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Cleaning mold without bleach.

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6.8K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  plainpainter  
#1 ·
I have a job coming up and there is some mold here and there not bad, but ho doesn't want to loose the grey weathered look of the exterior, so what can I use that wont "brighten "the wood after I kill the mold and soft wash it?
Thanks BPTL
 
#3 ·
Let me know when you figure that one out too, I had a house like that that had onld TWP on it, all weathered, mildew, tannin bleed, etc and the HO did not want to loose the weathered look. I was at a loss how to properly prepare the cedar and keep it looking like it was about to fall apart.

If it would work in your case, maybe clean properly and then some kind of system with Cabots Bleaching Oil and weathering stain might do the trick.
 
#6 ·
This is true. The silvery gray, which is often confused by homeowners as being mildew, is actually a protective fibrous layer that the wood forms in order to protect itself from the elements. It doesnt take long for it to form, either. The problem is, the cycle of eventual mildew growth will continue with no protective coating.
 
#5 ·
I've got a 30k cedar shake roof restoration job to do if I could come up with a solution for that as well. The house looks like an old French Chateau and the roof is 11 years old. The HO said it has taken this long to get them to look like that and he doesn't want to lose it.

There are several products that will give you a grey stain but I haven't found one that is acceptable.
 
#7 ·
I have a job coming up and there is some mold here and there not bad, but ho doesn't want to loose the grey weathered look of the exterior, so what can I use that wont "brighten "the wood after I kill the mold and soft wash it?
Not much
Even water and a brushing could brush off some of the gray
 
#11 ·
I didnt mean to imply that the gray is an acceptable protective coating. Wood is organic matter, and this is its best attempt at defending itself. I am not a believer in the "no maintenance, let it weather" approach. In the end, the elements always win. We have to try though.

By the way, the cedar shake roof is one of the worst ideas EVER!
 
#12 ·
Consan Triple Action 20 will kill mildew and algae and not bleach out the wood. I've used it and it works. However, it is expensive and it takes several days to work. It does exactly what you want. Interestingly, it's actually a gardening product, but I've played with it in different situations and it does the job.

Brian Phillips
 
#13 ·
Man, I Love this place! Thanks Brian I am going to order a bottle to test an area for him. Definitely won't be the 30k for the clean & stain but I might still make a buck off of it. I really hate doing it without staining/sealing but I want to work on this guys house.

Sounds like it is actually fairly concentrated at 516:1 water to chem. Did you mix it this way and what kind of sf would you get? Did you wet or saturate the surface or flood it?
 
#15 ·
That product has quaternry ammoniums - that was the other mildew killer I was thinking about as well - but if memory served me correctly - it too will take off grey, at least I thought it did. You can get that compound in pool supply stores in many of their products.