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Cleaning Mould off Canvas

March 15, 2013 By Melissa 23 Comments

In the interests of keeping it real I have a confession to make. Water has gotten into our camper trailer and what a mess it has made!  Unless you have been hiding under a rock (which may have been dryer in recent times) you will know that South East Queensland has been inundated with rain since the Australia Day Long Weekend.



RAIN, RAIN AND MORE RAIN

There has barely been a day go by where it hasn’t rained at least a little bit. Unfortunately for some of that time we had our camper trailer sitting outside as we had another trailer stored in our shed.  The other trailer went last weekend and our trailer came back into the shed.  We thought we should open it up to check that all was okay and of course it wasn’t!

The tent itself is fine so the canopy has done it’s job. There was just a tiny bit of damp and mould on the outside of the tent above the back door. The real shock came when we opened the tailgate and found the top of the kitchen covered in mould.  Although there is a foam seal all around the tailgate water had still managed to seep in and the inside of the trailer had a lot of water in it.  Fortunately we only had two of our camp chairs inside. However these were very wet and had already started going mouldy.

Cleaning Mould off Canvas

CLEAN UP TIME

We pulled everything out straight away and began washing everything off. All of my plates and cooking utensils went through the dishwasher. The chairs have been hosed and scrubbed and left in the intermittent sunshine to dry out.  The carpet in the bottom of the trailer came out and got a good scrub down.  I then wiped the top of the kitchen over with a weak bleach solution to kill the mould spores.

Cleaning mould off canvas
If your tent ever gets wet you need to set it up as soon as possible and let it dry out completely to prevent the canvas going mouldy.

The small patch of mould on the tent itself we let dry thoroughly. The mould was then easy to brush off with a stiff bristled brush.  Had the mould on the tent been worse the cleaning process would have been a lot trickier as you cannot use any cleaning agents on the canvas as they can damage the water proofing.

OUR ADVICE

The original manufacturer of our trailer had the following advice:-

“When your camper tent and/or annex walls get wet, if not thoroughly dried out as soon as possible there is a reasonable chance that mould will take hold.

Mould can eventually rot your canvas and is also associated with respiratory infections, allergies and can worsen asthma.  It is therefore extremely important to remove any mould not only to avoid health problems but to avoid the huge cost of replacing your tent.

We do not recommend commercially available mould removers. These can be detrimental to the waterproofing, colouring and UV inhibitors which are impregnated into your canvas.  We also suggest you don’t use harsh detergents, bleach or pressure washers for the same reasons.”

Our recommendations are as follows:

1. Open your camper up preferably in the sun.

2. Open the window flaps for maximum ventilation and completely dry the canvas.

3. When dry, brush the mould spores off the canvas with a stiff bristle brush.

4. Vacuum the canvas to remove any remaining spores.

5. Kill the mould with a mixture of one part white vinegar to ten parts water.

6. Apply the above solution with a rag, soft broom or brush.

7. Allow the canvas to dry completely before packing up.

AGAIN DO NOT USE HARSH DETERGENTS, BLEACH OR A PRESSURE WASHER TO CLEAN THE CANVAS. 



HOW TO FIX DAMAGED WATERPROOFING

If by chance you have damaged the waterproofing by using one of these methods, you can purchase “Dynaproof” liquid to reproof your canvas.  This solution is water based and can be applied using a brush, roller or even sprayed on. Canvas suppliers will be able to help you out with this product.

We are lucky that the damage has not been to bad. All that has been required to set things to right has been a little bit of elbow grease!  But it could have been worse. I thought initially we may have been up for a new kitchen but it has dried out nicely and doesn’t smell at all.  As the kitchen is made from marine grade ply there has been no damage to the timber.



We are hopefully in for a weekend of sunshine here on the Gold Coast. This will give us an opportunity to let the trailer and tent sit outside again for a few hours before we pack everything back into it.

The moral of the story is this. If you have to leave your camper outside in very wet weather cover it with a good quality tarp.  Even if it has not been outside it may pay to open it up and give it the once over after the wet has passed as high humidity can also cause mould to grow.

happy-travels-melissa1.jpg

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Filed Under: Camper Trailers, Hints, Maintenance Tagged With: cleaning mould off canvas, mould on canvas

Comments

  1. Alison says

    March 11, 2020 at 12:10 pm

    If you spray the canvas awning with vinegar or clover do you have to protect the windows as they can not have any cleaner on them will make them cloudy etc?

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      March 14, 2020 at 9:02 am

      Hi Alison..I can’t answer that sorry. What are your windows made of? Can you do a patch test on them first?

