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jackpam's avatar
jackpam
Explorer
Jul 02, 2014

mildew oder

We have a 1997 Alpenlite 29ft single slide. We noticed over the winter that we had a mildew smell coming from the storage compartment. I took out everything underneath and sprayed a section of wood that had a mildew stain with bleach everyday for a week and the smell persisted. I have since pulled up some of the carpeting that was damp and used a hair drier but still have
about 50% of the smell left. Any ideas?
  • I found a pin hole under the stairwell that soaked the bottom of the paneling entering into the storage area. I cleaned it all out and sprayed the whole area with bleach. So far so good. Thank you all for suggestions.
  • I had same problem.Then...............I found where the water was really coming in from and it was a disaster.Not saying thats your problem but I found one small damp area in a compartment and could not get rid of mildew smell.Well come to find out after a heavy rain ,well during a heavy rain the water was coming in from bedroom slide area and the entire bottom of slide was soaked black mold.I lifted the carpet on slide and literally pulled with my hand ithe black plywood that disolved in my hand as I grabbed it.So that was my source of the smell.
  • dockmasterdave wrote:
    Until you stop the water intrusion nothing will work.It will come back.
    Killing the mold is not good enough, it must be removed.
    The part that is dangerous is the waste products of the mold.
    1 stop the water intrusion.
    2 Remove or clean all effected surfaces and dry thoroughly.
    3 Apply a fungicide.

    You should not need anything to get rid of the smell. When the mold is gone the smell will be also. And yes I do hold a mold re-mediators license.
    I seriously doubt that the people telling you how to get rid of the smell have studied microbiology.



    Actually yes I did take microbiology in college, just didn't major in it. It was a required part of nursing. I didn't tell him to mask it. I told him to fix it, clean it up and then use the zeolite. I do respect your advice on mold removal though as that is far from my area of specialty.
  • Until you stop the water intrusion nothing will work.It will come back.
    Killing the mold is not good enough, it must be removed.
    The part that is dangerous is the waste products of the mold.
    1 stop the water intrusion.
    2 Remove or clean all effected surfaces and dry thoroughly.
    3 Apply a fungicide.

    You should not need anything to get rid of the smell. When the mold is gone the smell will be also. And yes I do hold a mold re-mediators license.
    I seriously doubt that the people telling you how to get rid of the smell have studied microbiology.
  • First find the source of the water intrusion. Then clean and repair the areas damaged. Then purchase Zeolite crystals. Put the zeolite in the area with odor. Works wonders.
  • when repairing my water damage i used a combo of white vinegar, water and pet odor enzyme solution..i put it in a garden pump sprayer and sprayed everything. i have zero off smell and with the new subfloor, insulation etc it smells like a new camper.
  • Rent or purchase an ozone generator. I purchased one like this Ozone Generator This is what motels etc use to remove odors and ozone will kill mold and mildew.
  • Is there a leak or water intrusion somewhere? The mildew/mold will just reappear if you don't eliminate the water source.