How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

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bassn386
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#16 Post by bassn386 » Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:43 pm

I live at Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri where we sometimes can't get our boat out for months at a time. I have always had good results with a bag of the cheapest charcoal. I lay the bag out flat and slice open the side facing up about 2/3rds of the way. This stops a lot of mildew from forming. Our boats are stored on lifts and so are exposed to the elements all the time. One year I forgot to put the charcoal in and we had ourselves a time getting the mildew out!
I think a box fan might work, but that could get expensive from an electricity usage standpoint. You might want to invest in some kind of timer that could control the on/off time.
We've tried HumidDry, but you'll have to check it periodically and refill as necessary. That could kind of be a pain in the butt (or knees).
Good luck!
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#17 Post by lakerunner » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:00 pm

Could be they went to bug who hasn't been around in a long time
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#18 Post by HandymanHerb » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:06 pm

badmoonrising wrote:I never got a message from you, otherwise I would have fixed your old account... :donno
Dam I didn't get it either and I check my filter everyday for people in trouble and hope I don't make it worse.

Yea I talk to bug more on face book now days
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#19 Post by badmoonrising » Thu Sep 30, 2010 8:42 pm

It's all Mike's fault :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#20 Post by albow » Wed Oct 06, 2010 1:05 am

I decided to spray some lysol all over the carpet and in the compartments and wiped the seats with lysol wipes (no bleach in them) and put a couple buckets of charcoal in. I think I am going to add the humidity remover buckets too but have a feeling they will fill and get used up very quickly.
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kc4yxb
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#21 Post by kc4yxb » Sat Jun 18, 2016 3:24 am

I have a Premiere 235 Tri Toon and it sits on a lift at my dock over the winter. I'm in western NC on a lake and get a lot of wind and driving rain across the water. My carpet is always wet, not from the rain but the moisture seeping in and high humidity condition under my sunbrella cover. When I pull off my custom cover, mildew is everywhere. I have been using the 50 50 chlorox and water number and it gets 90 percent off but now the repeated mildew stain appears permanent.

My question is, will this bucket or buckets of charcoal keep the mildew at bay or do I need to cover the seat cushions with old sheets first, after having applied UV protectant first and maybe that huge tarp tied down somehow?

My first time posting. A great site!
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teecro
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#22 Post by teecro » Sat Jun 18, 2016 3:52 am

Wow a 6 year old thread back to life on your first post! :coffee

First off stop using Clorox on your seats it is going to ROT the stitching right out of your seats... Clean mildew with Amazing Cleaner by Bio-Clean or LA's Totally Awesome Cleaner and protect your seat with 303 Aerospace Portectant.

Sheets will do nothing to help as once they are wet they will then be wet sheets in contact with your seats...

Large Pans of charcoal will have much more surface area than buckets of charcoal and will thus better absorb moisture.

Do you have the means of keeping air flowing under your cover by way of a couple of fans? This will greatly control standing moisture.

Also keep in mind that covers must be breathable to let moisture that gets in back out so just be sure that your using breathable materials to protect your boat from the weather. Blue Poly Tarps are very bad for trapping moisture....
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#23 Post by kc4yxb » Sat Jun 18, 2016 4:22 am

Thanks so much for your reply! This thread must still be useful!
I will try " Clean mildew with Amazing Cleaner by Bio-Clean or LA's Totally Awesome Cleaner and protect your seat with 303 Aerospace Portectant", and put charcoal in open pans to absorb moisture. Sounds like a good idea for best absorption.
My boat does breathe a little around the center door in front. The cover snaps but gaps exists on the floor around both sides of the door. Same with the back door. I do have some air but not positive ventilation through the open area of the boat under cover as fans will produce. You still think a winter long driven fan is cost effective?

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teecro
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#24 Post by teecro » Sat Jun 18, 2016 5:43 am

kc4yxb wrote:.. You still think a winter long driven fan is cost effective?
How much do you think a running fan is going to cost? No more than a couple bucks a month at the most...
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#25 Post by kc4yxb » Sat Jun 18, 2016 10:36 am

Yah, you're probably right. I wonder what power, size, cfm fan would be best for moving air out of the cabin?

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teecro
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#26 Post by teecro » Sat Jun 18, 2016 3:22 pm

kc4yxb wrote:Yah, you're probably right. I wonder what power, size, cfm fan would be best for moving air out of the cabin?
No wind storm needed, generally just a small box fan on low to keep a slow but constant flow of air...
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#27 Post by albow » Wed Jul 20, 2016 1:14 am

Sounds like teecro is passing along some good info to me. Good luck.
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#28 Post by STEVEBRENDA » Thu Jul 28, 2016 12:48 pm

We installed a solar vent at the back of the boat (the best position for sun light). This seems to help. There is no electrical cost. Our boat is on a light on a Corp lake. They do not allow you to leave a fan, battery charger, etc. plugged in all of the time.
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I'm not saying let's go kill all the stupid people.. I'm just saying let's remove all the warning labels and let the problem work itself out.

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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#29 Post by albow » Sat Sep 19, 2020 12:44 am

Might as well get this post re-lit since many people have this problem. At least it will make it easier for someone to search for. So far, ten years, I've been using the advice I got here basically. I clean it good then wipe with lysol sheets and apply 303 protectant. I put dryer sheets and moth balls galore in all the compartments and even in some open areas and a couple of buckets of charcoal. I also spray lysol in all the compartments and on the carpet. I've got some dots/spots of mildew creeping in but you have to look for it.
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dtssms
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Re: How do I prevent mildew on my seats and such during the wint

#30 Post by dtssms » Sat Nov 07, 2020 5:37 am

Live in central Florida and just picked up my new Bennington. Dealer told me he uses a regular pontoon cover and has one of those carpet/floor dryers he keeps under the cover and has it on a timer for about 6 hrs a day and has never had a problem with mold or mildew.
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