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Rainbow screens - mildew / mould

Alan Chaplin

Alan Chaplin

Glasgow Al!
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T6.1 Ocean 150
Anyone else had experience of this on their screens and tips / ideas how to remove ? Rainbow say they’ve no experience of this. (I’ve obviously stored them away damp)


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Milton solution is great for getting rid of mould, for big screens fill the bath and put the dilution they suggest on the bottle for disinfecting (not sterilising). You can get 5 litre bottles on a_man_zone. Man made fabrics take longer than cotton etc, leave soaking for 24 hours. Rinse the screens and dry. Might be wise to test a corner of the blind with the solution you mix just to make sure

White vinegar is also very good at killing mould, stinks to high heaven but smell goes after a few days,vinegar kills 70% of mould types, it works in a totally different way from chemicals, it gets right into the cell structure of the mould and destroys it, where bleaches and Milton work on the surface of the mould, so vinegar is the most effective if it’s one of the mould types it kills

Bleach is the worst stuff, whilst Milton is similar to bleach it’s much less harmful to fabrics and humans, it is after all designed for baby products
 
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I find that dilute bleach is absolutely fine, dilute about 1 bleach to 10 water. I use this on all mold and it gets rid of it very quickly. Milton is dilute bleach.
 
I find that dilute bleach is absolutely fine, dilute about 1 bleach to 10 water. I use this on all mold and it gets rid of it very quickly. Milton is dilute bleach.
Milton is not bleach, With the heavy ions removed Milton decomposes into water and a small amount of sodium chloride (salt). Bleach remain toxic and does not decompose
 
Bleach is sodium hypochlorite dissolved in water which is an oxidizing agent. In the process of oxidising organic matter it decomposes into sodium chloride, water and hypochlorous acid which is the oxidising agent (effectively chlorine in water). There are no heavy ions in bleach. If you Google "what is Milton made from" the answer is "a dilute solution of sodium hypochlorite" - same as bleach. It goes on to say that Milton also contains sodium chloride and I'd more dilute than household bleach.

Milton is dilute bleach.
 
Bleach is sodium hypochlorite dissolved in water which is an oxidizing agent. In the process of oxidising organic matter it decomposes into sodium chloride, water and hypochlorous acid which is the oxidising agent (effectively chlorine in water). There are no heavy ions in bleach. If you Google "what is Milton made from" the answer is "a dilute solution of sodium hypochlorite" - same as bleach. It goes on to say that Milton also contains sodium chloride and I'd more dilute than household bleach.

Milton is dilute bleach.
They are very similar but they are not the same, bleach is strong and is harmful if not careful, its made of chlorine gas in a concentrated solution of sodium hydroxide, which forms sodium hypochlorite and sodium chloride. Milton Sterilising is a form of bleach and contains sodium hypochlorite 2%. The fundamental difference is Milton decomposes into water and sodium chloride (salt) bleach does not it remains a corrosive and toxic

As Milton decomposes into water and salt it’s safer to use as it becomes harmless on the surface (good for fabrics) that’s why it’s safe for babies. Bleach however if not rinsed off throughly remains in it’s form on the surface and thus is still toxic. Cleaning a roof cover that sits next to a expensive VW roof fabric to me it is better to have a solution such as Milton that decomposes to a harmless form rather than use bleach which does not
 
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They are very similar but they are not the same, bleach is strong and is harmful if not careful, its made of chlorine gas in a concentrated solution of sodium hydroxide, which forms sodium hypochlorite and sodium chloride. Milton Sterilising is a form of bleach and contains sodium hypochlorite 2%
Sodium hypochlorite is synthesised by passing chlorine gas through sodium hydroxide. The NaClO can then be isolated as a crystalline solid, it can also be purchased directly. Household bleach is prepared by dissolving NaClO in water, at a suitable concentration, to which surfactants are also added to facilitate wetting. There is no free chlorine in domestic bleach. As you say Milton is NaClO dissolved in water - same as bleach. Milton is dilute bleach without the surfactant.
 
Thanks for all the comments. I tried non bleach based fabric cleaners with no real success. Eventually patch tested HG mould remover on a corner of the back fill in piece, diluted it, and it worked a treat. Thanks again.
 
If one Google's "ingredients of HG Mold remover" the response is Sodium Hypochlorite - same as domestic bleach but more dilute. May still contain surfactants.
 
Anyone else had experience of this on their screens and tips / ideas how to remove ? Rainbow say they’ve no experience of this. (I’ve obviously stored them away damp)


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Yes. I used warm water, a little Fairy liquid, and gently rubbed it. Then left it to dry in the sun. Fine.
 
Naptha might also work but I have not tried it yet on the screen. I use it on many things in the van to remove grease on leather seats (oops), ink on plastic, adhesive backing on aluminium and find it's a great cleaner that leaves no smell or residue. Of course, Jimi Hendrix used it to set his guitar on fire, but that's another story. Like I said, haven't tried it on the Rainbow screen yet and would test it on a small inconspicuous area first, but it works on my leather upholstery. You can buy it on Amazon or any chemical reagent stockist. DO NOT TRY ACETONE though...it will melt synthetics very quickly.
 
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