Cleaning cockpit floor

the drill brush works well on carpet also to loosen dirt that is deeply embedded before vacuuming the carpet and it fluffs the nap of the carpet....

cliff
 
Wow.... I think we should figure out what that black foam stuff is and put it in a tube and start competing with 3M's 5200.

Oven cleaner?... That's crazy. I can just imagine the poor guy that figured that out must have touched every chemical known... and then some.
 
Wow.... I think we should figure out what that black foam stuff is and put it in a tube and start competing with 3M's 5200.

Oven cleaner?... That's crazy. I can just imagine the poor guy that figured that out must have touched every chemical known... and then some.

I did that. Then didn’t think to use gloves. Bad idea. Chemical burned hands.

For point of reference, can’t take credit for figuring it out.
 
Polishing compound, then replace with indoor/outdoor carpet from Lowes for under $100, rolls up easily when you need to get to the bilge and it is stylish and on trend. When it gets grubby, it's cheap enough to throw in the skip and replace. That snap down stuff is junk for the price they charge and not fit for purpose.
 
We are finally going to replace our old carpet which my husband kept saying is "fine" and "good enough". Understandable considering that we're in the midst of having to redo the secondary seals on our windows which was a really expensive project.

At any rate, last night we were at the boat doing another project and I was pushing to just get the damned carpet done. I was trying to make my point and lifted up the largest piece of carpet and was greeted by not only a nasty mess of black backing that is totally deteriorated but also green fuzzy mold. So gross!!!

Needless to say I placed the order for our new carpet this morning. Finally!

We have a drill brush and I'll give that a try. What was the cleaning solution that worked best for your stubborn stains? I have a feeling that ours will be about the same.

Thanks!
Sandy
 
We are finally going to replace our old carpet which my husband kept saying is "fine" and "good enough". Understandable considering that we're in the midst of having to redo the secondary seals on our windows which was a really expensive project.

At any rate, last night we were at the boat doing another project and I was pushing to just get the damned carpet done. I was trying to make my point and lifted up the largest piece of carpet and was greeted by not only a nasty mess of black backing that is totally deteriorated but also green fuzzy mold. So gross!!!

Needless to say I placed the order for our new carpet this morning. Finally!

We have a drill brush and I'll give that a try. What was the cleaning solution that worked best for your stubborn stains? I have a feeling that ours will be about the same.

Thanks!
Sandy

I've read a lot of threads on here about different ways to clean that mess up, but I have a new one. One of the techs at my marina was having a devil of a time getting that old backing off a customers boat, and someone mentioned brake fluid. He simply brushed it on and left it for like 20 minutes or so and just wiped it off with a rag.

-Tom
 
I've read a lot of threads on here about different ways to clean that mess up, but I have a new one. One of the techs at my marina was having a devil of a time getting that old backing off a customers boat, and someone mentioned brake fluid. He simply brushed it on and left it for like 20 minutes or so and just wiped it off with a rag.

-Tom

Whoa! Well we’re beading back to the marina tomorrow evening and we’ll go armed with several options but I’ll try the brake fluid first! Why not?
 
i have never tried it but 'bug and tar' remover found at auto parts stores might also work....

cliff
 
Thanks Cliff! I’ll stop somewhere on the way to the boat for supplies. Last night I was at Target and they were completely out of brake fluid. They had 4 on hand according to their system and when I asked a staff member to check he looked frustrated and said someone must have stolen all 4 containers. Such a weird thing to steal!!
 
Has to be the original easy off. The stuff with Lye in it. Not the scent free. Spray on, scrub around, let sit 15-30 min, scrub off rinse dry repeat 3-4 times.
 
We went out to the marina tonight to pull our old carpet. it was a total mess underneath but after vacuuming and then following up with a drill brush and some simple green (soft scrub with bleach on the bad spots), it's finally all clean. Can't wait for our new carpet!
 
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That's the ticket right there...I have the yellow one and white. I use the white for the deck and yellow for the vinyl. It goes on the orbital polisher and works awesome!

https://shurhold.com/dap-scrub-brush
Exactly! We used the yellow brush on the cockpit floor and we have the white brushes ready for cleaning the vinyl another day. I just need to decide which product I’ll use on the vinyl. I have a few which should all be appropriate. Getting that nasty junk out of our boat fees so good! We knew we had a leak in the skylight which coincidentally got properly sealed (along with our windows) yesterday. We had no idea that the carpet had been developing mildew underneath. Thankfully it was very dry yesterday so we were able to vacuum the majority of the nasty stuff first and then followed up with the rest.
 
