Joined: 19/6/2004 Diamond Member
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Right, start with brushing it down with a soft toothbrush or childs hairbrush. Then use plain water and the toothbrush and see how much you can get out of it.
Then get some caravan awning cleaner, availible at all good camping shops. Fenwicks is good. Use as directed but try not to stray too far outside the treated area. Themn rinse. And again. In fact rinse five or six times. the slightest trace of cleaner will damage the proofing ability of the canvas.
Then stand back and look at it hard. If there's only a few grey spots you have to decide...grey spots and possibly still active mould spores, or paler spots and dead mould? Yup, I'd go for pale spots too. Use Milton, as sold for sterilising baby bottles, diluted as directed and a child's paint brush. Leave on for 20 minutes and then do the rinse x 6 again.
I would leave it at that, but I know you modern people just LOVE your waterproofing treatments. Either give it a trial run to see if it leaks when wet..if not, just leave it and give it a double dose when you do eventually proof the tent. Or just spray the whole area with Fabsil, in which case expect a slight darkening of the canvas round that area. Or if your TT is due a proofing treatment (a minimum of seven years from new for the first one, then every five years after that though you don't ever need to start, actually, till your tent leaks) then do it all now.
Prevention is better than cure though. Next time, ensure the canvas is 100% dry before packing up. If in the slightest doubt, open it up again when you get home and dry it to bone dry. Mould spots knock £££££ off the value of your tent, and major mould weakens the canvas considerably, to the point of it rotting away if serious. Best not to go there!
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