26M Carpet mold

[jmillski1]

Hi everyone, this board has been so amazingly helpful for a new sailor/26M owner. Just got her home to start working on her. Just have to figure a name, hasn’t been named yet.

I have a question about the cabin. I smell a mold/mildew smell and so see some orange and black spots on the carpet, some cables. I’ve bought a few mold carpet removers as well as a “mold bomb.” For the carpet itself had anyone used an actual steam carpet cleaner before? I found one for around 150 on sale at Lowe’s. So far I have the following on the way

[jmillski1]

Oops as well as Nosguard mildew odor fast release (sodium chlorite)

[Starscream]

The constant battle. I assume you've checked the archives of this forum? There is some good info there.

Chlorine dioxide is a powerful airborne mold killer: starbrite nosguard makes both slow and fast release options. A fast release bomb might help with the smell.

Concrobium is a brand name for a trisodium phosphate based contact spray which is very effective and leaves a white powdery residue that prevents regrowth. You can make your own for a few cents a gallon: it's tsp, baking soda and washing soda dissolved in water.

For cleaning mold, there is a similar formula that substitutes borax for the washing soda. Haven't tried it but I hear it's good. An Internet search will find the proportions, or I can go look it up if you need.

[Jimmyt]

I have a question about the cabin. I smell a mold/mildew smell and so see some orange and black spots on the carpet, some cables. I’ve bought a few mold carpet removers as well as a “mold bomb.” For the carpet itself had anyone used an actual steam carpet cleaner before? I found one for around 150 on sale at Lowe’s. So far I have the following on the way

To be clear, is this the liner fabric on the sides, or the removable carpet sections on the floor? Please post pics if possible so we can give you better guidance.

Some mildew stain removal products will take the color out of a lot of materials, so be very careful with that stuff. Do a drop-size test spot before you cut loose with it.

As Starscream says, concrobium is good for killing it, however, it doesn't remove stains in my experience. But, for killing it and stopping the regrowth, its good.

Remember, if you get fabric and/or carpet wet (using steam cleaner), you will need to put it somewhere very dry so it can dry out or you'll just repeat the process...

[Starscream]

I am in a constant battle against mold. I think I fight pretty hard: ClO2 bombs, constant cleaning, Concrobium spray everywhere, removal and replacement of surface-moldy styrofoam, etc.

The absolute worst place for mold and smell is fabric. This year all cushions and mattresses are replaced, with the foam wrapped in "silk" plastic and the fabric 303-protected.

Curtains were removed and washed, but still have that boat-smell, so they are being replaced too.

One place I haven't really spent a lot of time on is the carpet-covered rear-berth wall that covers the aft bilge where the motor well drains. It's carpet, but it's far away and hard to get to, so I never really looked hard at it. Well I took it out a couple of days ago and was pretty grossed out by the amount of mold in the fibers of the carpet, and in the grain of the "wood" veneer it was glued to.

So this:


1/8" HDPE covered by a vinyl stick-on wood imitation. Up close it doesn't look so professional, but you can't really get up close without a lot of effort. It looks great from the cabin.

Oh, and does anyone know where that clear plastic tube in the upper left hand side of the photo leads to? In my other war on mosquitoes in the cabin I ended up putting a little screen in there, and that combined with the hatch and companionway covers have resulted in mosquito-free nights.

[C Buchs]

So this:


1/8" HDPE covered by a vinyl stick-on wood imitation. Up close it doesn't look so professional, but you can't really get up close without a lot of effort. It looks great from the cabin.

Oh, and does anyone know where that clear plastic tube in the upper left hand side of the photo leads to? In my other war on mosquitoes in the cabin I ended up putting a little screen in there, and that combined with the hatch and companionway covers have resulted in mosquito-free nights.

I love what you've done with that rear cover. I removed mine with the intention of updating it 3 or 4 years ago. I'm making new HDPE covers for all the bilge lids now. I'll have to order some more for that.

On my boat, the steering cables go through that clear plastic tube in the upper left-hand side of your photo.

Jeff

[NiceAft]

Jmillski 1,

As to naming, you may wish to check out this thread viewtopic.php?f=9&t=28175

Starscream,

The tube is so clear, I don't see it. Maybe the aft sleeping area is somewhat different in the than the

[Starscream]

I love what you've done with that rear cover. I removed mine with the intention of updating it 3 or 4 years ago. I'm making new HDPE covers for all the bilge lids now. I'll have to order some more for that.

On my boat, the steering cables go through that clear plastic tube in the upper left-hand side of your photo.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff,

A 12x48 sheet of 1/8" HDPE was perfect for the job. The 1/8" is almost as light as the existing panels, which is important to me because we sit low in the water, aft-wise.

The tube isn't so clear from the front view because it's kind of a smoked plastic and I've got it stuffed full of mosquito screen. It's the only round-looking thing at the top left of the photo, but it looks black I'll admit. Interesting to know that's the original steering routing, now I'm wondering why mine doesn't do that. I may just cut out the protruding part of the tube and cap the hole to clean things up back there.

I really wanted to take out the motor drain well hose and replace it, but man, there's not a lot of room to work behind those new, beautiful hand-crafted solid wood panels. My hose has two grey plastic PVC elbows leading out to the "thru hull" and I'm wondering if they were original or if the factory ran a plastic hose without elbows. Anyone know?

[dlandersson]

And there's your name - "Carpet Mold"

Hi everyone, this board has been so amazingly helpful for a new sailor/26M owner. Just got her home to start working on her. Just have to figure a name, hasn’t been named yet.

I have a question about the cabin. I smell a mold/mildew smell and so see some orange and black spots on the carpet, some cables. I’ve bought a few mold carpet removers as well as a “mold bomb.” For the carpet itself had anyone used an actual steam carpet cleaner before? I found one for around 150 on sale at Lowe’s. So far I have the following on the way