So I bought the Westerly and being a tropical lady she is suffering from the dreaded tropical mould on the inside.
I was just wondering what you northerners use to get rid of it. Will vinegar be strong enough or will I have to go bleach or something worse? I'm not overly fussed if it damages the paint as I will be repainting.
I use clove oil at home but it is more for prevention than combatting.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Congrats. For the really tough mould pool chlorine is the cheapest and most effective, a mix of 25% is plenty strong enough. Old clothes, rubber gloves & a respirator apply with a cloth, for hard to reach places a garden sprayer with the nozzle set to jet and hose it off. Don't forget the ppe
Bleaches are a superficial kill. Only Clove oil kills the mould spores and stops regrowth.
Bleaches are a superficial kill. Only Clove oil kills the mould spores and stops regrowth.
UncleBob from this forum put me onto this from Aldi.
Its fantastic. Wipe it on then the mould wipes off. I tried all kinds of bleaches and cleaners that still required some level of scrubbing. This one doesn't. (And I dont work for Aldi).
www.aldi.com.au/groceries/laundry-household/household/skin-care-detail/ps/p/power-force-pro-heavy-duty-cleaner-125l-1/
We had a similar problem in our Top Hat, which has a rough cast interior. Lots of nooks for the mould to settle in.
We did three things.
1) Clean properly with Wet and Forget Mould Indoor. www.wetandforget.com.au/products/wet-forget-indoor-2l
2) Paint undercoat with Zinsser 1L Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Undercoat, then a top coat of your choice. Gloss is better as it's not as easy for mould to grow on in the future. It also conceals any staining left behind from the mould. You can also add a mould inhibitor if you think it's worth it.
3) Make sure the boat is well ventilated. We put a solar vent fan in the v-berth and we leave the galley hatch partially cracked so it flows. The vent fan runs 24/7 with a battery that's recharged via solar during the day. It's been running so far since mid 2021.
www.whitworths.com.au/day-night-solar-vent-with-stainless-steel-cover
To date, there is no mould evident anywhere that we've treated. There is some old mould, that appears dormant in areas we can't easily get to.
Disclaimer, I don't work for, or gain value from any of the companies above, but have had good results from these products.
Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to have a trial of the wet and forget indoors, followed by a clove oil treatment. Some of the worst mould is in the what used to be white carpet lining. Hopefully a little brute force and ignorance, that will be out of the boat.
I'll keep you all informed.
For sale, beautiful white carpet, never been walked on. 
I couldn't help it, I had to google the active in wet & forget benzalkonium chloride, widely used for sterilisation of hospitals and surgery prep. Looks like you could get more bang for your buck if you shop around
Kinora suffers from mould. I have found 3 things that help:
1) ventilation - I now have a solar-powered vent on the forward hatch and plan to install more vents running from the house battery at strategic points to improve air flow.
2) fix leaks - there were several ways for water to get inside (keel stepped mast, dodgy fuel locker), fix those to keep the humidity inside the boat as low as possible.
3) treat the mould following stingysailor.com/2021/11/06/remove-and-prevent-mildew-for-pennies/ - I've been using their Formula 2 and it has been very effective.
Cheers,
Kinora
Select to expand quoteKinora said..
Kinora suffers from mould. I have found 3 things that help:
1) ventilation - I now have a solar-powered vent on the forward hatch and plan to install more vents running from the house battery at strategic points to improve air flow.
2) fix leaks - there were several ways for water to get inside (keel stepped mast, dodgy fuel locker), fix those to keep the humidity inside the boat as low as possible.
3) treat the mould following stingysailor.com/2021/11/06/remove-and-prevent-mildew-for-pennies/ - I've been using their Formula 2 and it has been very effective.
Cheers,
Kinora
Cheers for that Kinora. Where do you get the trisodium phosphate?
Select to expand quoteSaltuarius said..Kinora said..
Kinora suffers from mould. I have found 3 things that help:
1) ventilation - I now have a solar-powered vent on the forward hatch and plan to install more vents running from the house battery at strategic points to improve air flow.
2) fix leaks - there were several ways for water to get inside (keel stepped mast, dodgy fuel locker), fix those to keep the humidity inside the boat as low as possible.
3) treat the mould following stingysailor.com/2021/11/06/remove-and-prevent-mildew-for-pennies/ - I've been using their Formula 2 and it has been very effective.
Cheers,
Kinora
Cheers for that Kinora. Where do you get the trisodium phosphate?
All good, found it at the big green shed under the trade name 'Tricleanium'.
Select to expand quoteSaltuarius said..Saltuarius said..Kinora said..
Kinora suffers from mould. I have found 3 things that help:
1) ventilation - I now have a solar-powered vent on the forward hatch and plan to install more vents running from the house battery at strategic points to improve air flow.
2) fix leaks - there were several ways for water to get inside (keel stepped mast, dodgy fuel locker), fix those to keep the humidity inside the boat as low as possible.
3) treat the mould following stingysailor.com/2021/11/06/remove-and-prevent-mildew-for-pennies/ - I've been using their Formula 2 and it has been very effective.
Cheers,
Kinora
Cheers for that Kinora. Where do you get the trisodium phosphate?
All good, found it at the big green shed under the trade name 'Tricleanium'.
That's the one. Nice and bright yellow packet with some intriguing old-world style graphics.
>
Select to expand quoteKinora said..
Kinora suffers from mould. I have found 3 things that help:
2) fix leaks - there were several ways for water to get inside (keel stepped mast, dodgy fuel locker), fix those to keep the humidity inside the boat as low as possible.
+1 to fixing leaks to avoid mould. I've got next to no ventilation and the mould stopped as soon as all the leaks were fixed.
