Homemade remedies?

[Prairie Dog]

Has any one out there got a good homemade solution for cleaning the mildew from an awning that has been stored over the winter?

Is there anything I can apply before storage to keep this from happening?



TIA,

Scotty

 

[bmoeller]

Have you tried products like Simple Green or Clean Shower?

 

[DBCooper]

I've used bleach and water... worked great. I did notice that I needed to brush it for about 10 minutes before the mildew started to fade, and within 5 more min. it was gone. It isn't very fun to do the underside.

 

[Jumbo Jet]

Bleche White tire cleaner.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I tried simple green and Bleche white tire cleaner but they didn't do much for the stains. Maybe I'll try the "shower clean stuff". I was a little affraid to use straight bleech for fear of damaging the colored portion of the awning. But if experience shows it doesn't bother it I'll give it a try too.

 

[bmoeller]

I thought there was a color safe bleach available. Don't remember who makes it.

 

[RMcCulloch]

Originally posted by bmoeller

I thought there was a color safe bleach available. Don't remember who makes it.

The problem with the "color safe" bleach is that it's the Chlorine in the "regular" bleach that's doing the job on the mold.



A mild solution of TSP [Tri-Sodium Phosphate] will kill the mold but may also bleach out the colors.

 

[dalton4]

Scotty, the following is from articles I've seen several times from the rv side of life. It is cheap and works fine from what I've read.



Mix 1/4 cup of dish soap and 1/4 cup of bleach in 5 gallons of warm water.



Wash top and bottom of awning with the solution



Roll up the awning for 5 minutes to 2 hours depending on how tough the job.



Unroll awning and rinse off thoroughly.



Allow to dry completely before rolling back up.



Caution ... . using strong detergent or stain removers will attack water repellant qualities. It is also best to use a soft bristle brush.



Jerry

 

[TowPro]

Walmart sells "RV Awning Cleaner" for cheep, never thought about "mixing my own".



while your at Walmart there Black Streek remover, and Rubber Roof cleaner works great also.

 

[moparguy]

The best simple way to remove stain I've found is to tackle it while it's raining. Best if it's been raining for a day or so. Works kinda like a pre soak. Usually about any kind of cleaner will work if the stain has been wet for several hours/days.



Course, it's kinda tough getting out there and tacking a job that's hard to get motivated to attack on a good day, much less a rainy TV kinda day.



RJR

 

[TowPro]

I saw a guy cleaning his awning this summer with a mop. It looked like it was working good, and he was not soaking wet like I seem to get when I do it with the brush



It was one of those mops that has a sponge on it, with the handle you fold over to ring the water out of it.



He had some comercial cleaner for awnings mixed with water in the bucket.



I might try it, but my wife would make me buy my own mop first.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Thanks for all the great suggestions guys. I'm gonna try using the diff cleaners and Jerry's idea of rolling it up so it soaks for awhile.

 

[The patriot]

Originally posted by bmoeller

I thought there was a color safe bleach available. Don't remember who makes it.

Wife thinks youre refering to Vivid. ???

Eric

 

[BV]

A&E Awning cleaning instructions

I don't have them in front of me but I remember reading in the manual that you could pour on some bleach and roll it up for X minutes to remove stains. I don't see why it wouldn't work for mold/mildew.



For more information you might visit the IRV2 site