Awning mildew

[MKirkland]

We were looking at our awning that has a little mildew. Someone at a campground told me that he uses a 50% mixture of Simple Green in a spray bottle. He then roles the awning up for 30 minutes. After that, he will open his awning and sprays it with a hose. Anyone ever try this? Do you have a better idea?

[Jframpey]

Once clean I allow mine to dry thoroughly and then lightly sprinkle Gold Bond medicated powder before rolling up. I even sprinkle some on a brush and wipe the underside.

The Gold Bond has zinc oxide in the mix - it is a great mildewcide... Used for years in paint to control mildew. I apply a new dusting before storing the trailer after each trip.

I actually buy the cheap medicated powder at Walmart - just make sure that it contains zinc oxide.

No more mildew!

[EnochLight]

Simple Green had 2-butoxyethanol (EGBE) at ~4% or less until last year. As of right now, it's pretty safe to use though.

Do you guys have to put a lot of elbow grease into scrubbing mildew off when using Simple Green? Does it stay off pretty good or does it return pretty fast?

[APT]

Any decent degreaser should work. I have used Simple Green (straight) and Awesome as well as awning cleaner. Spray some on, roll the awning up for an hour, unroll, and scrub it off.

[Broccolli]

I use simple green on my awning (the one purple/blue bottle clearly labeled for rv use) I spray the hose on my mildew then spray the simple green rv cleaner and gently scrub with a car wash brush when the awning is lowered, I did both sides of awning and the entire outside in 6 foot sections and couldn't believe the amount of "dirt" that came off

The underside of awning - I got soaked

[mosseater]

Tilex here too. Just don't let it on too long. I spray and hit it with my long handled soft trailer brush, then rinse. Looks like new!

[EnochLight]

westend wrote:
Probably because it contains sodium hydroxide, better known as lye. It is a caustic.

It only contains between .1% and 1% sodium hydroxide. That said, it can damage human skin with contact - I'd be careful with that stuff on my camper's paint job!

[PAThwacker]

[westend]

ScottG wrote:

djousma wrote:
I use tilex. Its the bleach that does the trick. Spray it on both top and underside, and roll it up for an hour or so. Unroll it, scrub the few stained spots, and hose it off. Looks as good as new.

Same here.
For some reason Tilex Mold and Mildew does a better job at getting stains off the awning than any other similar product - and I've used just about all of them.
The Tilex even removed stains that were years old that other bleach products couldn't.

Probably because it contains sodium hydroxide, better known as lye. It is a caustic.

[_tiredTeacher]

prfssr wrote:
I use "awesome" from the Dollar Tree. You can get it in normal strength or you can buy the straight stuff and mix it yourself. I have both so I can use something stronger if needed. This stuff is, well - awesome.

It will also take the paint off a trailer's aluminum siding Ask m how I know.:E

[love2tow]

OP must have read my mind. I logged on to see how to get rid of Mildew on my awning and it was the first thread on the travel trailer section.

I have product that I used on my boat seats called DEP. It worked miracles on there but I didn't know if there was anything special to use for the awnings. I guess I will give it a try and see how it works.

[ScottG]

djousma wrote:
I use tilex. Its the bleach that does the trick. Spray it on both top and underside, and roll it up for an hour or so. Unroll it, scrub the few stained spots, and hose it off. Looks as good as new.

Same here.
For some reason Tilex Mold and Mildew does a better job at getting stains off the awning than any other similar product - and I've used just about all of them.
The Tilex even removed stains that were years old that other bleach products couldn't.

[ADK_Camper]

I think just about any detergent based concoction will work. Add a little bleach to attack the mildew. But here's an additional suggestion: I tried using a spong mop to scrub the underside, but the mop was heavy and a little awkward to use. Furthermore the cleaning solution ran down the mop handle and got all over me. I tried using a swiffer mop and it worked great. I used one of the wet pads but it dried out quickly so I just kept dipping it in my detergent/bleach solution and continued cleaning. The mop is very light weight, it stays in contact with the awning because of its gimbal design, and it didn't hold enough solution to drip.

[djousma]

I use tilex. Its the bleach that does the trick. Spray it on both top and underside, and roll it up for an hour or so. Unroll it, scrub the few stained spots, and hose it off. Looks as good as new.

[prfssr]

I use "awesome" from the Dollar Tree. You can get it in normal strength or you can buy the straight stuff and mix it yourself. I have both so I can use something stronger if needed. This stuff is, well - awesome. :B

I soak the awning with a liberal amount that I spray on and then roll her up, 15-30 minutes later a little scrubbing may be necessary and then rinse and good to go.