Mildew killers

LooseDiamond · Mar 12, 2010

Chlorine bleach is effective on hard, non-porous surfaces. The problem with other surfaces, ie. wood, is that the mycelia extend into the porous materials, where the bleach can't reach, rather than a resistance to it...

Jonrod222 · Mar 12, 2010

I have had good luck with a West marine mildew remover product. It also does a good job of preventing the sprayed areas free of mildew. It is also organic, australian tea tree oil I think.

Bill1565 · Mar 12, 2010

Be careful and ventilate well. We were living aboard on the Tenn Tom when it froze solid. After installing a generator and running the heater, we got condensation on the inside of the boat. Turned to mildew. For all the winters the boat sat unheated on the hard on the shore of Lake Michigan we never had mildew.

sailingdog · Mar 12, 2010

Roger—

The key to preventing mildew and mold is ventilation. Vinegar can kill it and wiping down surfaces with vinegar will also help prevent it from re-occuring. Lemon oil does much the same thing and is better for wooden surfaces. Bleach, if mixed properly, will kill it as well.

3M, iirc, came out with a hard surface treatment spray that is a long-term mildewcide, and specifically designed for the marine market.

Ross · Mar 12, 2010

Chemical warfare is called for here. A 2% copper sulfate solution wiped on water proof surfaces will work and on water sensitive surfaces wet a cotton cloth with the copper sulfate solution and allow it to dry then use it as a dust cloth. This comes from the "Handbook of Chemistry and Physics" By Wiley. Borax is also a good choice but not as good.

Ross · Mar 12, 2010

I have an old jar of pickles that have a thick layer of mold growing on top. Lemons will get moldy. Moisture is essential for its growth but it will grow on almost everything organic.

Buck420 · Mar 12, 2010

Mildew

Rodger,
I agree with "LooseDiamond"; ... to my knowledge, microorganisms (including fungi) cannot acquire resistance to sodium hypochlorite. However, it can't kill microorganisms that it doesn't come in contact with.
If you've got mildew growing up thru paint; bleach, vinegar, copper sulfate, or whatever, isn't getting below the surface to kill all the mildew, and it quickly grows back.

If it were my boat ... first, on a nice sunny day, I'd open up the boat as much as possible, then pull everything apart down below and wipe everything down as well as possible with bleech. Remove the cushions, upholstery, etc. and take all of it home to be washed, and/or set out in the sun.... (if you get any of that in Maine

).
Then I would buy, borrow, or rent a good (compressor) dehumidifier. Completely close up the boat, leaving everything open down below. Turn on the dehumidifier and let it run for a few days to really dry out the interior of the boat. Then spray the entire interior of the boat with a can of Lotrimin (clotrimazole ... athletes foot medication, buy it in the grocery store). Use the spray, not the powder. Start in the bow, spray quickly, and leave the boat (with the dehumidifier running to further dry and circulate the air). Leave it closed up like this for another day or two.

If that doesn't get rid of your mildew, call an exterminator

While I've never had a mildew problem as severe as yours, I have had several minor occasions when mildew has begun to grow on bulkheads, in closets, etc., during the Winter. The above routine has worked for me, (though on a smaller scale).
I also spray Lotrimin into my AC return every few weeks when I leave the boat and put the AC on dehumidifier setting.... Helps keep the boat and crew from getting athletes foot or crotch rot

Stu Jackson · Mar 12, 2010

We've had a rather wet and colder winter, at least for us, this year. Mildew traditionally isn't one of our bugaboos. I just talked with a friend who's sister has an older mid-70s Catalina 30. She left a heater on when she was away for two weeks and came back to find green yuck all over down below. She'd also left a wet sail down below. Those older C30s didn't have dorades or Nicro solar vents. It was a disaster prone to occur because, as stated by others, the lack of ventilation was a killer, exacerbated by the heat, which created condensation on the inside of the cold hull and deck. I explained that her problem was twofold: the heat and wet sail created the condensation (ever sleep down below on a cold night and wake up to drip, drip, drip?) and the complete lack of ventilation on her boat made it even worse. The conflicting concepts of keeping the heat in and ventilating the boat at the same time are challenges we all face. The older C30s have those two small hatches up near the head, but they are usually closed 'cuz rain gets in. There's just nothing else on those boats. We are fortunate on our mid-80s C34 to have two dorade vents and two Nicro solar vents. I don't recall the ventilation equipment you have on your End-32; we bareboated one in the BVIs in 1986, and, having just a C22 at the time, weren't into the ventilation aspects, just enjoyed sailing the boat an awful lot! Good luck - as you may know, Nicro has a pretty good ventilation section ont heir website, most of it borrowed by the West Marine Advisor: http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...isor/10001/-1/10001/Ventilating-Your-Boat.htm

Ross · Mar 12, 2010

Ventilation is the key to a dry boat. Barns are/were built with gaps between the weather baords for ventilation so that the hay wouldn't mold. Cows exhale a lot of moisture. Wrap a wood pile tightly in a tarp and the wood will rot. They dry newly sawn lumber in open storage with rain covers on top. Just keeping the water out of the boat will be far better than adding heat.

