cleaning dodger and bimini

[Sabre42Kailani]

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to clean mildew from canvas? I have tried detergent and have a mildew cleaning solution, but am hesitant to use it on canvas.

[moctrams]

I have a white dodger and this product works well on mold.

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Clean-Mult.../dp/B0071SCSO0

[hard aground]

We've used Oxiclean

[redhead]

We bought a boat in the Pacific Northwest (read "lots of rain") that hadn't been cleaned in over 5 years (read "lots of mildew"). It seems I worked on it constantly over the course of 3 years with no results. Last year I developed a new strategy that WORKS and after 11 months, we have 0 mildew.

I have to give credit to a member "Zeehag" for guiding me on this - her famous quote is "Vinegar kills mildew, bleach just gives you white mildew".

1: take a brush while it's dry and vigorously brush the dried mildew off both top and bottom. (wear a mask, the mildew dust is disgusting)

2: take a spray bottle of vinegar and thoroughly spray both top and bottom with the vinegar (if you can find double strength vinegar in a cleaning supply place, that's what I used). Walk away and let it do it's magic for an hour.

3: after an hour, respray with a combo of the vinegar and a cleaning solution (I used Simple Green) and brush into the fibers.

4. Rinse and let dry. I tried to time all this for a period with no rain in the near future.

As I say there's no mildew, no mildew stains and no return of the mildew.
(fingers are crossed for the future, believe me..)

Good luck!

[thinwater]

First, kill the lichens and moss and let the sun weaken the bond for several weeks. Any benzalkonium chloride product will work. I like Algae Killer by HTH, I think.



Second, scrub of bodies. Anything.



Third, bleach with Oxyclean. You MUST keep it wet for at least a few hours. The stuff is slow but safe. Do not boost the concentration.


Water repellent keeps it way. It dries faster.