Smelly Awning

[Bighorns]

Put my awning out for the first time last night and it has a kind of sour smell to it from the moisture in it all winter. Is there a certain cleaner that any of you use that will get rid of this smell?

[Bighorns]

I tried the water/ bleach solution with the pump sprayer and rolled up for a couple of hours. Unrolled and then washed down with soap and water solution and brush. Came out great. Thanks for all of the suggestions. I think any of them would work great... I also ruined a new shirt from the bleach that the wife wasn't happy about. To much camping on the mind!!

[kmbelt]

austinjenna wrote:
I spray mine to get it wet, spray tilex on it and roll it up and leave it for an hour, unroll it and its shiny white like new, no scrubbing needed, just rinse it off.

X2

Tilex Mold & Mildew is just the stuff. One spray bottle will do my 14Ft. If it's really bad, i use two bottles.

Easiest cleaning possible with the least amount of work.

[austinjenna]

I spray mine to get it wet, spray tilex on it and roll it up and leave it for an hour, unroll it and its shiny white like new, no scrubbing needed, just rinse it off.

[Jerico68]

I also spray my awning but I use a product called Jomax. It is mixed with bleach and water and is routinely used in this area when washing mildew off from around the house and prevents it from coming back. It makes cleaning easy and prevents mildew from forming on the awning.

[QFP]

I'd use vinegar before any bleach

[ACZL]

If your awning is vinyl, here is what I used via TL forum from years ago:

Dedicated brush on end of extend-a-pole
Safety goggles, old shirt, pants etc.
Unfurl awning and rinse off w/ water
1-2 qts Tilex Mold & Mildew cleaner
Brush Tilex on starting on underside 1st.
Brush Tilex on topside
Roll awning up and let sit 20-30 minutes.
Unroll and rinse off well.
Wholla, nice shiney/clean awning.

[pjberny5]

Buy yourself as 12 dollar 1 gallon hand pump weed sprayer from Walmart or hardware store and spray the solution on both top and bottom. Works better than trying to brush it on.

[2manytoyz]

My awning is vinyl, and stays wet a good portion of the year due to the rains here in FL. Consequently, it had mold growing on it.

In the past, I had washed it with a soap and bleach mix, using an RV brush. Kept everything wet for 10 minutes, then rinsed off. Worked pretty good.

A couple of weeks ago I found a YouTube video where a person sprayed his awning, rolled it up, and let it set for 20 minutes or so.

I bought a $10 pump sprayer from Home Depot, and made up a couple of gallons of water with a good dose of bleach added. This made applying the mix much easier than using an RV brush.

After the 20 minute soak, I rolled the awning out, and rinsed it off. While it is almost 9 years old, it cleaned up REALLY well.

So if you don't have great success with your current method, try rolling up the awning wet with the bleach solution and allowing it to do its magic.

[nano]

I've had the best results with Clorox Clean-Up. I spray it on a damp/wet sponge mop, scrub/mop the awning, let it sit for a minute, give it one more quick wipe and rinse with the hose. It worked way better than the stupid mold and mildew cleaner I bought.

[Bighorns]

Thanks for the suggestions. Will try them out.

[ksg5000]

Brush down the awning using some soap/water/bleach ... roll it up for at least 1/2 hour while it's soapy ... unfurl and hose down. Easy way to keep it clean.

[Iraqvet05]

Camco cleaner gets some good reviews. Put some in a garden sprayer, spray it on and roll up the awning. Let is sit for 30-60 minutes then unroll and scrub off the heavier stains with a sponge mop or broom and spray off the rest.

[Coach-man]

Dilutted bleach and water, scrub both top and bottom, rinse and leave out to throughly dry! The smell is probably from mold! Might want to test a small portion with your diluted bleach solution before doing the whole thing!