RichH · Mar 12, 2010

Roger Long said:
Two winters in a damp and sun warmed shed and a summer on a mooring where I ........... It's growing a lot of places I can't reach.

Things should be better with the cabin heater as I'll be able to really dry the boat out now but I'd like to get a cleaner start.

Hi Roger ----

Our 'ancestors' successfully kept mildew in check by 'whitewashing' every possible item, surface they could. The 'modern equivalent' would be to find a highly caustic detergent (containing sodium silicate or even trisodiumphosphate), apply/spray and let dry (but not on painted nor varnished surfaces) - dont wipe off!. Caustics DISSOLVE the fungal spores on contact and dissolve the mildew, etc. --- use CAUSTICS when cleaning mildew:but, first kill it by spraying on clorox, etc. .... never attempt to remove 'dry' mildew because of the spores - always wet it thoroughly before cleaning - wear a mask.
(Vinegar may kill/loosen fungals, but the breakdown eventually FEEDS successive infections !!!!!!!!!!)

To rid mildew from a boat one must remove it from ALL the areas that are propagating the SPORES (such spores are very dangerous to human lung tissue - so wear a good mask when cleaning mildew). By 'all' I mean - the entire bilge, all the spaces UNDER the floor boards, all the UNACCESSABLE areas - a dirty rotten job but must be thoroughly done if you dont want successive infections. A significant UNACCESSABLE area is typically the atmospheric VENT ON THE WATER TANK - doubly yucky and potentially dangerous to the potable water system.

Once the boat is CLEAN and relatively free of mildew and spores ..... then when leaving the boat for long term you can use PARAFORMALDEHYDE crystals which in an enclosed space will kill the mold, prevent spore formation. Just hold your breath while you sprinkle the ParaF into plastic plates throughout the boat .... and leave as quickly as possible. When opening the boat do not enter the boat until it has 'completely aired-out'. ParaF is toxic so hold your breath when using. Of course ParaF wont be available in those states that are utterly and totally terrorized by the word - chemicals.

Of course if the boat is CLEAN (and ~whitewashed) before you leave it for long periods, the least probability of infection.

Save the vinegar for your salads ..... go to a 'farm supply' and buy some 'manly' caustics (but use proper personal protection when using caustics)

RobG · Mar 12, 2010

I've had terrific results with

a vinegar-borax-water solution. Equal parts vinegar and borax and enough warm water to dissolve the borax or more to stretch the amount without weakening it too much. Scrub off the black with it, sponge the area with it until the sponge comes up clean, then spray a fine mist and leave it. The last three seasons I used this method without a single spot returning after the first use the first time I tried it. It's very low key on the environment inside as well as outside the boat too.
Rob

Hermit Scott · Mar 12, 2010

I have everything out of my boat right now. I am washing all the cushion covers and trying to clean the cushions themselves. I am cleaning everywhere I can reach BUT there is the places in between the floor and the hull that I can't access. I'd like to put something in a bug sprayer container and get up under there with something that will keep my boat from smelling like an old boat. I don't want it to smell like vinegar though.
The PARAFORMALDEHYDE crystals sounds great for killing everything. But I was hoping to avoid death myself while killing mold.
I have to try to ventelate it. I just sprayed the whole boat out with the water hose, and it's heating up outside. The only real opening is the vent slits in the hatch boards.

kloudie1 · Mar 12, 2010

I have had success using a "quat" solution. (Dymethyl, Trimethyl Benzil something-or-other) Get a gallon of swimming pool algecide from Wally World. (like a 10% solution) Put that in a spritzer bottle and mist surfaces where the mildew is growing. This has to be done in a well ventilated boat and ya need to wear a mask .. Once the stuff is on the surface and dries, the mildew and mold will not grow there.. this is what the commercial mold/mildew contractors use to get rid of the stuff. Worked on the underside of my lazarette lids, and in a storage locker .. bleach wouldn't touch it..

Hermit Scott · Mar 12, 2010

kloudie1 said:
I have had success using a "quat" solution. (Dymethyl, Trimethyl Benzil something-or-other) Get a gallon of swimming pool algecide from Wally World. (like a 10% solution) Put that in a spritzer bottle and mist surfaces where the mildew is growing. This has to be done in a well ventilated boat and ya need to wear a mask .. Once the stuff is on the surface and dries, the mildew and mold will not grow there.. this is what the commercial mold/mildew contractors use to get rid of the stuff. Worked on the underside of my lazarette lids, and in a storage locker .. bleach wouldn't touch it..

