Mold & Mildew on fabric in Cabin
 

I've unfortunately found a pretty bad case of black spotted mold/mildew in the
header and wall fabrics inside my boat. It's a light green color and I've
tried many different things with no success at all...Oxy clean, Chlorox 2
bleach for colors, Alcohol/water mixture, variety of spray soaps.

I even bought one of the hand held steam cleaners locally that I saw in an
infomercial on tv...no luck.

Of course, the only thing that works (and it works great) is 4 ounces of bleach
mixed with 1 quart of water (I also added a tablespoon of dishwashing liquid
after seeing this suggestion on the Sunbrella website).

My concern is that the bleach will discolor the fabric although after one full
day on a small area, it hasn't had an effect. Because the areas are on the
walls and ceiling, I can't figure out how to 'flush' or get rid of the bleach
mixture once I spray it on.

Questions:
Any idea on how to get the bleach out of the fabric before it causes damage?
I've got to do the whole "V-berth" area.
If the bleach didn't change the fabric color in a day, do you think I'm safe?
Any other chemicals? I read one suggestion to rub a lemon with salt onto the
spot. I'd need an orchard of lemons to do the area :).

Thanks for your ideas. I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem.

Wayne

Mold & Mildew on fabric in Cabin
 

If the bleach didn't change the color almost right away, you're going to be OK
with it.

The bleach may weaken the threads.

A concentrated saline solution will kill certain types of fungus, and you can
mix it up right in the galley with table salt and water. Dipping sal****er out
of the drink is less likely to be a good solution- it could easiy have oil
other dirty elements if you're dipping in a marina.

If all else fails, bleach usually works.

Your complete cure will involve discovering why you have such a damp
environment aboard. You can try all sorts of tricks with dessicants, heat
tubes, etc etc etc but the botom line is that you need to get some fresh air in
there and move it around to dry things out. Bigger vents, maybe a few of them
active rather than passive, might help. If your locker doors aren't louvered,
try leaving them slightly ajar when you go ashore. You'll need to prop them
open, or they will self close when the boat rocks.

Mold & Mildew on fabric in Cabin
 

Gould
Thank you, I have been having a mold problem on my ChrisCraft... Will give
these ideas a try and get back to you.


"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
If the bleach didn't change the color almost right away, you're going to
be OK
with it.

The bleach may weaken the threads.

A concentrated saline solution will kill certain types of fungus, and you
can
mix it up right in the galley with table salt and water. Dipping sal****er
out
of the drink is less likely to be a good solution- it could easiy have oil
other dirty elements if you're dipping in a marina.

If all else fails, bleach usually works.

Your complete cure will involve discovering why you have such a damp
environment aboard. You can try all sorts of tricks with dessicants, heat
tubes, etc etc etc but the botom line is that you need to get some fresh
air in
there and move it around to dry things out. Bigger vents, maybe a few of
them
active rather than passive, might help. If your locker doors aren't
louvered,
try leaving them slightly ajar when you go ashore. You'll need to prop
them
open, or they will self close when the boat rocks.

Mold & Mildew on fabric in Cabin
 

Gould is right. I'm more curious how you developed such a severe mold
issue to begin with. We have a small (26') Carver fly bridge, and I
put a 12" 110V oclillating fan on the floor in the aft area of the
salon and let it run 24 X 7 during the summer months. It's cheaper
than letting the A/C run when we're gone. We've never had a problem.

Do you know why the issue developed?

Coff


(Gould 0738) wrote in message ...

Your complete cure will involve discovering why you have such a damp
environment aboard. You can try all sorts of tricks with dessicants, heat
tubes, etc etc etc but the botom line is that you need to get some fresh air in
there and move it around to dry things out. Bigger vents, maybe a few of them
active rather than passive, might help. If your locker doors aren't louvered,
try leaving them slightly ajar when you go ashore. You'll need to prop them
open, or they will self close when the boat rocks.

Mold & Mildew on fabric in Cabin
 

I think I know exactly why it happened. We are in Western NY area of the great
lakes. I covered my boat over the winter (loonnng and coollllld) with a blue
plastic tarp, no vents in it but it was not on as tight as a shrink wrap.
In Early February, we had a warm spell where the weather actually got up to the
high 60's for a few days. Then, in less than a day it plumeted back down to
well below freezing and stayed there for a month.
I think that the inside of the boat probably heated up pretty good when it got
warm. I should have opened up the cover and aired out the boat, but I didn't
want the headache of putting it back on.

Next year, if it warms up in the middle of winter, I'm opening the cabin to
vent it. Also, I'm going to put my dehumifier in the cabin with an extension
chord attached so that when it gets warm, I can simply plug it in for a while
to remove the moisture.

The boat's a 1993 and this is the first time I ever had this problem.

Never again!

Wayne

Mold & Mildew on fabric in Cabin
 

On 23 Apr 2004 01:44:12 GMT, (Wklkj) wrote:

I think I know exactly why it happened. We are in Western NY area of the great
lakes. I covered my boat over the winter (loonnng and coollllld) with a blue
plastic tarp, no vents in it but it was not on as tight as a shrink wrap.
In Early February, we had a warm spell where the weather actually got up to the
high 60's for a few days. Then, in less than a day it plumeted back down to
well below freezing and stayed there for a month.
I think that the inside of the boat probably heated up pretty good when it got
warm. I should have opened up the cover and aired out the boat, but I didn't
want the headache of putting it back on.

Next year, if it warms up in the middle of winter, I'm opening the cabin to
vent it. Also, I'm going to put my dehumifier in the cabin with an extension
chord attached so that when it gets warm, I can simply plug it in for a while
to remove the moisture.

The boat's a 1993 and this is the first time I ever had this problem.

Never again!

Wayne

There may be some safety considerations and it depends on where you
have the boat stored, but i've heard of folks who leave a standard
100W light bulb burning in the cabin all winter long. All you need to
do is make sure the cabin is a little warmer than the ambient temp.
and you should have no condensation.