I added some Sunbrella window covers to my hatchboard cover. It appears that moisture is collecting between the clear vinyl and Sunbrella. Do I need to be concerned about mold/mildew growth? The window covers are sewn at the top and velcro'd at the bottom. The sides are not attached
Potential for mold/mildew?
- Thread starter Project_Mayhem
- Start date
This is only a suggestion and not the promotion of a conspiracy, but you may be the victim of counterfeit Sunbrella.
Many years ago (but still the current boat), I had my sewing buddy put together new dodger cover as the old one was really getting ratty. This original one was Sunbrella and did a fine job but was suffing from advanced rattiness.
As was his habit, he did a meticulous job of the fabrication and on it went. Viola ! It was light grey in colour so it wouldn't cook the dodger underneath but wouldn't look filthy every week from the accumulation of dirt on top. Now for about a week after I put the dodger cover on, Vancouver showed its specialy in atmospheric control and rained like bloody hell for about a week. It was the middle of summer. A few days after the last monsoon rolled through, I pulled off the cover and it was like a sauna under there. The glass in the dodger had drops of moisture all over it and water trailing down across the dodger. I might add that the dodger is of some type of Sunbrella that is exceedingly thick. Don't ask me as I only paid very dearly to a local fitter who had a good rating back in 1998. Actually, he still has a top rating at our Vancouver Boat Shows and the old Nanaimo boat shows. This Sunbrella dodger is still in top condition today. Had the glass replaced once.
Anyway, on with the story of the dodger cover. This condensation can't be happening because Sunbrella is breathable but does not pass liquid water. So says all of the Sunbrella literature. If it's breathable, it will pass any water vapour that gets inside around the edges and wherever else.
Time to get high teck. We'll get sophisticated and test the material for permeability. So I press the material against my mouth, bird
and all, and sucked in using lung power. Not a trace of air movement. My buddies always say I suck so it wasn't a lack of a vacuum on my part. A couple of more tries and there was the problem. Impermeability on the part of this material.
So the buddy looks back through his receipts and the material is definitely listed as Sunbrella. In the end, the buddy had no luck dealing with the original supplier who maintained he had supplied Sunbrella. So the buddy gave up and ordered from Sailrite. I was taken to General Hospital suffering from cardiac arrest from the price and the buddy built another dodger cover while I recuperated.
This time, after it rained for a few days and I whipped the cover off, dry as the Atacama under the cover and not a drop of moisture to be seen. And never a drop to this day.
And there you have it, "Believe It or Don't"
Start sucking
.
PS. Find a piece of genuine Sunbrella, as I did in the back of my workshop and suck through it. Minimal resistance.
Many years ago (but still the current boat), I had my sewing buddy put together new dodger cover as the old one was really getting ratty. This original one was Sunbrella and did a fine job but was suffing from advanced rattiness.
As was his habit, he did a meticulous job of the fabrication and on it went. Viola ! It was light grey in colour so it wouldn't cook the dodger underneath but wouldn't look filthy every week from the accumulation of dirt on top. Now for about a week after I put the dodger cover on, Vancouver showed its specialy in atmospheric control and rained like bloody hell for about a week. It was the middle of summer. A few days after the last monsoon rolled through, I pulled off the cover and it was like a sauna under there. The glass in the dodger had drops of moisture all over it and water trailing down across the dodger. I might add that the dodger is of some type of Sunbrella that is exceedingly thick. Don't ask me as I only paid very dearly to a local fitter who had a good rating back in 1998. Actually, he still has a top rating at our Vancouver Boat Shows and the old Nanaimo boat shows. This Sunbrella dodger is still in top condition today. Had the glass replaced once.
Anyway, on with the story of the dodger cover. This condensation can't be happening because Sunbrella is breathable but does not pass liquid water. So says all of the Sunbrella literature. If it's breathable, it will pass any water vapour that gets inside around the edges and wherever else.
Time to get high teck. We'll get sophisticated and test the material for permeability. So I press the material against my mouth, bird
and all, and sucked in using lung power. Not a trace of air movement. My buddies always say I suck so it wasn't a lack of a vacuum on my part. A couple of more tries and there was the problem. Impermeability on the part of this material.So the buddy looks back through his receipts and the material is definitely listed as Sunbrella. In the end, the buddy had no luck dealing with the original supplier who maintained he had supplied Sunbrella. So the buddy gave up and ordered from Sailrite. I was taken to General Hospital suffering from cardiac arrest from the price and the buddy built another dodger cover while I recuperated.
This time, after it rained for a few days and I whipped the cover off, dry as the Atacama under the cover and not a drop of moisture to be seen. And never a drop to this day.
And there you have it, "Believe It or Don't"
Start sucking
.PS. Find a piece of genuine Sunbrella, as I did in the back of my workshop and suck through it. Minimal resistance.
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I bought a stack of scrap material from a canvas shop that did some work from me. The owner used the same material on his own boat. Regardless of what material I used, I'm not about to redo it. If it is likely to create an issue, I was going to add some material to add a little bit of space between the fabric and the glass. Maybe sew some tubing to the backside of the covers to allow air to flow a bit.