Ultimate Vinyl Cleaner

wesgardner · Posted: Oct 04, 2004 4:08 am Post subject: Ultimate Vinyl Cleaner

Hey All,

This past weekend we had on Sunday one of those PERFECT days - low humidity and mid 70's F. temp. so I decided to clean my vinyl upholstry. Well I tried the Starbrite and the Spray-9 and the amonia and the Simple Green and the Top Job and the Lysol....and the winner was - Soft Scrub w/ Bleach....now I know you nay sayers are going to freak "bleach, that'll destroy...." - I can hear it now....BUT...the stuff worked...

Here's my thinking - since it is realitively heavy-bodied, it stays put, so even on vertical surfaces, it worked OK. I had black mold from neglect by a previous owner on alot of surfaces so Voila - apply it, wait about five minutes, move it around a little, rinse off very thoroughly and follow up with some 303 and the stuff looks like new. I mean NEW - every hint of black yuk is GONE! I'm not sure I'd do this as a regular course of cleaning, something like Simple Green is prolly adequate for that, but if you've let your go or if you just bought on older boat in need of cleaning, try it...

Sorry, I tried looking for my camera but it's still buryed in a box somwhere....

Wes

tball · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 24 Feb 2004 Posts: 3953

I've never seen anything that would remove the dreaded "black yuck" in one app. Thanks for the heads-up.

baggyman · Soul Rider Joined: 19 Aug 2004 Posts: 331 City: Vegas

i have used it a few times on different boats and it does work well. All that ground in dirt and dust gets taken right out also.. i just use a soft brush also and not the gel stuff has to be the white stuff.

acurtis_ttu · Soul Rider Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 499 City: Houston

what have you been using on your colored vinyl. I have some parts that are light grey and don't want to use bleach b/c of the effect it may have on colors.

Liquid*Force*Rider · Posted: Oct 04, 2004 6:45 am Post subject:

any before and after pics?

salmon_tacos · Posted: Oct 04, 2004 6:45 am Post subject:

I bought some Amazon Mildew Stain Away at Boater's World and that stuff rocks! My white vinyl has a really heavy grain and it was really dirty from sunscreen, dirt, diesel exhaust (the fork lifts at the marina), and some mildew. I tried Simple Green, Fantastic, and a couple of other cleaners and nothing would get all the grime out of the grain.

This Amazon stuff made it look like new...not a hint of grime anywhere. It has to sit on there for 5-10 minutes but it worked great. I don't think it was expensive either.

Also, if you have white rubber (rub rail) that is dirty (mine was dirty from various things, mostly the diesel exhaust), here's a miracle tip: I tried just about every cleaner and chemical I had around the house and NOTHING would clean the rubber well at all. Just when I was starting to think that I would probably have to replace the thing if I didn't want it to look crappy, I tried some Acry-Solvent from Transtar Autobody Technologies and it made the rubber white again as if by freakin' magic! It's a general cleaner/wax remover type thing that I got at an automotive paint supplier. If you have dirty light-colored rubber, get this stuff!

You just have to make sure you use a good amount of it. Rubbing with an almost dry rag doesn't do anything. It's like the chemical actually dissolves the contaminants (and possibly the oxidized rubber?) and will just redeposit them if allowed to dry before wiping clean. I would squirt some on the rag and rub a 8-inch section, then wipe it off with a clean rag.

Cautions: Use thick rubber gloves. Don't breathe too much of the stuff...it will knock you on your ass. Just a few whiffs can make you a little dizzy.

wesgardner · Posted: Oct 04, 2004 7:30 am Post subject:

Hey acurtis_ttu,

My vinyl is light grey, dark grey, yellow and black, looks like new...

Wes

wesgardner · Posted: Oct 04, 2004 7:32 am Post subject:

Hey tacos,

I remember something from years ago - whitewall cleaner....

I recall it being very harsh on my hands but it would clean a whitewall tire...

Wes

salmon_tacos · Posted: Oct 04, 2004 7:41 am Post subject:

wes,

I tried some "Westley's Bleche White" whitewall cleaner and it didn't do crap!

wesgardner · Posted: Oct 04, 2004 8:21 am Post subject:

Hey tacos,

Yeah, I don't know if I ever knew what this stuff was...we'd get it commercially in containers that I don't recall the labels...but when used, some of the white from the whitewall would actually run off when the stuff was applied...

