Hello Tony.
I found Phil's experience interesting. It had not occurred to me that anti fungal and anti mildue products may no longer be used on canvas, and it would not surprise me at all if there has also been a big shift away from the wax and oil based waterproofing compounds of the war years to more modern silicone based agents, which are very effective.
Not sure how much humidity you get down your way, or for how long it hangs around, but I have seen mold and mildue set up very quickly on fabrics stored inside in these parts, when the heat and humidity combination gets just right.
The Canadian Tire Company out this way carried a canvas waterproofing product for tents in their camping supplies that was silicone based and anti mildue. It was available in colours at one time but I think it is now neutral. Comes in one litre and four litre cans and can either be brushed or sprayed on. I used it to revive an original M38 CDN canvas top once and it worked a treat! It did darken the canvas down a bit when finished but that was actually an improvement in this case as the colour had faded quite badly over the years and it looked a bit closer to original when finished.
It might be worth your while to see what is available locally and test our a small tin if you can. I'd hate to see a batch of warm fuzzies set up home on all your hard work!
David
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