Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 11:41:04 -0400
Reply-To: Jay Brown <jayb@COEDSPORTSWEAR.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jay Brown <jayb@COEDSPORTSWEAR.COM>
Subject: Re: moldy poptop cures?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hi Guys,
As Confucius would say, "Why use an axe when a hatchet would work as well?"
The mold and mildew that are living in the flocking on your poptop is not
really that tough to get rid of. The mixture of caustic chemicals you are
proposing would be somewhat akin to dropping an atomic bomb in order to
light a hibachi for a backyard cookout.
Probably the easiest way to kill everything off would be to use a mild
bleach solution. Go for the old-school Clorox stuff, none of the foo-foo
new scented stuff. Mix a gallon of warm water with a pint of bleach, grab a
sponge and head out to the bus. Obviously eye protection and rubber gloves
would be a good idea for this project. Wipe the bleach solution on with the
sponge and let it soak in for a few minutes, then blot away any excess with
an old towel or something similar. You want to leave the flocking damp, but
not soaked.
Let everything dry overnight (use an oscillating fan to help if you have
one) and you should see a vast improvement in the condition of your poptop
liner in the morning. If there are any particularly stubborn spots, hit
them with the 10% bleach solution again and scrub gently with a fingernail
brush or an old toothbrush. The sodium hypochlorite in the bleach will kill
the mold spores and mildew, and should prevent the problem from coming back
for quite a while. To get rid of the stink of the chlorine bleach, you can
give your van plenty of time to air out, or you could try a dechlorinator
(Sodium Thiosulfate) http://www.chemistrystore.com/sodium_thiosulfate.htm.
This chemical is also readily available at any pet store for getting rid of
the chlorine in your tapwater. Go for a brand that just dechlorinates, you
don't need any aloe vera or vitamin B additives for your Westy. Tap Water
Conditoner from Aquarium Systems would probably be a good choice that is
available pretty much everywhere. Mix the dechlorinator at about 10 times
the recommended dosage for tap water and wipe it all over the poptop
flocking. Let it sit for an hour or so and then give it a quick rinse with
warm tap water. Then you can start enjoying your camper without all the
mold and mildew.
Good Luck!
Jay Brown
'72 Riviera (formerly very mildewed & moldy)
'85 Vanagon Westfalia
http://www.geocities.com/vwcamper72
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 19:58:51 -0700
From: Steve Young <sja_young@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: moldy poptop cures?
Hi,
Do you mean the mold that can grow on the inside of a roof if the van wasn't
properly aired? If so I'm just about to tackle the same problem. Haven't
found any good answers yet. A visit to a local auto valet said he could get
40% of the mold off the inside of my roof. His recommendation was put a
layer of new fabric over the top. This didn't sound like a healthy solution
so I'm looking for something better. The canvas is off my van so I'm going
to take off the roof this weekend and set about it with various cleaners and
see what can be done.
So far I've heard that Ecover cream cleaner, rubbing alcohol and a TSP
solution can all clean mold. One I might resort to if all else fails is:
1 gallon of water
1 tablespoon TSP
1 cup of bleach
4 tablespoons of Lye
Anything with TSP, Lye and or bleach would need to be treated with respect.
Rubber gloves, eye protection, no kids, animals, etc. Add chemicals to water
rather than vice versa.
I've no idea what impact these could have on my roof fabric so I'll test
spot a small areas first. Lots of rinsing afterwards would be essential.
Any more info on mold cleaning would be great.
Steve
Jeffrey Stangeland <haewolius@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
hey all-
anybody have a solution for the mold beginning to creep into my poptop roof?
mine's still pretty clean but i've seen some roofs when i was looking at
vans and they can get pretty nasty looking...
peace,
jeff
