And white has turned to brown!

[ericjan2]

Well.......The Zip Dee awning was opened for the first time yesterday since getting 'Flash' home. I thought the tattered piece of canvas hanging down at the middle was a tattered piece of the awning, but it turned out to be the pull out strap! One small tug and it disintegrated in my hand! I was worried, so I tied nylon cord to each side and carefully pulled the frame out. Low and behold a perfectly preserved Zip Dee awning! Original Brown and White stripped. Beautiful-with one major problem. The white is no longer really white. More of a dark brown stripe with a lighter brown stripe! And so the cleaning started. I used Zepp high traffic carpet and upholstrey cleaning solution, applied with a soft brush on an extension pole. Once, twice, three times I applied and rinsed. Still not the crisp white I had hoped to see. A little better, but not great. Has anyone in the community been able to bring the brightness back out on a 25 year old awning? If you have I'd love to know how! Eric

[perryg114]

Well I would not push it. If you use something strong like bleach or oxy it may or may not return it to white but it will tend to rot the canvas. White is not the best color for awnings because they tend to get stains from water and mold. If you decide to use something strong try it in a small area.

Perry

[dwightdi]

It depends on what has caused the brown color to the white strips. If you exposed the awning to well water or water that contained a larger amount of iron, then a little Non-rust added to the wash water might help. If the brown is caused by the degradation of the awning due to exposure to a large amount of heat, UV or ozone the answer is this degradation can not be removed. The fact that the pull strap was destroyed, leads me to believe the awning material was also affected by the environment.

[Aviator]

I would try the Zip Dee cleaner, the apply the Zip Dee water repellant, and us go with whatever turns out. If the chemicals are too harsh, you may end up having to buy new awnings.