What works for removing mold and mildew from marine carpet?

This is a severe case. Carpet is almost entirely black. I more or less inherited a pontoon from the in laws. They never use it anymore but it’s been in the water every year. They took it out of the water last year and never got it covered before the snow hit. So it sat all winter with snow on everything and now it’s mold. The decking is solid so I’m hoping I can save the carpet because I hear it’s a difficult thing to separate carpet from the deck.

It’s not like it’s from years of neglect but the last year or two it has been neglected a bit which is why they decided they no longer need or want it. Good news is it’s got a 60 horse Honda 4 stroke on it that’s got maybe a total of 50 hours on it. Here’s a pic you can kind of see what I’m talking about with the carpet. So if someone knows of a good product or method that works let me know. Otherwise I’m just going to hit it with the pressure washer and see where that gets me.

Hit it with the pressure washer, that’s where I would start.

Gino wrote:

Hit it with the pressure washer, that’s where I would start.

Yep pretty much my plan and see where that gets me. Might be mostly surface stuff.

One thing to keep in mind, if the mold is too far into the carpet, the pressure washer will probably cut right thru the carpet. But if it is that bad, there is no saving the carpet anyway.

yep hit it with a pressure washer and then do a light borax solution and then hit it with the pressure washer again. 25 years ago when I worked at a marine dealership that’s what I did the borax would kill the mold and not discolor the fabric. bleach works to but you need to check an area before you use it.

What about mold on the seats. Can get some out scrubbing a 3M mold cleaner on them but still can see some black.

michael keehr wrote:

yep hit it with a pressure washer and then do a light borax solution and then hit it with the pressure washer again. 25 years ago when I worked at a marine dealership that’s what I did the borax would kill the mold and not discolor the fabric. bleach works to but you need to check an area before you use it.

I had some wood treatment for bugs that was boron based. Kind of the same thing as borax except it completely dissolves in water and doesn’t leave crusty white bits like my borax on musty carpet attempt did. Maybe a power washer overcomes that obstacle.

bleach on the seats but as always check the underside first to be sure it doesnt discolor or hit it with the pressure washer

power wash as much as you can get off without getting to aggressive. Mix mirraitic acid 1/2 cup per gallon of water in a garden sprayer. (Miriatic acid only eats organic materials) spray it on the carpet wait 10 minutes power wash again. I did this last fall on the recommendation from a guy at the hardware store, it worked awesome. Make sure to wear the proper PPE. Goggles, rubber gloves, rubber boots.

Awesome cleaner from $$ Tree, spray heavy bout 50/50 mix, wait bout, 20 minutes then the pressure washer from a few feet away, my cover doesn’t go over the,3 ft in front of my railing, I have to clean it every year…

As said,, Pressure washer and see what it looks like from there.. Take some good before and after pics.. I am interested.

walleyebuster5 wrote:

As said,, Pressure washer and see what it looks like from there.. Take some good before and after pics.. I am interested.

I will do that. Think I might take the shop vac first and dry vac it to get the big chunks and loosen things up a bit and then follow that with the pressure washer and no removal product. I think I might be surprised how much that will get.