"Wet & Forget" to clean your awning?

[Audionut]

The first time we cleaned our awning we followed the instructions on this video, and it worked pretty good, however it required a lot of elbow grease.

https://youtu.be/YeqlcOitL54

“The solutions is simple. A garden sprayer, a gallon of water, 1 tablespoon of liquid Dawn dish detergent, 1 tablespoon of chlorine bleach, a good soft bristle brush and a substantial amount of elbow grease.”



Then I happened upon “Wet & Forget” at the advice of the hardware store clerk on cleaning mold and mildew off our deck. So I called “Wet & Forget” help line and asked about using it to clean our camper awning. They said it works great on awnings as well, you just have to let it dry for at least five hours before you roll it up, then every once in a while spray down the underside with water to mimic rain to wash off the dead mold and mildew. And it is a non-bleach solution.

Has anyone ever tried “Wet & Forget” on their awning and how did it work.
https://www.wetandforget.com/wet-and-forget-concentrate.html

(cross posted on iRV2)

[travelin texans]

Have not tried this product, but have used Simple Green concentrate for years.
I mix the SG in a gallon sprayer a little on the rich side, spray down the awning thourghly, roll it up for 10-15 minutes, use a soft bristle brush with SG to mildly scrub if needed, then rinse & repeat if necessary, I've never had to repeat.
This sounds just like what this fellow did, but I've only had to spray it down once + a gallon of SG concentrate is about 1/2 that price & at a 1/4+/- cup per gallon it'll last a very long time.
Works very well on the rubber roof also. Spray it down, let sit, scrub mildly if necessary & rinse.

[Audionut]

Have not tried this product, but have used Simple Green concentrate for years.
I mix the SG in a gallon sprayer a little on the rich side, spray down the awning thourghly, roll it up for 10-15 minutes, use a soft bristle brush with SG to mildly scrub if needed, then rinse & repeat if necessary, I've never had to repeat.
This sounds just like what this fellow did, but I've only had to spray it down once + a gallon of SG concentrate is about 1/2 that price & at a 1/4+/- cup per gallon it'll last a very long time.
Works very well on the rubber roof also. Spray it down, let sit, scrub mildly if necessary & rinse.


Have you had to attempt Simple Green on significant mold or mildew stains, and did it work well? Or were you just cleaning a fairly clean awning for maintenance cleaning?

[travelin texans]

Had the same black streaks across the awning as in the video only darker, don't know if it was mold, smog or just dirt, but the SG removed it.
The roof was black & a bit greasy feeling, guessing smog & dirt, it did require some light scrubbing but the roof was white as snow afterwards.

[Audionut]

Had the same black streaks across the awning as in the video only darker, don't know if it was mold, smog or just dirt, but the SG removed it.
The roof was black & a bit greasy feeling, guessing smog & dirt, it did require some light scrubbing but the roof was white as snow afterwards.


Thanks, I will add SG to my repertoire of tools to use.

[nied]

Have used Wet and Forget for 4 years on the awning. Still bright white.

[Audionut]

Have used Wet and Forget for 4 years on the awning. Still bright white.


Thanks! According to what I have researched, it is easy-peasy, you just spray it on and you have to let it dry for at least five hours before you roll it back up, you do not have to rinse off, then every once in a while spray down the underside with water to mimic rain to wash off the dead mold and mildew.

Is that the process you use and how long does it take to see results?

[nied]

I do have to clean the top of the awning occasionally as we have it out quite a lot. After cleaning with a mild detergent (simple green of similar) I spray W&F on the top and bottom and use a Bona floor pad to coat the entire surfaces. I don't know how long it takes to remove mold from the awning since I've never had any. On other surfaces (shed walls, shed roof, deck) it seems to take a couple of weeks if it rains and lasts for quite a while.

[Hblick48]

We had some red spots on our awning. Don't know if it was mold, but awning is always wet when I unroll it. It was also pretty dirty.

Used Wet & Forget, and eventually red spots went away and awning was much cleaner. About to use it to clean some awnings at home. Works!

[Audionut]

We had some red spots on our awning. Don't know if it was mold, but awning is always wet when I unroll it. It was also pretty dirty.

Used Wet & Forget, and eventually red spots went away and awning was much cleaner. About to use it to clean some awnings at home. Works!


