Cleaning Boat Cover

[Ted Kutz]

Well it was that time of year to clean the mildew from the boat cover. Did it last year using Star Bright mildew remover and used five 22oz bottles from West Marine at $15.49 a bottle for a total $77.45 plus tax.. I thought there must be something cheaper so I went to Lowes and bought 2 gallons Zep Mold Stain & Mildew Stain Remover for $7.98 ea. Only used 1 gallon and I think the Zep work better and also saved a lot of money this year.

 

[Glassman]

uh, yeah, West Marine will typically be much higher than elsewhere for the same item. The ZEP products are pretty good in my opinion. Good find, thanks for sharing.

 

[tdonoughue]

@Speedling might want to note...

 

[Rideitout]

I believe Zep is just sodium hypochlorite (bleach). I would just pick up some store brand bleach at the grocery and mix it to your liking for cheaper.

God do I love bleach.

 

[KXCam22]

I just did that. I used my large garbage-can-on-wheels and filled it up with Tide and cold water, then used it as a washing machine (me and a stick). After soaking I pulled it out on an old table and used a scrub brush. In future I would take off the ratchet strap mechanism and use a large commercial washer at the laundromat. The Tide worked great. I dried it on a frame in the backyard (2x4 scraps) and treated it with 303 fabric protectant. I should have planned that part better as I could only get the 473ml spray bottles and it took 6 @ $20 each. Cover looks new now. Cam.

 

[njmr2fan]

I cleaned mine with a diluted mixture of Wet and forget. Its available at costco and most home stores. Besides killing mold and mildew you can use it in the shower, on your vinyl siding or fencing, lawn furniture yada yada yada. Worked well and its supposed to leave behind a trace of a mold and mildew inhibitor.