Mold on the bottom of vberth mattress, how do I deal with this?

[MajorWaves]

Hi all,

On a bayliner 3270,
Just went to do laundry, decided to give the bottom of the mattress we had made for the Vberth a checkup,
I do this every few weeks, and havent noticed any issues so far.

This time, though, there was a large circle of what Im assuming is mold, directly on the mattress's cover.
I have some aireflow material on the way, just for this specific reason.. kicking myself for not purchasing it sooner.

How do I go about cleaning this?
Ive taken the mattress cover off, theres some light spotting on the actual mattress itself, but for the most part the mattress itself doesnt look too bad, nothing like the cover.

I put the cover in the wash for three cycles, using borax bleach and detergent, it didnt really take away all of the mold.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

We have a large dehumidifier running in the salon, should I get another just for the vberth? I figured the main one would be enough but this has me concerned.
Buying another mattress is way out of budget at this point, Id like to be able to still use this one. I just dont want the mold coming back.
Id just like some tips for cleaning / further prevention. Anyone else sleep in the vberth? What have you done to deal with this?
Were in the bay area, west coast, so it can get a little humid in the winter but its nothing too extreme.

Any suggestions?
Thanks.

[Sunbird]

Up here in Michigan we have to deal with excess moisture in the winter. We hang “Damprid” bags all over the boat. These collect moisture all winter long and in the spring to dispose of them. There are some products at the boat store designed specifically to remove mold - I believe Starbrite makes a good one. You could also put wood blocks under your mattress to allow air in this area. I’m assuming you always leave a small fan on the boat for air circulation.

Good luck,

[Sportscar]

What you should do is get a few humidity gauges. They can be purchased cheap enough these days. put one in the main area and 1 in each other stateroom area. I have 3 in the house and was shocked at how high my humidity was here which started to explain a few of the issues we had. Until you really know what readings you have you can't decide how to properly deal with it. Might be just adding a fan will help or you might need a second dehumidifier.

[Norton_Rider]

Mold under on the bottom of the V-berth mattress comes from water condensation that forms there as a result of the temperature difference between warm, moist bodies and the cooler wood underneath. This is quite common and a dehumidifier will probably not do much to prevent it.

There are two ways to keep it from happening:

1- Insulate the wood platform so its temperature is closer to the boat's interior temperature, rather than the water temperature. You can use construction foam board or other similar products to do this. Cut it to shape and lay it between the mattress and the platform.

2- Ventilate the area between the mattress and the wood platform. There are a number of ways to do this. You can build a wooden grid to support the mattress or you can use one of a number of commercially available products such as these: http://www.nickleatlantic.com/, http://www.hyperventonline.com/, https://www.dri-dek.com/.

[ksanders]

Mold under on the bottom of the V-berth mattress comes from water condensation that forms there as a result of the temperature difference between warm, moist bodies and the cooler wood underneath. This is quite common and a dehumidifier will probably not do much to prevent it.

There are two ways to keep it from happening:

1- Insulate the wood platform so its temperature is closer to the boat's interior temperature, rather than the water temperature. You can use construction foam board or other similar products to do this. Cut it to shape and lay it between the mattress and the platform.

2- Ventilate the area between the mattress and the wood platform. There are a number of ways to do this. You can build a wooden grid to support the mattress or you can use one of a number of commercially available products such as these: http://www.nickleatlantic.com/, http://www.hyperventonline.com/, https://www.dri-dek.com/.

Thats what I found as well.

What I did was insulate using 1” pink foam, which is available at Home Depot in 2’ squares, which are just perfect to piece together and make a solid layer, and allow access to hatches etc...

this solved the problem, in my case better and cheaper than the airflow mesh

[The_Other_Gary]

+1 on pink or blue foam board. I am a 16 year liveaboard on the great lakes. No condensation at all in winter and in summer the forward AC right under the bed is a lot quieter. I bought the 2 foot by 8 foot sheets, 3 of them did the bed nicely and open easily to access the storage when needed.

[Centerline2]

finding a way to insulate or separate the two surfaces from one another is a proven solution for that particular problem. but also, dont overlook the value of a simple fan blowing full time in that area. there are a lot of boats that end up with mildew in the upholstery, walls or headliner that could easily be prevented with nothing more than air movement.... as long as the air is moving, it has the ability to pick up a lot of moisture and with even a small vent, it can escape... AND, mildew and mold doenst like to grow in areas where the air is moving..

[MajorWaves]

Really appreciate all the advice, youve all been incredibly helpful that last few times Ive had questions.

Were getting aireflow material for under the mattress, Ill be putting insulating material under that on the bed support.
Also going to pick up another circulating fan, one thats a bit bigger, and retire the smaller one I was using to the salon.
On top of all that ill be picking up some damprid bags to hang around as well, and some humidity monitors.

Ive cleaned out the mattress with some mold cleaning solution, airing it out in direct sunlight, along with the cover, theyre looking much better and should be back to being usable after a few more treatments and some scrubbing, looks like I caught it in time.

Thanks again

[Westside]

Shortly after I purchased my 43 had same problem. I found the V berth bunk in master was actually sealed up with a large cavity underneath. I cut a hatch under the mattress and actually found standing water in that sealed cavity. I used a piece of 1/2 inch poly flex board I had in my shop and drilled a few holes in the new hatch lid created for the cavity and haven't had any problems since then. I get a little mold in the master head in winter but not much. Originally I used the forced air cadets standard throughout to heat the boat but experienced moisture being drawn into the boat from sealed up colder areas behind the heaters creating mold in various areas. I switched to the plug in convection type of oil heaters that can be purchased anywhere, they seem to dry out the boat, I have had no mold issues other than the small area in the head. My theory is rather than drawing air from a source the oil heaters radiate dry heat moving air outward. Of course these heaters are used when connected to shore power. I have passed on my info to my dock buddies and most of them have experienced the same results. I locate one in the master, saloon and engine room set on low drawing about 2000 watts total, keeps the boat dry and warm.

[Pacrimrat]

I put the 1" pink foam board under mine about 8 years ago and haven't had any mold since.

[Gsherwood]

Vinegar and water in a spray bottle. We had mold on our monkey fur and my wife did this. No problems in 3 years.

[Machog]

Norton_Rider, thats some great links. I’m going with the Grip-Lok raised mats, about $100.00 for our full size bed on a 4087. https://www.rubberflooringinc.com/cart.html. Found these on line.

Tx

[OldFrog]

Has anyone here tried one of these ventilation solutions for a mattress?

http://www.hyperventmarine.com/index.html

[ksanders]

Has anyone here tried one of these ventilation solutions for a mattress?

http://www.hyperventmarine.com/index.html

I tried that stuff on a previous boat. It worked OK.

Found the pink foam was allot cheaper and worked better.

[Woodsea]

The PO installed the hypervent stuff under all mattresses in our boat. We are in the SF Bay Area and it’s worked great for three years. I don’t have the temp swings you guys up north have however. I did re-trim the fit. The PO had left it pretty oversized and it does not feel very good to scrap it against skin.