Great mildew stain remover!

[IRGuy]

I am not one to praise a product, but when something performs so well it surprises me I feel it is something I should share with the members here.

I have two cushions for the flybridge bench seat that contracted a heavy dose of mildew over the winter. I scrubbed them with Comet cleanser powder and a supposedly heavy duty liquid cleaner. The combination of these two materials took off all the surface mildew and dirt, but black and pink stains that seemed to be in the vinyl itself remained, and no amount of scrubbing lifted them.

Out of frustration I went onto the West Marine web site and looked at the mildew removal products they carried. After reading a bunch of positive comments about one product I went to my local West store and bought a spray bottle of "Star Brite Mildew Stain Remover". Not the most expensive product on the shelves, but the comments from customers persuaded me to try this stuff.

I sprayed a heavy coat of the stuff on the previously scrubbed but still stained vinyl surfaces and went elsewhere for about 30-45 minutes. Much to my surprise when I returned all the stains had disappeared! The product is inexpensive (about $9.00 for a spray bottle) but did a fantastic job. It is one product I feel is worth telling my friends about. Try it if you have mildew stain problems. I think the trick is to apply it and leave it alone for half an hour or so. Then rinse it off well with a water hose.

[ed c.]

Better & cheaper, Home Armor @ Lowes for $ 5.97 ( 32 oz.). It is powerful and fast. West Marine prices have gone through the roof.

[Tony Meola]

Does it contain bleach? Is it clothing safe?

I hate that spotted look. I have a number of shirts and pants with that look. The other look is when you get battery acid on your pants. Jeans look ok until you wash them. then you wonder what happened to the front of them.

[Yannis]

Frank,

Does it say on the label that all treated cushions disintegrate or fall apart into smitherines after 48 hrs, lol ?

[IRGuy]

Tony...
I would not get it on clothing, because it contains some chemicals that I am sure would leave spots.

I have plenty of experience with sulfuric acid (a dilute form of which is in traditional wet cell storage batteries.) We used it in a bleaching process our customers needed to make their product whiter. In fact they had a pump seal that was leaking the stuff onto the spinning shaft. Somebody had removed the shaft cover and I walked through the fine mist of acid that was being spun off the shaft. As soon as I realized why my arms were burning I hit a safety shower and washed it off, but my jeans already had holes in them, and the next day my underpants and tee shirt also had holes in them. Fortunately I was wearing safety goggles.

Any time I use anything that might cause a problem I wear rubber gloves, which I did using the mildew cleaner I mention above.

[IRGuy]

Yannis...

The cushions were cleaned earlier this afternoon, and after about seven hours they are still in one piece!

[ed c.]

Home armor is bleach free.., but I do miss having spots on my clothes