Mould on sprayhood

[Guest]

Having had a new sprayhood made at the beginning of the season (fawn colour) I was a bit annoyed to note that there is mould discolouring it. The material is fabric outer with a waterproof inner surface. Any thoughts how to remove the mould without damaging the fabric?

 

[philip_stevens]

Try a gentle application of spray-on bathroom mould cleaner (hardware stores, B&Q etc), and have a bucket of sea water to well wash it off as soon as the mould goes.

regards,
Philip

 

[Guest]

OR .... B&Q as well as Camping shops sell the Mould Cleaner for Tents / awnings etc.

Spray on, scrub and then rinse off.

The only problem is that once mould and cleaner has been used - the mould will re-appear quite quickly ... I know I've been fighting it for years now on my sprayhood ! I have been told that there is a proofer that you can apply afdter cleaning - but I haven't tried or found it yet !

Approximately 2 times per year I use the above cleaner now ..... so maybe its time I found this proffer !!!!! Oh yes ... the cleaner has not hurt the material at all that I can see.

 

[dickh]

I have a white sprayhood which is several years old. It suffered badly from green algae so removed it last winter and scrubbed it thoroughly in the bath with plenty of biological detergent. I did it twice and then reproofef it with a spray proofer. I came up surprisingly well and looks considerable better and the proofing appears tp work. But I would'nt use spray proofer again, only just managed to finish the hood & it was expensive(and found a tin of Graingers tent waterproofing solution in the shed after I'd finished...)

dickh
I'd rather be sailing...

 

[pandroid]

I use the Starbrite Mould remover spray from Chandlers. Sprayed on once a year, it does exactly what it says on the bottle - the mould dissapears without any scrubbing or effort in about 3 minutes. Some people say that it may attack gelcoat, so I do it off the boat. I just spray the thing down with water afterwards. (occasionally I use the re-proofer as well but that needs over night to dry)

 

[dickh]

I also bought this, but after reading the small print, only accessible after ripping the label, I discovered it was only recommended for PVC so I didn't use it, and as my hood is acrylic I scrubbed it as my previous post.
Incidently, according to SHMBO, all it appeared to be was bleach in fancy packaging...

dickh
I'd rather be sailing...

 

[pandroid]

I think you may be right about the bleach. It certainly smells like it. OTOH, I've used it for three years without mishap. The manual says put it in the washing machine, which has absolutely no effect whatsoever....

 

[ArthurWood]

I have a similar material on my power boat: Sunbrella fabric on the outside and vinyl inside and I had the same mould problem. I use Mould Stain Away made by Marine Dev and Res Corp, NY, NY from West Marine. It kills the mould, is "environmentally friendly" and when sprayed on after cleaning keeps mould away for months

 

[pvb]

The stuff to look for...

The best stuff by far is any product which contains benzalkonium chloride, ideally together with disodium octaborate. You need to read the fine print on the labels very carefully. I've found that the most readily available product is Polycell 3-in-1 Mould Killer (which seems to be carried by most B&Q stores). It's a clear liquid. Wear rubber gloves and eye protection. Apply the undiluted liquid (generously) to your sprayhood using a paint brush, and just let the sprayhood dry. Don't rinse it off. Choose a day when it's likely to be dry weather for at least 24 hours. Don't wash the sprayhood for about 5 days after application.

The active ingredients apparently break down the mechanism which allows algae to attach to the surface, and they have a residual effect which lasts for several months.

Other products which have these ingredients are Cuprinol Mould Killer and Phostrogen Algae Killer, but they're both quite difficult to find in shops.

Don't use other "mould killer" or "algae killer" products unless they contain these ingredients - they'll probably only be bleach-based and will damage your sprayhood.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the suggestions