Vinyl Cleaning-Mildew Spots

[Pitty]

Looking for the best way/cleaner to remove black mildew spots from the vinyl. These are from the previous owner and may have been there for years, as ive tried elbow grease with aurora marine vinyl cleaner, but not having muck luck. Any advice would be appreciated

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[charlesml3]

This is the problem with mildew when it's ignored. At this point, the mildew is gone, but the stain remains. Try a mixture of bleach & water. See if that'll diminish the stains. You can also try a Magic Eraser, but be careful. They can get really abrasive.

-Charles

[Pitty]

Thank you Charles, i will give it a try. I have also been reading about Malco leather and vinyl cleaner, have you had any experience with this product?

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[Wake.BC]

Are you really getting it wet and scrubbing with a brush? That can make a big difference


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[charlesml3]

Thank you Charles, i will give it a try. I have also been reading about Malco leather and vinyl cleaner, have you had any experience with this product?

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Sorry, no. I haven't heard of Malco. For vinyl, I always use Fantastic, 409 or bleach & water. Once it's clean, I use 303 Aerospace to protect it.

-Charles

[Dgee]

Malco with a magic eraser should get it all out. The combination is amazing, Malco puts all the other cleaners to shame.

[goldfisch]

Star bright mildew and stain remover from Walmart worked great for me. good luck

[Pitty]

Thanks everyone for your advice, im sure one of these will work.

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[scottb7]

Yep, use the star bright mildew stain remover. It works. For tough spots you have to spray, then wait a while, then lightly brush with soft bristle brush, then repeat, spray wait, light brush. It does work!

I got my boat out of florida, and it had tons of mildew stain. It all came off...

Better yet buy the malco and the star bright and do a compare for all of us!

[ScooterMcgavin]

Yep, use the star bright mildew stain remover. It works. For tough spots you have to spray, then wait a while, then lightly brush with soft bristle brush, then repeat, spray wait, light brush. It does work!

I got my boat out of florida, and it had tons of mildew stain. It all came off...

Better yet buy the malco and the star bright and do a compare for all of us!

I'll second this method, and it would be great to see a side by side on each product.

[shag]

If you use bleach any wear near the stitching, flood the area with fresh water when finished...

[Infinity]

Dollar Store also sells something called "LA Awesome" cleaner...very similar to Malco, but for $1. You can dilute and use soft bristle brush. It works amazing on tough stains, but you gotta be careful with it, clean up really well after using and then condition the vinyl with the 303 (several times if you are me).

[ag4ever]

The best bleach based product I have found is Shoreline Marine - Mildew Stain Remover. I also use magic eraser to hit the stubborn areas.

Both of these products are a last resort effort. They will strip the top layer off the vinyl and future reinfestations of mold/mildew will happen much easier. I decided to use them with the knowledge I was only prolonging the useful life of the vinyl by a few years, and plan to resin all surfaces in a few more years.

This was done after I left the boat in a storage unit with a cover for 2 years. All the vinyl had extream mildew stains. To the point I was about to replace all vinyl. I was able to get 99% of all stains out, and 2 years latter they are still gone. But the boat is now kept in a dry garage 99% of the time. Really does not get an opportunity for mildew to bloom.

whatever product you use, the higher bleach content, the better it works, and more damaging it is to everything.

[kmarine]

10% bleech and water soak a microfiber towel ring out cover stain for 3 minutes keep wet. until stain fades repeat if necessary wipe do not scrub. wear old cloths do not get on any other fabric surfaces. rinse with wet towels to remove residue. this method takes time. I have repeated as many as 10 times before heavy black stains are gone. I have removed black stains from customer boats when they asked me to re upholster. I like to follow up a few days later with 303 protectant to keep material soft. you may want to use rubber gloves.