Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

Softwash Australia · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Canvas Sail Cleaning

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Hey Nick,..first thing I'd recommend is walking away,Ha,Ha,...

Then determine what's on it you're trying to remove,..I'll assume basic mold from the first picture. Then I'd advise a test spot with whatever cleaner you try to use on the least visible spot.

Try to do this job on a cloudy day,..it will allow your light mix to stay wet longer and work.

Having done many awnings that were moldy,..the use of sodium hypochlorite was always needed to get acceptable results.

Then I'd probably use a 1% sodium hypochlorite solution and see where that gets you. Slightly increase strength until it seems effective enough to work. Instant results on awnings and sails aren't a good thing,..you don't want to weaken the material or threads anymore than you have to. So a 10-15 minutes wait time isn't a bad thing. The addition of a soap may be needed,..but try to keep it to a minimum or you will be rinsing forever. And speaking of rinsing,..high volume and low pressure is the way to go.

Then, tell the customer to have it cleaned on a regular basis and you'll most likely be able to get away with using Sodium Percarbonate.

Jeff

waxman18324 · Founding Member Rest in Peace

Nick,

Jeff has sound advice. We did this big top tent last year with the same procedure as Jeff mentioned.

Hank

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Dave O · Retired Member

Hank,
That top tent you cleaned looks so bright I almost need sun glasses to look at it...LOL.

waxman18324 · Founding Member Rest in Peace

Dave,

Thanks. We had to use a white rental truck to bring in water from the other side of the property.

Hank

Diamond Roof Cleaning · Approved Exterior Cleaner

We have done 4 tents this year for a local tent rental company. The results were great and it has turned into a 10 tent cleaning every 3 months. We are working with another company to set up cleaning of their tents as well. The 30x30 tents take roughly 25 minutes to clean top and bottom. We use around a 1-2 % solution ratio.

Softwash Australia · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Thank Jeff,Hank, Michael and Dave.

The advice is very welcomed and I take on board the need for a low (1%) SH.Also keep the soap to a min so the rinse is a bit easier.

Test sample section needed also. Great advice.

I appreciate that we are significantly different areas but can anyone offer a rate per sq foot on this type of clean. Obviously there are factors such as access i can deal with but from an application point of view any guide would be great.

Thanks Guys.

Nick

Dave O · Retired Member

Diamond roof Cleaning wrote:
We have done 4 tents this year for a local tent rental company. The results were great and it has turned into a 10 tent cleaning every 3 months. We are working with another company to set up cleaning of their tents as well. The 30x30 tents take roughly 25 minutes to clean top and bottom. We use around a 1-2 % solution ratio.

Diamond,

This might be a dumb question, but do the tents need to be pitched or can they be cleaned spread out on say a clean parking lot? If they do need to be pitched, do you set them up or does the customer?

Diamond Roof Cleaning · Approved Exterior Cleaner

we have the customer set them up the night before. it would be to difficult if they were not pitched.

John Aloisio · Approved Exterior Cleaner

We have done some large canvas awnings at one beach properties with a 1% solution. Just an FYI, softwash chemicals will reduce or completely strip off any waterproofing that has been applied to the canvas.