Mildew Stains!

[larrym]

Left my boat covered in Canada for about three weeks during this past rainy summer and now have some tough mildew stains on vinyl seats. (particularly nasty on my fold down jump seats) I've tried traditional cleaners but have not yet moved to bleach or the tougher tile cleaners etc. Any magic formulas out there before I jump in and make a mistake?

[Tim Ellis]

Larry,

I had the same thing this summer. I left some wet life jackets and clothes in a front storage and there was mold and mildew everywhere. I could not get it off the vinyl butt seat for the life of me until a little research i came across this product: http://www.marinespraynine.com/ It completely got the mold and mildew off everything in the boat, seat (that previous cleaners wouldn't get off) and even the life jackets. I bought mine locally at an Ace Hardware sold under the name Spray Nine dissinfectant but the company emailed me advising it was the exact same formula as the marine version. Best $6.99 i spent all summer. Problem solved with this product as it did a great job.

[larrym]

Boy, that was quick and just the experience I needed. Looks like I'm on my way to Ace. :)

[Tim Ellis]

Larry,

According to Spray Nine's website its also available at Walmart but I did not check with them. I couldn't believe how well this product worked but it sure did compared to other cleaners. Didn't hurt or damage any finishes either which was important to me also.

[careful]

Make sure you check the labels. I had the same mildew problem a couple of years ago. I bought a product called something like marine mildew remover. It took care of the mildew but about a year later all the seams on my seats started to let loose. I read the label and found that bleach was a major ingredient.

[rpieske]

If the ingredients list sodium hypochlorite....that's bleach.

[rebs]

I have had good results using simple green or 409 cleaner for getting mildew off vinyl seats