It's mildew season again, and this year I'm fighting back! By late-July things get pretty humid in Virginia, and that's means mold and mildew, especially in a canvas tent with a bare plywood floor.
Mildew loves to grow in my tent in July and August. Last year, I just ignored it. I kept thinking that things would dry out on their own and it would go away. But it stayed around until September. I got tired of the musty smell. It was pretty annoying. So this year when the mold started in again, I fought back.
It seems to start under my bed where I store things, so this year I cleared most of my stuff out from under there and soaked the plywood floor with Tilex. And even though my tent was mildew treated at the factory, I still spray the inside with Lysol about once a week.
That seems to do the trick. The musty smell is gone. It's unfortunately that I can't store much under my bed because that was a great place to stash stuff, but that's okay. It has to breath under there.
I'm wondering if lack of ventilation is your major issue with mold and mildew. Your tent seems to be closed up fairly tight. When I build my tent home, which will also be 12x14, I plan to have large screened doors on each end and two screened windows on each side wall. The goal, on all days except super stormy days, is to have the tent as wide open as possible.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right. It's probably due to poor ventilation. I only have the front door and no other openings. And as you mentioned, I've tried to really seal things up, mainly to keep cold winter air out. Hmm. You have me thinking now!
DeleteI was thinking about something else as well. How is the frame for your futon mattress constructed? Did you use open slats with spacing in between each slate or is the entire futon resting on a closed piece of plywood? Futons are best on a frame that uses an open slat frame. Slats allow for airflow under the mattress, which would otherwise get damp and grow mold.
ReplyDeleteIf you are using open slats, storing a bunch of stuff under your bed may have restricted airflow under the bed which could account for the high concentration of mold and mildew around the bed area.