Sunbrella fungus, mildew or dirt discolouration

[Trevor]

I am wondering if anyone has ever seen this type of fungus or dirt form on the underside of their Sunbrella canvas bimini.

I am in Sydney and the company that installed the cover told us that Sunbrella say we should have cleaned the material periodically and it is not a faulty product.


Notice the discolouration is only on that one piece of material. The flap attached to cover the bimini bow is not the slightest bit dirty but the top piece, even where it is not exposed has the weird fungus growing on it.


The dodger, which is a bit older than the bimini and made out of apparently the same material is perfect.


I just think this is faulty material and not the result of a lack of cleaning. I wonder if anyone else has ever had this experience?


Any thoughts gratefully received. The company has said they will fund the cleaning of the material but that is a good will gesture and Sunbrella accept no liability for the issue and say it is our lack of cleaning the product that has caused it. I have never cleaned Sunbrella in my life and have never seen anything like this before. We have tried to clean the material with a canvas cleaner and cannot remove any of the offending material. We will remove the solar panels and try to get the material commercially cleaned but I think the material is faulty.

What do you think??

[Zanshin]

If both the dodger and bimini have been subject to the same conditions then evidently something is quite different between the two materials!

[jdl01]

We have been using sunbrella for full winter covers and summer awnings for five years. We are in a damp, never too hot, climate of British Columbia. Occasionally in a fully shaded area we will develop some green slime on the outside over the winter but it comes off with a stiff brush and no chemicals. We have never seen anything on the underside. The north American distributors of sunbrella have always been very helpful to us; are you dealing directly with them as opposed to a local supplier?

[Trevor]

Hello jdl01,

We are dealing with the local man who did the original job so perhaps I should direct my concerns to Sunbrella directly. I have used Sunbrella for many years and never seen anything like this at all.

Thanks for the comment.

[singoviv]

How old are the bits that are effected? I am aware of a bad batch... My mate the cover maker knows all about it.

[Trevor]

The bimini was one year old when we bought the boat and we have had the boat since Christmas of 2012. The problem was evident when we bought the boat so it is not something that has just recently happened. We have never known it to be clean. We figure it has to be a bad batch but we were told it was our fault for not looking after the cleaning of the material which we thought was a bit far fetched.

[singoviv]

[nornaj]

We are also in damp British Columbia.
Get some green slime on the outside of the bimini over winter. Relatively easy to remove.
Also small, isolated spots of black mold on the underside of the bimini last year, when we did not allow sufficient ventilation through the fully enclosed cockpit. These spots are very tough to get off.
But nothing like your problem.
Agree that as your dodger is OK, it has to be either bad material originally, or good material subsequently (mis)treated with something that has caused the problem (waterproofing?).
Get Sunbrella directly involved.
NornaJ

[MartyB]

I would not expect that on a bimini or dodger, but possibly a sail cover or some other place that might not be as ventilated. I have to admit, have not seen that under my sail cover. I do not have a bimini/dodger to compare. I know of many others with them, no one has complained or mentioned this type of issue.

I'm also in the NW US/southern salish sea/puget sound, where it is a bit humid for about 8 months of the year.

Marty

[ianpowolny]

Trevor, this may sound daft but have you considered contacting the Marine Biology Department at the University of Sydney. The academics in these institutions love this type of mystery. Ian

[allegria]

Hi Trevor,

My SO36i is from 2010. I have used the same contractor for the covers, with what looks like the same fabric and haven't experienced anything like it. I do get a bit of mould on the zippers and I usually use a water blaster to remove it with great results.
You could try on the cover as well...

Cheers,
Allegria

[sailbleu]

Trevor,

you could get some tetrachloroethene (dryclean product) and try it on a small relatively invisible spot .
Or better yet , pass by a drycleaner , ask them if they can do a small test and if it works have it done completely.
I'm sure those guys can also provide waterrepelent treatment , which could prevent the result you have right now.

Regards

[Trevor]

Hello all,

MartyB and normaj, Many thanks for your comments.

Sailbleu, the care of Sunbrella from the website specifically says
"PROFESSIONAL CLEANERS
You may have access to professional cleaning firms. In evaluating
the services of a professional firm, you should inquire about a firm’s experience in working with Sunbrella fabrics and knowledge of cleaning and re-treatment requirements.
DO NOT dry clean Sunbrella fabrics." so I am reluctant to have it dry-cleaned.

Ian, I have contacted Sunbrella and await their comment. I may contact the Uni depending upon their reply.

Allegria, we also used the same contractor in 2007 on a SO 36i and certainly didn't see nay of this type of problem.

The more I think about it the more ridiculous it sounds to suggest it is a cleaning problem. Let's see what Sunbrella has to say about it.

regards,,

[Xantia]

We have exactly the same mould under our off white dodger, fitted in 2011 when the boat was new. it started to grow within months. Sunbrella was similarly unhelpful. We tried everything they recommended and everything else we could find. Nothing worked and we even got a little stain spot where tea tree oil was tried. We decided in the end to ignore it and will replace the dodger cover when it falls apart, with another fabric, definitely not Sunbrella, and probably a darker colour to hide the spots if they recur. We're too busy cruising to waste energy on crappy products.