boat cleaning

I have been asked to clean a pontoon boat for a wealthy customer. I've been told that the carpet, vinyl seats, and canopy have mildew / mold staining. He has tried cleaning it already with something he purchased at the dealer, but it didn't work.

This is not something I have dealt with since leaving California in 1988 and I only did a couple then as well. Dealer says that carpet cleaning agents can't be used because they will strip the UV treatment and loosen the adhesive beneath the carpet...not sure how correct that really is or if he is just protecting his business.

I am thinking that a enzyme mold cleaner was the way to guy followed by maybe a UV protector on the vinyl, but I am still researching my options. There are 40 homes along this lake and each one is worth over 2 million, so the potential to find a niche service with this looks promising.

So, anyone have experience in this arena? What are best options...I agreed to try it Tuesday evening.

I would use S/O mixed on the stronger side. Agitate with a brush on a buffer (circular not orbital) and extract hot. This for carpet and canopy.
Seats, after agitation, wipe clean, spritz with water and re wipe.

The canopy can get re waterproofed REAL easy. They sell the waterproofing silicone in cans. You can get them in sporting goods stores near the tents.

This is what I would do.

That's right, S/O would work very well. It's safe for all wet-cleanable fabrics.
First test for colorfastness then do the spray-scrub-spray-rinse... .  prespray 3oz/gal, wet with soft water, agitate with very soft bristled brush, mist again 1oz/gal in worst areas, then rinse with cold water. An all fabric rinse with fab set not a bad idea.  Have some 3:1 ready for the worst areas, spray, scrub, rinse.
S/O gently cleans & brightens without damaging fabric.  S/O also removes the food source which will deter insects & future mold growth.
Classic case of cleaning by softening rather than burning (eg. phosphates, borates, silicates, alkalinity)
Some old pictures of mine....





Here's another company which specializes in awning cleaning chemistry.
Right here in my area:

Winsol Labs
1417 NW 51st St
Seattle, WA
(206) 782-5500

I like the s/o idea, sounds like a winner. Thanks for the detailed responses guys, I knew you would come through with good advice.

I have always used tilex. Spray on let it dwell for 10 min., wipe and hose off.

Well, I see why people don't like cleaning boats now  

Between the biting insects, the cramped angles, the hoses falling into the lake, and the general condition of the carpet, it was not a fun job....at least it is done.

The carpet was in horrible shape with really thick mold deposits all along the chairs and even worse along the rails...I was scraping it off with a putty knife!  The rest of the carpet was covered in wine and rust stains with molding all over the place.  When I removed the rails and inspected it further, it was clear that the wood beneath the carpet was fully covered in active mold.  Not really a carpet cleaning job.

I hit it with so much peroxide that the entire boat was foaming like a dram of Guiness!  Used S/O mixed really strong and scrubbed the heck out of it.  It wasn't perfect, but looked pretty respectable and the customer was very happy.

It would have been a nice posting except the only photo I have is the first one that I took and sent to my email.  The rest went to the bottom of the lake along with my droid4 when the vac hose sent it flying off the seat.   

milspec6 wrote:Well, I see why people don't like cleaning boats now  

Between the biting insects, the cramped angles, the hoses falling into the lake, and the general condition of the carpet, it was not a fun job....at least it is done.

The carpet was in horrible shape with really thick mold deposits all along the chairs and even worse along the rails...I was scraping it off with a putty knife!  The rest of the carpet was covered in wine and rust stains with molding all over the place.  When I removed the rails and inspected it further, it was clear that the wood beneath the carpet was fully covered in active mold.  Not really a carpet cleaning job.

I hit it with so much peroxide that the entire boat was foaming like a dram of Guiness!  Used S/O mixed really strong and scrubbed the heck out of it.  It wasn't perfect, but looked pretty respectable and the customer was very happy.

It would have been a nice posting except the only photo I have is the first one that I took and sent to my email.  The rest went to the bottom of the lake along with my droid4 when the vac hose sent it flying off the seat.   

Oh man, sorry about your phone Rob, hope you have insurance ?

This will make the 3rd phone in just over a year....oh yea, I always have insurance.   When you are careless, you need insurance.

maybe tack a Hugger down to the deck with hoses running inside the metal ring - bet this would keep hoses from falling into the water.

I used to quite a few large yachts these last years many of the boats are not coming in for maintenance as often.

Nice!

Those huggers would have been useful...might have saved my phone too.  

One thing to note is that despite the vac hose resting in the water, my new no-leak cuffs didn't suck any water....wouldn't want to drain a lake