Mold Stains on Stretch Nylon Jacket... Ideas?

[FriendlyMonkey]

How can I get these out????


-FM

[mackillian]

How did they GET there? o_O

[FriendlyMonkey]

I was a damned idiot and left it sweaty, balled up in my bag...


I feel so stupid


-FM

[S. Hunter]

Er... Wash it? I had something that LOOKED like mold on mine, I'm not sure if it was, but I just washed it like I always did and it came out. Half odds that it wasn't mold though, so I'm not exactly sure.

[telkanuru]

whatever you do, bleach is not the answer; it corrodes plastics and artificial cloth.

[Torg]

washing it often is a good answer. if you sweat a lot and it's started looking a little yellowish, i recommend about a few drops of bluing (available near bleach and detergents in supermarkets). we bought an 8-ounce bottle about 3 years ago and it's still nearly full. the color yellow is the absence of blue, so if you add some blue, you get white again. one thing: be sure to start the agitator BEFORE adding your equipment, otherwise you get some faint blue splotches.

[CvilleFencer]

The blueing may work, and is something I have not tried. Load up everything as normal using a NON CHLORINE detergent and then add about a half cup full of amonia on the warm or hot water cycle. If that does not do the trick you can try putting the jacket in the to shelf of the dishwasher and in effect "steam cleaning it" I do this with the clubs and my fencing masks. A cap full or so of amonia in your fencing kit every time you wash it is a pretty good way to keep the stinkys at bay as well.

If all else fails you can try adding some heavy strength mildew killer/shower cleaner but you run the risk of yellowing the materail as well. If you live near an industrial cleaning supply house that will sell to the public you might see if they have some type of anti-bacterial enzyme that is fabric safe as well.

G'luck and let us know how it turns out.

[davtsung]

Hm, steam cleaning, that I have to try.

[FriendlyMonkey]

Thanks for all the tips everybody, I was thinking about Bleach, but
I'm glad I didn't use it now... I'll try these options and report back

-FM

[davtsung]

Bleech = uniform cancer
The best approach is to wash your stuff consistently so it doesn't grow mold, cause mold is surprisingly resilient on fencing equiptment. Best of luck!

[suregrip]

Put a bit of hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball and dab the area. Then wash. Don't over it.

[Point_Left]

Put a bit of hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball and dab the area. Then wash. Don't over it.

Hydrogen peroxide= a type of non-chlorine bleach. Don't do that to your uniform! (I have holes in my lab coat from when I tried to remove stains from it using H2O2...I doubt that the results on uniforms would be better.)

[pacer]

if it is mildew (sounds like it) brush as much of it off as possible and you can try rubbing a lemon juice and salt mixture on it, and let the sun bleach it out. (if that's not too acidic for the fabric)

[nctpbsoya]

I've had some luck in removing mold from leather shoes by using isopropyl alcohol on them. Should work on nylon too.