      Reply
  2. Noeline says

    November 19, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    Can’t get the mould stains off the canvas on my camper trailer.
    PLEASE HELP AN OLD LADY

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      November 21, 2018 at 1:54 pm

      Unfortunately if it has got to the stage that the mould has caused a stain, you may not be able to remove it. All I can suggest is that you try the white vinegar and water and a brush and see if that helps. Don’t scrub to hard as this can damage the waterproofing. Make sure you let it dry thoroughly before packing it up.

      Reply
      • Di says

        January 9, 2021 at 11:56 am

        We had dried mould black spots on canvas after killing it with vinegar. Cleaned off black stains so easy with ‘30 Second Cleaner ‘ from Bunnings. Fantastic for cleaning mould and lichen off caravan as well

        Reply
        • Melissa says

          January 9, 2021 at 6:29 pm

          Unfortunately products such as the one you mentioned can damage the waterproofing on canvas so be cautious when using them.

          Reply
        • Brooke says

          January 10, 2021 at 2:05 pm

          Hello, just wondering was it the 30 second outdoor cleaner you used? I’m thinking of trying this and then waterproofing again?

          Reply
  3. Michele Brooks says

    February 13, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    Hi I brought a camper for my brother and when I got it home to make sure everything was there there was so much mold on it. I brought some oil of cloves to get rid of it. Will this hurt the canvas at all?
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      February 15, 2018 at 7:26 pm

      I have never used Oil of Cloves. I have always just been told to use diluted vinegar and a stiff brush.

      Reply
  4. Shelby says

    August 30, 2017 at 11:25 am

    Hi I have black charcole marks on my canvas swag was wondering how I could remove it??? Without damaging…..

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      August 31, 2017 at 5:29 pm

      Hi Shelby…I’m not sure about that one. You could maybe try brushing it first with a stiff bristle brush and then sponge it with a weak solution of white vinegar and water and then allow to dry in sun. Let me know how you get on.

      Reply
  5. John says

    July 25, 2017 at 1:15 pm

    I purchased a campervan and a novice at this was not aware of the mold in it and also live in Seast qld I have done 2 trips this year and have both had severe chest infections currently still on medication I believe it is caused by mold in the camper and I cant wait to put it up and treat it and go again just to see the end results [sick or not.Earlier this year in Mackay cyclone and June on trip out west but both ended with flu and chest infections So breakout the vinegar to start with Im glad I persisted with my enquiries John

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      July 27, 2017 at 3:37 pm

      I hope you have some success in removing it all John.

      Reply
  6. Mary hutchins says

    August 23, 2014 at 1:04 am

    I,m going to try the white vinegar on the inside flaps on windows of our pop up camper. Had put it down to bring home in rain and set it back up and mold had formed on the window flaps.will give follow up.

    Reply
    • All Around Oz says

      August 23, 2014 at 8:20 am

      Thanks Mary….give the mould spots a good scrub with a stiff bristle brush first. I’m sure it will clean up just fine.

      Reply
  7. Shawn says

    April 14, 2013 at 8:41 pm

    White vinegar works great for mould as well any mould stains just dampen a cloth with vinegar and wipe affected area it just wipes straight off with no scrubbing. Try it I was amazed I know you will be too.

    Reply
    • Kristy says

      August 4, 2018 at 1:44 pm

      How much vinegar to water?

      Reply
      • Melissa says

        August 5, 2018 at 9:43 am

        About 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water. You don’t want the mixture to strong.

        Reply
  8. Kit_e says

    March 18, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    A very timely post indeed. We just discovered a wee bit of unusual colouring on our canvas. Our last trip the canvas was completely saturated, but we thought it was very dry when packed away … there was obviously some moisture left. It just took 14 days. 🙁 I will definitely try what’s been recommended … don’t want to damage my canvas.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. ProBlogger Podcast says:
    July 28, 2016 at 7:01 pm

    […] Cleaning Mould off Canvas […]

    Reply
  2. Maintenance and Trip Preparation | All Around Oz says:
    September 17, 2015 at 9:36 pm

    […] The other thing you should do if you haven’t used your tent, trailer or van for awhile is get it out and open it up.  Give it a good airing out, check that there are no signs of damage or mould on canvas parts.  If there is you will need to clean the mould off immediately, as mould can cause canvas to rot.  Not sure how to clean your canvas? Read how to HERE. […]

    Reply
  3. How to Survive Camping in Bad Weather | All Around Oz says:
    January 23, 2015 at 10:32 am

    […] some mould growing because you couldn’t get everything dried out straight away my post on Cleaning Your Canvas will help you […]

    Reply
  4. Coming Home After Travelling | All Around Oz says:
    June 15, 2014 at 5:42 pm

    […] up, you need to set it up and let it dry out as soon as possible to prevent the likelihood of mould forming.  I cannot stress how important this is as if your canvas becomes mouldy, it can […]

    Reply

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