If you go to 1:19 on the YouTube vid I mentioned in my first post he shows what his awning looked like with mold before he cleaned it.

https://youtu.be/YeqlcOitL54?t=79

[JRTJH]

I've used Wet and Forget products for years and have always had excellent results. I started on the north side of our brick home (in Louisiana) where the bricks stayed damp almost all year. Wet and Forget stopped the mold and cleared up the appearance. Up here, the angle of the sun makes the north side of our house even less "sunny". With vinyl siding, I spray Wet and Forget on the north facing siding every spring. Since then, no mold and the siding stays cleaner.

That said, I spray my RV awning every spring, roll it up and let it dry "in the rolled position". Then, after a couple of days, I unroll it, spray the top and bottom with a garden hose and let it dry. I've had no mold and very little dirt/dust sticks to the awning. In the fall, when I wash the trailer, I wash the awning, let it dry and repeat the Wet and Forget in the spring.

Works for me and at $21 for 2 bottles of W&F concentrate, I do the house, RV and always have enough left over to spray the roof asphalt shingles on the shady side "just in case".....

[gearhead]

I've used W&F on the awning and the roof. It definitely isn't an instant cleaner but works well over time. Just sprayed the "new to us" Landmark roof. Will spray it again in about a month per W&F instructions. It needs to be exposed to wind and rain to work best.
Also good on moldy concrete driveways.

[larryflew]

Thanks to all. My wife has been using Mr Clean sponges and/or concentrate on the awning with great results but this would be a lot less work with either product and we already have simple green that I use for grease removal. She is a clean freak and has to be doing something all the time. For me retired is retired - do the things you like to do.

[pstltaz]

I like Jomax so much better than wet it forget it. Used it on my awning and on my house siding. So much better. You'll be much happier using it.

[eokip1]

I use a solution of 50% chlorine with 50% water in a pump sprayer. I count to thirty and spray it off with a pressure nozzle on my hose and all mold, red spots and black mold are gone! No scrubbing at all! I do avoid getting it on my TT as it does remove the wax. I spray the side of TT with water then spray the awning. Has worked great for three years with no damage to awning!

Erik

[Wingerdinger]

I use a solution of 50% chlorine with 50% water in a pump sprayer. I count to thirty and spray it off with a pressure nozzle on my hose and all mold, red spots and black mold are gone! No scrubbing at all! I do avoid getting it on my TT as it does remove the wax. I spray the side of TT with water then spray the awning. Has worked great for three years with no damage to awning!

Erik

I read this post, and really felt the need to chime in. You can use the concentration you want.. it's your camper, but I would really discourage the use of that kind of concentration of bleach for almost anything. It will cause a lot of damage to pretty much anything it comes in contact with. You may not see the damage to your awning now, but it certainly has to be shortening the life of it.
Just my opinion.

[eokip1]

Doug, I appreciate your input! I have been doing this for three years without a problem. My camping buddy has been using some kind of other cleaner with a brush and his awning is showing more damage than mine and his cleaner was designed for cleaning awnings! My formula works in thirty seconds and I spray it off, I'm done! Thinking about it and maybe I should reduce my mix to maybe 25 percent Chlorine 75 percent water and see if it still works! If that still works, I will try to reduce the percentage again and see if that works. I am just not into buying and over paying for a product that requires me to scrub my *** off for a product that does not do the job! Three years and my awning looks better than his but I agree there could be damage going on that I'm not aware of, like the deterioration of the threads that hold the damn thing together! lol
Erik

[notanlines]

What Wingdinger said! Clorox is pretty rough stuff to use 50-50. Drop back to maybe 10-15%.
On edit: If you insist on using Clorox, make darned sure you rinse everything in the area many, many times.

[gearhead]

I like Jomax so much better than wet it forget it. Used it on my awning and on my house siding. So much better. You'll be much happier using it.
Don't you add bleach to Jomax?
I don't want to use bleach.

[JRTJH]

Think what two or three cups of Clorox will do in a washer full of Levi's jeans... Pour it in without diluting it, white spots and maybe some holes by the time they get out of the dryer. Mix it so none gets on the jeans "undiluted" and that 2-3 cups in 4 or 5 gallons of water will still make the jeans fade or bleed, so even at that "weak solution" it can cause damage to Levi's.

The awning "canvas" is really a plastic coated polyester that's sewn with heavy duty thread. The same type thread that's used in Levi's jeans. A 50/50 mix on the awning will "bleach out the oils in the plastic coating and "work wonders on the thread that holds it all together.

So, be cautious using Clorox on most anything around the RV, especially at such a strong solution.