Mold/Mildew?

[Alan Peck]

I am finally at that wonderful stage of turning the boat over (a fifteen foot plywood runabout)

I am building the boat outdoors under a canopy.

Building has been somewhat slow due to too many other committments so the plywood has basically been sitting outdoors for about 8 months.

Even though the boat is protected from rain, the humidity in Florida is usually very high.

It looks like the inside surface of the plywood is covered in some type of mold or mildew. Nothing very heavy, but its there.

I plan to coat the inside with epoxy prior to painting. Would it make sense to spray the inside with a mixture of chlorox and water before coating with epoxy. Is there a better chemical to use.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks

Alan

[DavePulaski]

We're constantly battling mildew growing on the [unvarnished] interior teak surfaces in our keelboat, particularly in the head. This is in New England, where it obviously isn't even as humid as down there.

It cleans off easily, with just about anything. Cleaning agent of choice at the moment is OrangeClean, a gentle spray-on cleaner than smells nice and doesn't seem to leave any residue. Whatever you use to clean off the mildew, you should probably wipe it down again with acetone before varnishing.

IME, mildew absolutely will not grow on varnished surfaces. On the parts in the main cabin that I *have* gotten around to varnishing, there is NEVER any mildew on it.