Cleaning mildew

[marcusn]

This isn't the most challenging question to be sure. I just want to make sure I do the job in the best and most effective way known. I'm relying on the great knowledge of this group to come up with the best answers.

I'm trying to bring my newly purchased 1975 E27 to a vibrant new life. First, I'm trying to get rid of mildew. Smell and dirt.

1) inside the galley drawers, what would be the best solution/method to clean them out (minimal black marking, but strong mildew odor).

2) the interior of the cabin. It looks fairly dirty, and appears that just about all the various marks with rub off. Most of the marks look mildewy. What cleaner/method do you all like best?

3) Additionally, the (formerly white) PVC cowl vents on my new old boat are very discolored and grey. I'm considering replacing, but wondering if anyone knows of an effetive cleaner for PVC cowls.

Thanks all!
mn
e27

 

[valentor]

I have used the following process and it has met with my wife's standard of a clean, fresh boat:

Turn on the bilge pump
Turn on a hose with a shut-off nozzle
Fill a bucket with 50/50 Simple Green (or Pine Sol) and warm water
Hose down the entire interior liberally
Scrub every inch of every surface with the soapy water and a big sponge
For really tough spots, use a small sponge with a green 3M pad on the back
Hose down the entire interior liberally
Hose it down again
Sponge out the remaining soap in the bilge and hose it again
Turn off the pump, Open everything and let it dry for several hours while you drink cold beer and fantasize about your next sail.

-Steve

 

[Ray Rhode]

The 2007-2 issue of DIY has an article that recommends a mixture of 1 part water, 1 part hydrogen peroxide and 1/4 part boat soap. This was mixed in a spray bottle. Spray it on and let it sit for about 10 minutes and then scrub it off. I tried it on some deck mold and mildew and it seemed to work pretty well. I used Simple Green instead of boat soap. The temperature was too high to let it sit the full 10 minutes so it may not have been as effective in my case as it was for the author.

Ray Rhode
S/V Journey
E35-III, #189

 

[glen_dc]

take off/remove everything from the boat

every single item/piece from everywhere. You have to know/clean/touch/feel every single inch of your boat in any place in our out, bottom, mast or sail, bilge or head.

 

[Sean Engle]

every single item/piece from everywhere. You have to know/clean/touch/feel every single inch of your boat in any place in our out, bottom, mast or sail, bilge or head.

Yeah, as much as this sucks doing this - it really is the only way to deal with heavy mildew...

My boat had it bad - and I pulled everything out - repainted all the lockers and utility areas, then scrubbed the boat top to bottom, had all the cushion covers either cleaned or replaced, cleaned and painted the bilge, got rid of the shower bilge, replaced the sanitation system, repacked the stuffing box and closed the other leaks - the smells went away...

//sse

 

[Frank Langer]

On your question about the PVC vents, they can be taken out from the top by twisting them. As they are not cheap to replace, two options are: 1) Nicro sells a paint that reconditions them, available at West Marine and other chandleries; 2) Mine were quite discoloured, so I just took 120 grit sandpaper to them, then waxed with boat wax, and they look quite good now--a cheap, but effective solution.
Frank.

 

[rhewitt]

green growth...

Well this is not to brag... But here in Nicaragua (tropics) I can just bet our Ericson gets more meldew than any one in the upper 48.

The rainy season (late May - Oct.) is very bad i
It rains almost every night then the sun and heat in the day makes the stuff grow like madd. Before we started attacking it with in two weeks the insids was a light layer of growing green MOLD.

As we have a man that comes aboard every night and leaves each morning (watchman, not needed but is now an industry here) every five days he wipes ALL the inside down with a 10% (bleach) to 90% water and then that same day (after drying out) another young man goes out (by water taxi) to wipe all the teak with a light oil. It seems to keep it nice and the wood looks good too. In the dry season most of the mosture comes from the packing box leak into the bilge so we have to sponge it dry every other day.

So goes life with green mold in San Juan del Sur.

