No hazmat suit required
Anyone who is familiar with the television series Holmes_on_Homes would know that the show’s lead Michael Holmes has a real thing against mold. So much so that, in several of the episodes I have watched, he seemed pretty quick to call in a crew wearing hazmat suits to deal with any such problem. Perhaps I may be underestimating the severity of the issue but regardless, I honestly think Mike should avoid any extended stay on a boat. With how common at least minor incidences of mold are onboard ships, I don’t think he’d be all that comfortable.
Fortunately for us, mold has never been a big problem on ZTC, at least not since we left the colder weather of Canada. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the majority of a catamaran’s living space is above the waterline as compared to a monohull’s which is below it. Or it could be the fact that we have a multitude of hatches and ports which afford us great ventilation. Regardless of why, we are happy that it hasn’t been as big a deal for us as it has been for others. The only real mold casualties on our boat have been items made of leather. I’m not sure why but shoes and other items made from leather seem to attract mold infinitely more than things made from synthetics, even when stored side by side with them. We’re now at the point where there are no more leather shoes on our boat. After cleaning the few pairs that we left Canada with several times, we gave up and tossed them.
If we do notice any surface mold on bulkheads or other items, we now use a product called Mold Armor and it seems to make very short work of it. Note that we do not wear a hazmat suit while applying this product!
Bleach and water is all that is needed mike to kill mold spores and is probably cheaper and serves many purposes on a boat…….
I don’t doubt that but I’d have to mix it, and I wouldn’t have the pretty green bottle.
I would imagine that “Mold Armor” has a surfactant added (something that lowers the surface tension of a liquid), which improves the product for that use. I know when I wash our house with bleach, water & a surfactant it last longer than just bleach & water. Adds a little to the cost, but saves at least 1 “rug shaking” day every year.
Anything that can be done to minimize rug shaking is good!
OK, you explained RUG shaking, but what is RIG shaking?
Comment edited smart@ass. 🙂
Where did you purchase it?
I forget. Ace or IGA I think.
I’ve been reading up on the subject and experimenting. I have found that bleach water gets the mildew off in short order, although it can eat your sponge and hands… But, it doesn’t kill the source and the mildew will come back. I’ve found that a solution of two cups water to two teaspoons of Tea Tree oil ( you can mix it up in your pretty green spray bottle) spray on after cleaning the black stuff off… Leave it on to dry and the mildew doesn’t come back.
Interesting. Fortunately we do not have enough mold on our boat to be experimenting. 🙂
Where does one acquire Tea Tree Oil and how expensive is it?
Here are some uses for it, check it out.
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/20-great-uses-for-tea-tree-oil.html
it is not very expensive at all and available here even at Walmart and pretty much any pharmacy so i would think where you are you will find it in a pharmacy.
Cheers,
Denis
Health Food Stores..
Thanks guys.
Pretty Green Spray Bottle, NICE! Love the humor. We actually use the store brand of Clorox Clean Up. You can get it in a gallon jug, so pretty cheap, and use a generic spray bottle, which lasts longer. You can get Mold Armor in the same places you can get DanpRid, Goof Off and Klean Strip, it is the same company that makes them all.
This stuff is available in jugs too but fortunately we have little need for that much (nor a place to store it if we did).
We find that mold is attracted to the white vinyl lining in out Cat. We have been using Spray 9 from Budget Marine and it works well. But a few weeks later, it starts coming back in little dots and clusters. It also comes back quicker in the head where we shower. Mike, do you guys shower outside??
Yes, we shower outside so that obviously keeps a lot of moisture out of the boat. From time to time we do get a bit of mold on that white vinyl which is pretty much the only place we end up using the cleaner that I mentioned.
I used a product called Sporicidin. It is a commercial quality mold disinfectant. It will work on porous surfaces and will continue to kill mold for 4 – 6 months. This is what I used after huricane damage to my boat in storage in Mexico, it was filled with mold and after cleaning and cruising for more than a year, I have had less mold problems than are normal on boats in this area. I would definitely reccomend. I was reffered to this product from a mold remediation contractor.
http://www.sporicidin.com/cleaning-and-restoration-faqs.php
Hi Dan
Thanks for the tip. Do you know where this can be purchased?
I purchased it from a janitorial supply house in Denver, CO. I am sure you could find a similar retailer in just about any city or there are many online retailers.
Also, this stuff is non-toxic and used mostly by hospitals.
Cool.
Thanks to Tammy for her Tea Tree idea.
In UK winter, freezing, then warming in spring, mold grows wonderfully well. And it always comes back. I will try that idea to see if I can solve the problem.
Cheers!
All the best in warm, rainy, breezy Grenada. No time for mold there.
Mike
🙂
Further to the water and tea tree oil solution, we used similar quantities of water and Oil of Cloves in a spray bottle last wet season, which was the first time we had ever had mould in the house, and this year the mould hasn’t come back and it was a just as wet year. As it was mentioned on a popular current affairs program, Oil of Cloves quickly sold out for a while, but many people used it and it works!
Catherine
Interesting!