Canopy Cleaning Advice

[dnks34]

Ive spent a lot of time cleaning our canopy of late, most of it has come up lovely but annoyingly on the top of the canvas (when in situ) there is some sort of mold/mildew/fungus that keeps coming back up as its drying. 

I have powerwashed it on a flat surface a couple of times (naughty I know!) but it got the bird mess off. 

Washed it 3 or 4 times in a diluted fairy liquid / chlorine bleach solution and let it soak and then again powerwashed to rinse, it is quite a weak powerwasher! 

As a last resort I soaked it in a 20:1 solution of HG mold remover and water.  This stuff removes mold/mildew/algae from patios and driveways.  It did say to leave on for 36hrs but I didnt want to risk that on the canvas so I left it on a few hours then hose pipe rinsed it off but still the mold returns! 

When the canvas is dry i can scrape at the mold with a fingernail and it does comes away but it is literally all over the top of the canvas!

The canopy itself is around 7/8 years old,  underneath this substance the canvas is still in fairly good condition (even after my aggressive cleaning attempts) 

I intended to reproof it but dont really want to fabsil over the mold, can anyone suggest a surefire way of shifting it?! 

I am starting to consider brick acid as a viable option!!

[Baitrunner]

Try a diluted solution of tea tree oil. 

don't use it neat though. 

Not sure the bleach or pressure washer will have done it any good though. 

[Jim]

I am pretty sure there have been other questions on this topic so with a bit of luck  you should get some decent suggestions. Proofing could be a great help but that is best left to those with experience of canvas. Ours has a sort of plastic coating inside and out (there is a term for that type of fabric) so we never need to proof.  A handy tip though for all types of canopy is how to prevent mould growing in the zips. Spray on some beeswax polish, brush in with a small brush and this helps stop the build up and also makes it easy to remove.  Bonus is the zips run smoother as well!      

[dnks34]

I got the bleach / mild detergent recipe from a canopy makers website. I was sceptical also and tested it on a small area first, the canopy doesnt look any the worse for wear for it but it hasnt helped remove the mold, in theory it should have killed it easily.  It did get all the green out of it quite easily.

Id say the biggest risk from the powerwasher is to the stitching and I have been cautious with it 

thanks for the tea tree oil idea I will give it a go. 

[Timbo]

I'm sorry to say, and I hope I'm proved wrong,but from experience as a QM & dealing with hundreds of yards of canvas that once mold gets into canvas...the canvas is knackered. Mold is microscopic and spreads via hyphae or tiny root like hairs. If you can see the mold...there's billions of the microscopic b*****s. These hair like 'root systems' entwine with the fabric structure of the canvas and open it up making it no longer waterproof. As mold is also eukaryotic, meaning they have a membrane around the nucleus of the cell which is nigh on indestructible, you won't get rid of the mold in the weave of the fabric.

I used to cut out the offending panels and replace the panel with new.

[ranworthbreeze]

21 minutes ago, dnks34 said:

I got the bleach / mild detergent recipe from a canopy makers website. I was sceptical also and tested it on a small area first, the canopy doesnt look any the worse for wear for it but it hasnt helped remove the mold, in theory it should have killed it easily.  It did get all the green out of it quite easily.

Id say the biggest risk from the powerwasher is to the stitching and I have been cautious with it 

thanks for the tea tree oil idea I will give it a go. 

The biggest risk to the stitching is how portent the bleach solution is, a cap full to a bucket of water should be OK but a more potent solution will rot the stitching so be careful.

Regards

Alan

[dnks34]

Thanks for that Alan I hadnt realised the bleach would harm the stitching! 

Do you mean cap full......or cup full?! 

[dnks34]

53 minutes ago, Timbo said:

I'm sorry to say, and I hope I'm proved wrong,but from experience as a QM & dealing with hundreds of yards of canvas that once mold gets into canvas...the canvas is knackered. Mold is microscopic and spreads via hyphae or tiny root like hairs. If you can see the mold...there's billions of the microscopic b*****s. These hair like 'root systems' entwine with the fabric structure of the canvas and open it up making it no longer waterproof. As mold is also eukaryotic, meaning they have a membrane around the nucleus of the cell which is nigh on indestructible, you won't get rid of the mold in the weave of the fabric.

I used to cut out the offending panels and replace the panel with new.

This is what I feared!! But thankyou for the advice! 

[ExUserGone]

Patio magic seems to be the regularly recommended solution for canvas canopies, I can't say if it works or not as I have had an unopened pot of it in my lazarette for over a year and it hasn't yet managed to creep out of the bottle and apply itself yet, I have a feeling it will need help.

wet'n'forget is the other version which I believe is more or less the same thing but dearer due to the inference that it could be used on a boat and as we all know that justifies a huge increase in cost every time.

If you are really desperate to find if it works the pot is in the port corner beside the steering gear at the back, there is a jar and brush in there somewhere you can use but clean it out when you are finished, let me know when you have finished the job and how nice my canopy looks, if you do a good job I'll buy you an ice cream......