"No Bad Days"

 

[Loren Beach]

We have some friends that were living full time on a Valiant 40 in Florida. They said that after fighting the mold for too long, they finally varnished out all the interior teak...
IMO one of the main problems is the original oiled surface will attract dirt, which holds moisture, which grows ... mold and mildew.
Other cruisers have mentioned the same fix for the problem.
It is a *lot* easier to keep a varnished surface clean and free of "plant life."

my .02 worth,
Loren

 

[hcpookie]

FWIW, I learned that rubbing alcohol will kill mildew buildup. It is a good thing for paper and leather items (books, etc) that are mildewed. I had some leather items that mildewed while in storage, and the alcohol cleaned them right up!

Looking at some of the mildew areas in mine, I was going to liberally pour some into some of those hard to reach areas just to see how it would do. It dries up relatively fast, and you don't have an over-powering chemical smell like some of the cleaners leave.

 

[Mike.Gritten]

FWIW, my neighbour at the dock swears by cleaning his PVC items with acetone. His fenders and PVC vent pipes come out looking new. After cleaning he treats them with some sort of finish that makes them look great. It appears to be something like ArmorAll protectant although I didn't catch the name.

 

[Emerald]

We have some friends that were living full time on a Valiant 40 in Florida. They said that after fighting the mold for too long, they finally varnished out all the interior teak...
IMO one of the main problems is the original oiled surface will attract dirt, which holds moisture, which grows ... mold and mildew.
Other cruisers have mentioned the same fix for the problem.
It is a *lot* easier to keep a varnished surface clean and free of "plant life."

my .02 worth,
Loren

I'll second Loren on this one. I'm in the process of going all varnish below on Emerald for just this reason, and it is helping greatly. Even having just started, I see the difference. I'm doing all my build coats in gloss, and then areas I want a satin finish on, I am doing one coat of satin on top of the gloss. This was a tip passed on to me so that I wouldn't muddy the grain by building a lot of satin coats up. I am keeping the sole and nav. table in gloss, and the sole has not been slippery when wet, and is holding up well with the gloss (no leather shoes, thank you very much).

Another item I did, which I know is against the original design philosophy but seems to be a major improvement, is to drill limber holes so the forward bilge/shower pan area could drain back to the main bilge. I was always fighting water in this forward bilge area (despite a pump), and would spend the effort trying to dry it with a sponge etc., but for whatever reason, be it cleaning the paddle wheel on the knotmeter sending unit or what, I could never really keep it dry. Well, it now has cobwebs and dry dust instead of mold for having drilled a couple simple holes. Do be aware you might have a water tank right up against the other side of the seperating stringer, so you need to pick the spot for limber holes carefully if this applies to your solution.

 

[Blue Chip]

We do the PVC, and fenders too with SOFT-SCRUB

 

[Howard Keiper]

After you've gotten rid of visible mildew, buy or rent an ozone generator and let it operate inside your closed cabin for a few hours (don't be inside with it). Be sure any and all drawers, cabinets, and (internal) hatches are open.

Commercial Ozone generators are what hotels / motels use to "purify" their rooms when reclaiming those that smell like smoke. It is a fact that ozone can be deadly in strong concentrations, but it acknowledged too, that it kills ALL mold / mildew spores.

You can make your own generator if you're inclined that way.

howard

 

[jreddington]

After you've gotten rid of visible mildew, buy or rent an ozone generator and let it operate inside your closed cabin for a few hours (don't be inside with it). Be sure any and all drawers, cabinets, and (internal) hatches are open.

Commercial Ozone generators are what hotels / motels use to "purify" their rooms when reclaiming those that smell like smoke. It is a fact that ozone can be deadly in strong concentrations, but it acknowledged too, that it kills ALL mold / mildew spores.

You can make your own generator if you're inclined that way.

howard

The problem with this is that mold spores exist everywhere. Within seconds of cleaning a surface, mold spores are landing. The only way to combat this is to make and keep the surfaces, and the general environment as unfriendly as possible to growth. So it comes down to hard, shiny surfaces where possible, minimum humidity (which in a marine environment means minimum water puddles and maximum ventilation), and keeping surfaces as clean and dry as possible.