Any way to get rid of mould on a Lifejacket?

greggron

greggron

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Servicing a Seago auto-inflate lifejacket; when opening it out there are quite a few black mould marks on the red outer and yellow interior. Is there a way I can get rid of these marks without damaging the jacket? Any recommendations?

Thanks in anticipation.

G
 
Probably any mould spray would do that contains bleach.
I use Dettol mould remover , available anywhere , comes in a spray pack and is bright green.

I also use it to demould the boat.
 
Oh, no, here we go again. If you want to get rid of mould, just use a gentle solution of the cheapest household bleach you can find (Tesco Everyday Value Thin Bleach at 29p for 2 litres will do). Stuff like HG Mould Spray and Dettol Mould Remover are simply a dilute hypochlorite bleach solution in a fancy bottle, with an even fancier price. None of these are guaranteed to remove mould spots, but at least if you use basic bleach you won't have been ripped off.
 
I have used cheap bleach neat on the outer and scrub a small qty into the mould marks, gradually working around the cover. By the time you get to the far end its time to rinse the start part.

Thoroughly rinse the whole thing (auto inflator removed of course), blow up and leave for 24 hours, to test the thing and dry off.

I am sure I have committed cardinal sins in the eyes of the manufacturers, but works for me. I do keep the bleach off the inner bladder.
 
nigelmercier said:
I've tried everything: bleach, bleach-free mould remover ... as well as Dettol mould remover. The only one that works, and prevents the mould from returning in a few weeks is this one. I'm a hoarder, but I still chucked out all the other stuff I'd tried (OK, SWMBO made me).
Click to expand...

Just look at the MSDS for it - it's sodium hypochlorite, aka bleach.
 
Cheapest and best I'm told is vinegar, it is what shore side hotels use to get rid of mold on mattresses. More gentle than bleach.
 
Success

OK - success

Once having removed the CO2 cylinder and water sensing cartridge, on patch tests tried, vinegar, Vanish, Power Force Mould & Mildew Remover, diluted Bleach

Vanish and the Mould & Mildew remover made little/no difference at all. Vinegar was pretty good if applied neat and rubbed with a cloth. But the best was diluted bleach which took away all but the deepest/worst stains. 20 mins after application I gave it a good hose down in the garden and it is now drip drying before being dried on warm radiator. I will probably manually inflate it using the tube when it is dry to test that the bladder is still operating ok.

One potentially life-saving add-on to this was that when I came to remove the CO2 cylinder, it was a few turns loose. Close enough to be punctured by the firing mechanism but loose enough for at least some of the gas to leak straight into the air rather than in to inflate the jacket!
 
Oxygen bleaches have worked well for me when Chlorine ones haven't (I may have been too dilute)

(e.g Vanish OxyAction)
 
With apologies for reviving a year old thread....after going at the mould stains on my lifejackets with bleach solution and a scrubbing brush there are still many black spots on them, both the plain red covers of the mullion ones and the nice green textured fabric of the spinlock one. I very much doubt that these are "live" mould patches any more but they're unsightly. Are people saying that bleach has made their mouldy lifejackets spotless? The Sainsbury's one I'm using contains sodium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite.
 
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