Mildew clean-up and preservation of canvas

[popupgranny]

Hello, I'm a newbie - a very young Grandma who purchased a 97 Rockwood popup to take her grandsons camping. I haven't even picked up the camper yet - doing that tomorrow. It had some leaks in the roof. Some as a result of the corners of the hard top and some maybe from the air conditioner. Anyway, there is mildew on the inside of the canvas. It looks brand new on the outside. What can I clean this mildew off with? The RV dealer told me bleach and water. When I asked if it would damage the canvas or affect the waterproofing he said no. I'm finding that may not be the case according to various postings on different sites.. How can I clean this up without damaging it from the inside out? Also, when/how do I know when to treat the canvas?
I'm really excited about camping! It seems to be an excellent unit other than those issues. Thanks in advance for your help!

[sherdep]

first and foremost you need to make sure there are no more leaks or the mildew will come back no matter how well you treat the mildew and will mkae your camping trip miserable when it rains.

Once you treat the mildew you will need to let it air and dry out as well

you can buy a product called - Star Brite Mildew stain remover from walmart in there camping section or you can get it from west marine or most marine places will have it as well

[bikendan]

not sure where you've read negative things about using a mild bleach solution.
i've owned 2 popups and one hybrid, over more than 20 years of camping and i've always used a mild bleach solution.

never compromised the canvas or waterproofing.
not sure what you mean by "treat" the canvas.

how do you know you won't continue to have mildew if the leaks haven't been found and fixed?

FRF has specific forums for each type and brand.
there's a Tent Camper section here where you might want to visit.

[dlhoppe]

More importantly, what other kind of damage did the water do? Most campers have a lot of "pressed" wood in them. If the water got to it, it's going to need repaired. Be careful of where the uprights attach to the roof. If they give way it could be a real mess. I had a Flagstaff that developed a leak and I had to rebuild the side panel of the roof-top. Not a horrible job, but it needed to be done or the top would have come down at some point.

Good luck!