Carver Owners Forum

Mine is a boat which has been up on stands for a couple of years, with no use. Steadily cleaning, replacing and gouging out old nastiness, (engines, instrumentation and trim tabs another story, but I might torture the board with those tales elsewhere) and now I come to the lining. Considering the age of the boat (1988) and the fact that pretty well all of the interior is original, that's a testament to the quality of materials used. Settee covering is almost whitewashed by UV on one side now, but the material is in excellent condition, so it stays.

But the lining, which is a thickish woven material, has been used inside lockers as well as much of the general interior, and so together with the fact that wet canvas and fenders have clearly been stored there, there's a lot of mildewy mould evident. Generous amounts of Bicarbonate of Soda/hoovering has taken the more obvious markings off, but at depth there's still evidence, especially the worst affected area, which is the locker between the main cabin and the forward sleeping area.

Question: If I took a bucket of soapy water (or anything with bleach in it), a broom and a hosepipe to the lockers in the forward cabin would I be adding to my problems? Will the bilges take the water (I don't know where the drains are), I shall in any case put a dehumidifier in there for a while afterward. I just want it all clean and smelling of roses.

You could try a portable carpet steamer/cleaner on the mouse fur and other things fabric with the hand attachments.

Good work, sir! Casting around, I find that the household has one of these machines, and having absorbed the instructions, shall climb into the lockers when it stops raining.

You might also try TSP (although I would test in an inconspicuous area first) - I found this blog about getting mildew out of boats and although I haven't tried it yet, it looks like sage advice:
https://stingysailor.com/2017/02/11/remove-and-prevent-mildew-for-pennies/

Vinyardgray, those two solutions noted in your link look like very good advice. I've ordered the ingredients for one and will mix and apply - again, when it stops raining.