Wes

baggyman · Soul Rider Joined: 19 Aug 2004 Posts: 331 City: Vegas

the soft scrub wont bleach out or fade the colors in the vinyl at least not on my boat. i am going to clean my boat up next week for the winter and ill see if i can find any areas to give ya a before and after shot

lanceuga33 · Outlaw Joined: 16 Oct 2003 Posts: 143 City: McDonough

My dealer says it was ok to use soft scrub but to try to stay away from the threads as the bleach will dry rot them. I use Fantastik and on the harsh areas may pull out the soft scrub.

dschock · Outlaw Joined: 07 Apr 2004 Posts: 135 City: Bellevue

Fantastik original All Purpose Cleaner and a little muscle, followed by 303 protectant... recommended by boat vinyl manufacturers.

DRAGON88 · Posted: Oct 05, 2004 12:38 am Post subject:

Schmo · Posted: Oct 05, 2004 4:50 am Post subject:

Hmmm, Sounds like a man speaking from experience (bad one at that).

89 skier · Addict Joined: 30 Jun 2004 Posts: 729 City: Dallas

I bought the 3M Vinyl cleaner that advertises to clean everything of your vinyl, but I wasn't impressed with the results. It will probably clean stuff that is new or not stained, but the harder deeper stains or discolorations barely changed color.

Now the 3M Restorer Wax on older gelcoats with a high speed "Professional" bugger works GREAT. Don't get one of those $29.99 Walmart pieces of junk unless you just want to save some arm labor for a monthly wax job.

avhawker · Newbie Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 9 City: Salt Lake City

I just cleaned the vinyl on a boat that was sunk and looked awful. I got some cheap vinyl cleaner from checker, sprayed it on, let it sit, scrubbed it with a brush, then wiped it off. It looks great. I still have a few peices left, so I'm going to try the soft scrub. Thanks guys.

wesgardner · Posted: Oct 06, 2004 3:54 am Post subject:

Hey avhawker,

I hope your experiences are as pleasant as mine were...the other cleaners I tried ALL left black/brown residual "spots" where the worst of the mung had been - the Soft Scrub w/ Bleach (Green Label) after it had time to sit on there for awhile worked like a shot - I did scrub with a brush in places, but other places just cleaned up perfectly! Let us know...

Wes

Simplemind · Newbie Joined: 28 Aug 2004 Posts: 9

salmon_tacos · Posted: Oct 06, 2004 5:30 am Post subject:

avhawker,

Even if the Soft Scrub works on the vinyl, doesn't the fact that the bleach eats at the stitching bother you? You certainly can't avoid the stitching while still cleaning the vinyl right next to it.

I'd probably just use the vinyl cleaner, expecially if it works great. If not, try Fantastik or the stuff I used.

baggyman · Soul Rider Joined: 19 Aug 2004 Posts: 331 City: Vegas

my boat is a 99 and have no thread problems from softscrub with bleach and i dont worry aobut them getting hit with the stuff.... use the stuff 2 times a year or so other than that i use a degreaser and soap and water. but that is about it and my seats look good for thier age and amount of time in the boat... still ahve a couple small like bb sized stains i think that was from tree sap that i cant get off.. but just 2 on the sun deck.. so not too bad

alanp · Criminal Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Posts: 52

greased lightening. will ANYTHING!!!! best stuff ever. check at lowes

oshensurfer · Posted: Oct 07, 2004 12:30 pm Post subject:

I use star bright. It's mainly bleach. At least that's what it smells like. Then I protect with 303.

jacko339 · Newbie Joined: 23 Oct 2004 Posts: 1

I have owned three Mastercraft boats and it seems like I have had to deal with every stain imaginable on my vinyl.

I have found that any stain that is caused by a biodegradable material such as dyes from towels or shorts, dirt, etc the best removal method has been the sun and time. Most stains that cannot be removed will evenutally biodegrade with many hours of UV exposure. Patience is the key. I have some stains that took a season or two to fade out. Or if you have stains on the sides of cushions that are not exposed to the sun, take them out when not in use and expose them to the sun.