. B wrote:
On Tue, 12 May 2015 14:12:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 2:18:24 PM UTC-4, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 5/12/2015 1:51 PM, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 11 May 2015 04:33:56 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Well, brought the boat home and tried the new stuff, Vital Oxide. While it may kill mold and mildew, it does nothing to *remove* it. It still took as much elbow grease to get all the seats clean as it has in past years.

This year I'll be treating the surfaces with 3M's mildew preventative. We'll see if it helps in the battle with mildew.

I had good luck with clorox and water. Then wash with one of the spray cleaners to
get the clorox off.


Use the weakest bleach water solution that will do the job. A water
rinse should get rid of the bleach. Most anything except mild soap and
water will affect the fabric and stitching. It must really suck to have
to put your toys in storage for the winter. ;-)

It's not just the winter. During the summer months it sits in the slip with the cover on it, and it builds enough moisture under that cover that it will start developing mildew spots. Those are easy, but the ones that develop during the SC winter are much worse.

I'll probably pull it out of the water this year for those four months where we don't use it much. Maybe that'll cut down on the moisture and mildew.

I could just leave it uncovered and let the sun and rain take it's toll. Probably no mildew, just would have that fresh "sun-baked" appearance after a while.

===

We recently had a new cover built for our Searay runabout. Our canvas
guy installed support poles with vented top hats which are supposed to
minimize mildew issues. We'll see. Mildew is a significant issue
even in Florida if the boat is not used frequently. Here's what the
vents look like:

http://www.boatcoversdirect.com/products/accessories/category/19/

If you have a good canvas guy he can probably install them in an
existing cover.

Another product that we're using successfully on the trawler is solar
powered exhaust vents. The solar cell charges up an internal battery
during the day which has enough power to run all through the night.

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/nicro-ventilation--day-night-plus-solar-vents--P012_363_001_516

They are easy to install if you have the correct hole saw. I went out
and bought one since I was doing 6 vents.

Thanks. My cover has four of those vents... it's just not enough to stop the mildew. The solar powered vent are a thought. I'll have to look into them and what it would take to install them on my boat.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 12 May 2015 14:12:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 2:18:24 PM UTC-4, Justan Olphart wrote:
On 5/12/2015 1:51 PM, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 11 May 2015 04:33:56 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Well, brought the boat home and tried the new stuff, Vital Oxide.
While it may kill mold and mildew, it does nothing to *remove* it.
It still took as much elbow grease to get all the seats clean as it has in past years.

This year I'll be treating the surfaces with 3M's mildew
preventative. We'll see if it helps in the battle with mildew.

I had good luck with clorox and water. Then wash with one of the spray cleaners to
get the clorox off.


Use the weakest bleach water solution that will do the job. A water
rinse should get rid of the bleach. Most anything except mild soap and
water will affect the fabric and stitching. It must really suck to have
to put your toys in storage for the winter. ;-)

It's not just the winter. During the summer months it sits in the slip
with the cover on it, and it builds enough moisture under that cover
that it will start developing mildew spots. Those are easy, but the
ones that develop during the SC winter are much worse.

I'll probably pull it out of the water this year for those four months
where we don't use it much. Maybe that'll cut down on the moisture and mildew.

I could just leave it uncovered and let the sun and rain take it's toll.
Probably no mildew, just would have that fresh "sun-baked" appearance after a while.

===

We recently had a new cover built for our Searay runabout. Our canvas
guy installed support poles with vented top hats which are supposed to
minimize mildew issues. We'll see. Mildew is a significant issue
even in Florida if the boat is not used frequently. Here's what the
vents look like:

http://www.boatcoversdirect.com/products/accessories/category/19/

If you have a good canvas guy he can probably install them in an
existing cover.

Another product that we're using successfully on the trawler is solar
powered exhaust vents. The solar cell charges up an internal battery
during the day which has enough power to run all through the night.

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/nicro-ventilation--day-night-plus-solar-vents--P012_363_001_516

They are easy to install if you have the correct hole saw. I went out
and bought one since I was doing 6 vents.

I used to use one of those solar powered vents. Built a box that went over
the bilge vent hose connection. Worked great. I now store the boat in a
modified Costco portable garage, no sides and metal roof.