Removing mildew from beadboard ceiling in Louisiana
by Sci331606
+4
We recently purchased a home and it has beadboard on the entry way and patio ceilings that has some mildew on them. We want to clean it off and are unsure how to do it without ruining the wood finish. It is stained and sealed, so what is the best cleaning method?
6 answers
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A 50/50 mix of bleach and water should work well. Try it in a discreet area to make sure it doesn't affect the finish on your beadboard, but it should do the trick and keep the mildew away for quite some time!
![Lavende]()
Lavende
on Apr 22, 2014
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The secret to not ruining the finish is to rinse off the bleach and dry it really well.
![Jeanette S]()
Jeanette S
on Apr 22, 2014
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Bleach will only remove the color from the mold and not remove it. While you may wash any spores off of the surface, that can be done using any good quality kitchen counter cleaner as well. Most likely the mold on the surface is the result of dampness in the area and the mold is feeding on any polish or waxy residue on the surface of the wood. Any good quality wood cleaner will do the trick. To prevent this from coming back you need to control the moisture within the area. If its an open porch where you cannot control the humidity you simply will need to stay on top of the cleaning. If its indoors, running the AC in summer and controlling the indoor humidity in the winter should suffice.
![Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com]()
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Apr 22, 2014
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Bleach Water and electric fans.Are therte any vents in the house that nneed clearing?
![Bridget]()
Bridget
on Apr 23, 2014
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a little outside of the above posts, i had clean old fence boards to do an accent wal and found this stuff called T.S.P. at home depot, its used for washing decks and can be mixed w/ bleach.(med box of granules, &really cheap $2-3?, find it by paint stripper/acetone/goo gone area) Its did a beautiful job at cleaning old dirty, rotting mildew-y fence panels. I scrubbed the tar outta them w/ a heavy duty scrub brush and it lightened them but not overly so, more restored them to their natural clean weathered color, minus the dirt/mildew darkness. Good luck!!
![Trey LaParque]()
Trey LaParque
on Apr 29, 2014
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And another idea/backup plan: home depot also has various colors of wood stain (in semi-transparent& opaque), you have them mix up, just hand it to them like you would your paint. They also have small cans about the size of the tester jars for paint and run $3-5.They are for decks so you wouldnt have to worry there. If bleaching does give you blotches, find the closest color, theres blues, grays, all shades of wood, whites,...not a ton but alot more than you 'wood' figure.{haha}. hope this helps! again, good luck!! :)
![Trey LaParque]()
Trey LaParque
on Apr 29, 2014
Lavende
on Apr 22, 2014
Jeanette S
on Apr 22, 2014
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