Moldy seats
 

Ok so we uncovered my friends boat today to fight a whole lotta mold. I have read the threads on malice and TA but it's not seeming to be working. Does anyone have any input to get mold off white seats. I greatly appreciate any and all help. Thank you

Starbrite mold and mildew remover works great.

I have used TA and a bristle brush on mold and gotten it off. You will have to scrub good and hard and let it sit on for a bit. Don't be scared to spray a lot of it on so the surface is very wet.

Try Magic Erasers (walgreens sells an off brand that is much cheaper and just as good)... Might take a few boxes but it did wonders on my seats. They look brand new again! BE SURE TO CLEAN AND CONDITION YOUR SEATS REGULARLY

Do NOT use Magic Erasers. They will damage your vinyl's protective top coat layer. Magic Erasers are, big surprise, erasers, that is to say an abrasive that works by removing material (just like a pencil eraser). Those great results you get in the short-term with Magic Erasers will ultimately result in cracked vinyl down the road.

Starbrite and 3M both make good mildew/mold removers. Follow the directions, use a stiff brush, rinse thoroughly with water. Then, solve the problem that created the mold in the first place.

WOOPS... I guess I'll find out some day. Going on a year now and NO CRACKS YET!

I'll keep my fingures crossed :D

Just use Malco and scrub it as good as you can then let it sit out in the sun and you'll be all good.

Hey all I really appreciate the help, I will pass this on and hope we can get it clean. Thank you again.

I struggle with mold/mildew every year with my boat. I have tried several different products, but I used X-14 Mildew Stain Remover this year. It worked awesome and the interior looks brand new.

Please be careful with X-14 or other mold/mildew removers. They contain sodium hypochlorite which is just bleach. I had mastercraft prostar 190 which got moldy from a collapsed tarp shelter and I used this type of cleaner on it. It looked really good at first but the white vinyl started to yellow and once that happened there was no way to get it back white. It also seemed to eat/thin the vinyl somehow, where a lot of the fine texture was gone. I would definitely not recommend this.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I heard TA is just like Malco!:D

It took one of my boats 1 year to crack from magic erasers. It took my friend's 3 years to crack from magic erasers. I hope yours never does. They really do make the vinyl look great (temporarily), but once you realize the physics behind how they clean (note, physics not chemistry), then it is easy to understand how they damage vinyl.

Newty you heard wrong! Ha ha ha

So we went to home depot.........TILEX COMMERICAL SOLUTION .... No joke, we sprayed the solution on the seats and literally watched in eat away the mold, it vanished before our eyes with out wiping a single thing! worked great!! We need some major protectant now but if anyone has mold os scum on your seats try Tilex.. it was the easies clean we have ever done!

Yeah and every vag*** is the same too :))

Ha ha

There are 2 types of staining; Mold growth and Dehydrochlorination usually from Cross Contamination in the vinyl itself.
Mold growth can originate from exterior conditions but also from internal Vinyl conditions.

These issues lie within the vinyl characteristics.
Glues and foam backings cross contaminate the vinyl surface setting the conditions for staining to occur.
Additionally the staining can also be mold growth in the foam section that bleeds to the vinyl surface from the backside
Due to the expense many times the foam backing is not treated with antimicrobials.
Lack of a high quality top coat adds to the poor resistance of vinyl reacting to organic compounds that come in contact with it.
If it goes away when exposed to sunlight the condition is Dehydrochlorination.

Certain boat brands exhibit this staining problem while many others do not.
Higher quality vinyl’s resist any staining or discoloration.

Every spring since buying the boat in '08, upon uncovering, I've had mildew on the sunpad and surrounding area. The factory cover usually has some under it in the rear as well. As I store the boat outside under a completely enclosed boathouse setup it's weatherproof, but not moistureproof.

Last year I was determined to find a solution and i did, GoldenRod Dehumidifiers. I placed three of their 36" rods (based on their recommendation) mounted to 36x8x1/4" plywood strips in the boat in November and plugged 'em in to a three outlet pigtail/extension cord/surge protector setup. Just finished checking it again and there's not a spot of mildew or moisture on the vinyl or cover anywhere!

I didn't want to have to pull all the electrics again last year so I placed one in the electronic locker, one in the walkway to the bow and the last on the rear bench. If you have a need to keep moisture out these things really do work!

I had some mold issue in my old boat after 10 years of storing it on my dock.

So, with my new boat, I added this west marine dehumidifier/heater running in the boat from dusk to dawn (cheap xmas light sensor). So far, the cover and boat remain in perfect condition.

Moisture collects under the cover from changes in both temperature and humidity but It doesn't hurt to make sure the bilge is dry when you put the boat into storage.