Mildew on the bimini. Help!

[Keay]

The canopy/bimini of our Catalina 36 hasn't had a good scrubbing for ages. As a result, there is a LOT of crud that's accumulated up there and because of the position of the canvas, it's pretty tough to get a good scrubbing-angle on.

Any advice as far as good cleaning material to use on canvas? I've doused the mold/mildew in question with Simply Green as well as some special RV vinyl cleaner to no avail. Is pressure washing no good for this sort of job? Any advice would be appreciated! it's a custom bimini that extends over the wheel and connects up with the dodger. Very nice but lots of surface area to clean.

Thanks!

 

[Slow Mo^cean]

I wouldn't pressure wash because you might cut through the fabric. Simple Green has always worked for me, with a course scrub brush. Some of the stained mildew you won't get off no matter what you do. You could also try bleach or bathroom cleaner if its a white canopy.

 

[jrowan]

DO NOT USE BLEACH on any man made fiber type of canvas (including Sunbrella).
If there are any polyester, or nylon fibers in the material it will weaken & be destroyed by bleach. The only place that its safe to use bleach sparingly is using Soft Scrub on your deck to remove stains. Try the W. Marine cleaning isle or wherever U like to buy cleaning products for something made specifically to treat mildew on fabric.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Google Sunbrella, 'cuz that's most likely what the material is made of. They have step-by-step How To Wash instructions. None of them includes bleach or power washing, more like Ivory soap. Be gentle.

 

[Keay]

All high quality responses. Thanks guys I'm looking into Sunbrella fabrics and they all seem a bit fancier than what's on the boat. From what i can tell, it's the same material as the cover for the blue fabric sail cover for the main/boom.

 

[jrowan]

I can almost guarantee you that if you have fabric covering you mainsail cover that it is made from some type of Sunbrella or closely related fabric. Its really not fancy, Sunbrella is more of a generic term for outdoor rated marine type fabric. I'm sure there are many competitiors to Sunbrella. It looks & feels like heavy canvas, but its made from man made nylon & woven polyester type threads, that's why U can't use bleach to clean it. Bleach will destroy any man made fibers. Its really not too great for cotton either!

 

[cat38skip]

We had a similar problem. I used oxyclean and a soft scrub brush. Mixed up the oxclean in a large bucket and swabbed it onto the covers stretched out on the dock. Occasional rewetting over 15 min or so and then scrubbed using the soft brush. They came out looking nearly new.