That sounds like a good solution. (pun) So can I spray that in the Vberth all over and then let it dry and no one is going to die from it once it is dried? You say the pros use it, do they use it where people will be in close contact with it or is it sprayed in crawl spaces?
I headed to W mart right now, I will check it out.
another thing I was thinking of; everyone is buying solar vents and low amp draw 12V computer fans to circulate air. But when you are away from the boat it is at the slip with 120AC hooked up to it. When you are out cruising, it gets enough ventelation because you have it open all the time. Why aren't people hooking up regular 120VAC fans to circulate the air while they are away, cause I don't see any mold growing while I am there? lol
I'm going to make a white trash hatch board that has a $20 box fan duct taped into it.

CarlN · Mar 12, 2010

It's the out of sight mildew that will haunt you. The best solution I've found is to rent a ozone generator (from any tool rental company). Open all the cabinets and lift up all the cushions then let the thing run for 24 hours.

Note that ozone is nasty stuff (although not as nasty as bleach). It can also attack rubber but it's a cumulative thing. One hit isn't supposed to be dangerous. (no sign of my engine mounts dissolving so far!)

I also tried a spray last year that claimed to keep mildew from coming back using "nano" technology. I have no idea how "nano" anything could help here - but I'm a sucker for that kind of marketing. The great news is that the stuff didn't smell bad or stain anything. I also didn't have a mildew problem last year but the boat was in drier than usual place so it's hard to say for sure that the spray helped.

http://newmoldsolutions.com/index.php?cmd=moldshield

A great heater option is to go buy a bunch of heat lamps with 250 watt infrared bulbs - just the cheap aluminum clamp light kind at HD. Put one of these about six feet from a problem area for three or four days. It will be very dry.

To everyone - be very careful working with bleach mixtures in confined spaces (like sticking your head down in a bilge while scrubbing with bleach). Breathing the fumes can scar your lungs leaving you with a permanent shortness of breath.

Carl

Carl

sailingdog · Mar 12, 2010

I'd point out that any ozone generator that is strong enough and powerful enough to kill off all the mold/mildew inside a boat is also strong enough to damage a lot of the plastic and rubber compounds on the same boat. Most ozone generators are nowhere near powerful enough to kill spores. They will eliminate the odors temporarily, but do little more than that.

carlf said:
It's the out of sight mildew that will haunt you. The best solution I've found is to rent a ozone generator (from any tool rental company). Open all the cabinets and lift up all the cushions then let the thing run for 24 hours.

Note that ozone is nasty stuff (although not as nasty as bleach). It can also attack rubber but it's a cumulative thing. One hit isn't supposed to be dangerous. (no sign of my engine mounts dissolving so far!)

I also tried a spray last year that claimed to keep mildew from coming back using "nano" technology. I have no idea how "nano" anything could help here - but I'm a sucker for that kind of marketing. The great news is that the stuff didn't smell bad or stain anything. I also didn't have a mildew problem last year but the boat was in drier than usual place so it's hard to say for sure that the spray helped.

http://newmoldsolutions.com/index.php?cmd=moldshield

A great heater option is to go buy a bunch of heat lamps with 250 watt infrared bulbs - just the cheap aluminum clamp light kind at HD. Put one of these about six feet from a problem area for three or four days. It will be very dry.

To everyone - be very careful working with bleach mixtures in confined spaces (like sticking your head down in a bilge while scrubbing with bleach). Breathing the fumes can scar your lungs leaving you with a permanent shortness of breath.

Carl

Carl

CarlN · Mar 12, 2010

I was worried about the rubber and plastic damage too so asked around quite a bit. The consistent advice I got was that noticeable damage required a sustained (as in months) high ozone concentration. I also got the advice that small machines wouldn't do the job. You need an industrial one from a tool rental company.

I'm certainly no expert in ozone and may have gotten bad advice. It does seem to be an area with lots of claims and counter claims. But the two times I tried the "24 hour" treatment, the mildew was gone and was very slow to return and then only in small areas - I also had no problems with rubber or plastic then or later.

I'd be interested if anyone else has had good results (or bad) on their boat with ozone.

Carl

kloudie1 · Mar 13, 2010

You are correct, Hermit.. I don't use the stuff on something I'll be lying on or licking..(!) but on hard surfaces that won't be used in food prep .. I mean, ya can swim in it once it is in the pool.. My lazarette was really nasty inside and now it has been clean for a couple of years. It doesn't "clean" it like a bleach would but in a week or so, the black goes away. I don't scrub it.. Fans.. The PO had a couple of small (like 3") 120V fans that he ran all the time while at slip. I am still running those fans constantly, 19 years later.. I took them apart this winter and cleaned and re-lubed them, and they are still in fine shape.. I also run the AC on "dehumidify" cycle when I am not there.. Cabin is mildew free, but the problem was in the outside lockers.. is fine now.