Vinyl Cleaning Products

jhorta

Gents,  What vinyl cleaner do you all use, and why?  The 10 year old cockpit seating on my 05 290FV is less white and more of a "I can't believe its not butter" hue.  I'm pretty sure its suppose to be white. 

LaRea

303 Aerospace.  Not cheap, but it is by far the best I've ever used.  I like the wipes -- convenient and effective.

Dream_Inn

303 is great stuff, I use it as well.  If you are looking to clean, you might try Magic Eraser first to get it clean, then definitely use the 303 to protect.

Handymans342

You may not be able to remove that. 

frenchship

303 is the best product. As DI mentioned you could try the magic eraser in a concealed place see if it works but this product has a tendency of drying up the vinyl , if it works make sure you treat your vinyl regularly . I work in the vinyl industry and there is a good chance that you won't be able to bring it back to the original white.

Handymans342

Paul, have they perfected Vinyl yet so the sun wont kill it?

frenchship

Not yet, as you know the sun rays will destroy almost anything. The only way to keep it in good shape is lot of TLC.

frenchship

I forgot to mentioned that good quality vinyl could be re-dye cheaper than replacement but as to be done the proper way not a DIY.

rmrstlmo

I was checking out 303 products on Amazon.  Do you guys use the standard product or the marine?

Handymans342

I would go marine.

Cableguy Greg

Marine

bigal6030

Try the SeaBrite mold and stain remover good price and works very well

halifax212

Starbrite vinyl cleaner applied using magic eraser then starbrite vinyl protector.

jhorta

So, I ended up giving BoatBling Vinyl Sauce a shot based on various reviews. 

Link

Did a pretty good job on a single pass of getting rid of dark spots out and restoring some of the color.  I'm going to also give the Seabrite and 303 a try (Lots of amazon gift cards for xmas), and I'll post some before and afters for each product.   The Boatbling results looked great, but I don't have a Baseline, so I can't REALLY say its good until I have compared it to other products. 

Overkill you say?? Guilty as charged.  Its the engineer in me. 



 

MarkB

Avoid magic erasers. They scour the vinyl and it becomes dull.

Dream_Inn

Mark, only if used too much. Once or twice a year is fine. I've used them since they came out with no probs.

jhofmann

Bleachy white used to make a product for use on vinyl but can't seem to find it anymore, could try regular bleachy white made for tires, but dilute it, rinse and treat right away.

rowboat212

Every time you use a magic eraser you scour a layer of vinyl off... Does it work? Yes.. but it destroys the vinyl slowly but surely.. it's a shortcut promoting laziness... Maybe most of you guys have the coin to toss at seats once every five years, I don't know.. even if I did I wouldn't shortcut as a matter of principle. I'd rather preserve what I've already paid for... It's the difference, I'd wager, between folks that earned their toys and those born with a silver spoon as a curious tail as standard issue.

Starbright mildew remover works, and then keep a coat of silicone on them.. bottle of starbright will last a couple years I'd guess, and silicone aerosol can will last all season, and there won't be a problem anymore.

raybo3

212 Not sure about "it's a shortcut promoting laziness" comment. It works and some people do not realize it is damaging their seats. I for one thought I was doing good using magic eraser because me seats looked great when done. After using it for a few years I found that the seats started looking dull. I ended up having to do all of them over $3500.00. Looks great but I will never use M.E. again on them. Lesson learned, not lazy....lol

rowboat212

I ran into mildew last season like I've not seen before... Not just with the boat... But the point (unclear) of my.post is prevention not recovery... Letting it go and then.hitting it with an.eraser is not a good long term plan. Preventing it is... There are some conditioners that work, but are more expensive and take more effort that a soft rag an a can of silicone spray.

mvn

I am guilty of using ME's but only on trouble stains or spots, never for general cleaning as they are micro-abrasives.

Mark

rasbury

I have not been at this long, but, tried several cleaners on mine- what worked the best for me and very easy was the starbrite product from W Marin....I have a 2005

golfdog

I started using RollOff a few years ago, love the stuff.