Homeowner Forum / Cleaning / June 2005

This mixture does not include household bleach which may weaken fabric
or fade colors.

Dissolve in a garden sprayer
1 gallon hot water
1/2 c. powder laundry detergent (Tide is excellent)
1/2 c. Borax
1/4 c. non-chlorine bleach (Clorox II or OxyClean)

Open the umbrella on the ground and wet it.  Spray the cleaning
solution onto the fabric and use a soft-bristle brush to loosen the
dirt, black spots, and seems.  Rinse well with cool water within 10
minutes.  You can repeat the procedure on problem areas if needed.
HTH

Our crank-up umbrella got a lot of algae, dirt, and mildew stains on it a
few years ago (long story, don't ask!).  I couldn't remove the stains with
detergent and scrubbing.  I ended up using Clorox and TSP - a rather large
amount of Clorox at that.  I tested a small area and found the fabric to be
colorfast even with chlorine bleach.  I had to saturate the fabric, scrub,
and let it sit for a few minutes.  Then I rinsed.  I treated a small section
at a time.  You might test you umbrella to see if you can use chlorine
bleach.  In my case, it wasn't going to be usable anyway, so I figured it
wasn't a risk.  I think my umbrellas is canvas and the stripes are actually
painted on rather than died.  You can dilute the bleach and apply it to an
inconspicuous area with a Q-tip to test.

There are lots of cleaners for outdoor canvas.

Cleancanvas.com in New Haven offers a cleaning service.  Businesses and
homeowners ship canvas to them for hand cleaning.  They also sell
cleaning chemical and offer free advice.

Nowadays a lot of outdoor canvas is acrylic.  It's pretty colorfast and
durable, but harsh cleaning may damage the water repellent and the
polyester stitching.  If the repellent isn't replaced, the canvas will
get dirty sooner and be harder to clean.

Washing with mild soap like Ivory is recommended.  If that's not enough,
soaking 20 minutes in water with 1/4 cup bleach and 1/4 cup mild soap
per gallon may work.  Then rinse.

Hi Ron

Often the black spots are tree sap and you know what from aerial bombers.
Unless the black is streaked from being folded up.

We have several items made from various materials, a covered swing, a patio
cover, and grill covers besides the umbrella.

We use a few simple steps in cleaning these items every spring and they always
look great afterwards.  

First, we take commercial grade Windex and add 1 cup of Ammonia and spray
down everything until its saturated and let sit for at least an hour before
hosing it off, trying to keep it wet with the cleaner for that full hour
before rinsing.

Second, after it dries somewhat we wet everything again with Hydrogen Peroxide
H2O2.  This removes mold stains very well, especially from the folds and
pleats.  It's fairly cheap and works great.  Sometimes before rinsing, especially
things like grill covers or vinyl coated items we will scrub them lightly
with Soilax or TSP before hosing everything down with clean water and allowing
to dry.

Third, after everything is completely dry, we treat it with a waterproofer
usually designed for the purpose.  Such as Cameo Tent & Awning waterproofing.
Sometimes we just use Scotchgard for Outdoor Patio Furniture, a spray.
Of the aerosols we have used, the best by far was Drifab, an Amway product.
But still aerosols are not as good as the liquid Tent & Awning waterproofers
we have used.

As an aside:
If you have some lawn seating that tends to hold moisture and not dry as
it should.  If you spray these seats or seat backs down with a dilute solution
of liquid dishwashing detergent and let dry, then wipe the detergent off
the surface with a damp rag, they will be more apt to shed their water and
not remain damp.

TTUL
Gary