Exactly! We used the yellow brush on the cockpit floor and we have the white brushes ready for cleaning the vinyl another day. I just need to decide which product I’ll use on the vinyl. I have a few which should all be appropriate. Getting that nasty junk out of our boat fees so good! We knew we had a leak in the skylight which coincidentally got properly sealed (along with our windows) yesterday. We had no idea that the carpet had been developing mildew underneath. Thankfully it was very dry yesterday so we were able to vacuum the majority of the nasty stuff first and then followed up with the rest.

Look for Totally Awesome Cleaner on Amazon. It’s yellow stuff that costs about $10.00 a gallon. I don’t bother diluting it as per the guide on the side of the bottle. I use it with the green side of the scrub sponges that are sold in Home Depot and other places. Pick up a spray bottle to put the cleaner in while you’re there. Takes a little elbow grease if the vinyl cushions are really dirty, but it works well and it’s pretty cheap.
Follow up with 303 protectant and your vinyl will look great.
 
Look for Totally Awesome Cleaner on Amazon. It’s yellow stuff that costs about $10.00 a gallon. I don’t bother diluting it as per the guide on the side of the bottle. I use it with the green side of the scrub sponges that are sold in Home Depot and other places. Pick up a spray bottle to put the cleaner in while you’re there. Takes a little elbow grease if the vinyl cushions are really dirty, but it works well and it’s pretty cheap.
Follow up with 303 protectant and your vinyl will look great.

Thanks! Our cushions aren't very dirty but we'd like to get them back to like-new condition. We have the white drill brush set and I'll look into that cleaner. Thanks!
 
Thanks! Our cushions aren't very dirty but we'd like to get them back to like-new condition. We have the white drill brush set and I'll look into that cleaner. Thanks!

Be very, very careful with the drill brush on the vinyl. If it is a variable speed drill, then start out with it on a very slow speed and apply very little pressure to make sure you don’t damage the vinyl. If it isn’t a variable speed drill then I wouldn’t use it.
You can do just as well with the scour side of the sponge and not risk damaging the vinyl.
My white vinyl (and my boat) got covered with black soot last fall from a fire a few slips away from me on a transient dock. The cleaner and scour side of the sponge got it spotless again.
Also, I keep a bucket of water with Dawn mixed in to it and a clean rag next to me when I do the vinyl. I do a section with the cleaner, and when it raises the dirt I wipe it down with the rag to get that dirt off of it before it starts to dry again. Then I rinse the vinyl down with a hose, let it completely dry, then apply the 303.
There is another product that I tried last week on some vinyl filler cushions based on the recommendation of several posters here. It’s called Marine Strip. It worked extremely well and was very quick. I really liked it a lot, but decided not to use it because my vinyl is original from 2002 and I was a little afraid of putting a solvent on it.
The downsides to the Marine Strip though is that the shipping on it is through Etsy and is almost as much as the product, it’s solvent based and I felt like the vinyl I tried it on was a little gummy after I used it (but it did dry okay), and it evaporates very quickly. I was lucky enough to have a distributor about a 30 minute drive from me so I avoided the shipping charge.
 
Be very, very careful with the drill brush on the vinyl. If it is a variable speed drill, then start out with it on a very slow speed and apply very little pressure to make sure you don’t damage the vinyl. If it isn’t a variable speed drill then I wouldn’t use it.
You can do just as well with the scour side of the sponge and not risk damaging the vinyl.
My white vinyl (and my boat) got covered with black soot last fall from a fire a few slips away from me on a transient dock. The cleaner and scour side of the sponge got it spotless again.
Also, I keep a bucket of water with Dawn mixed in to it and a clean rag next to me when I do the vinyl. I do a section with the cleaner, and when it raises the dirt I wipe it down with the rag to get that dirt off of it before it starts to dry again. Then I rinse the vinyl down with a hose, let it completely dry, then apply the 303.
There is another product that I tried last week on some vinyl filler cushions based on the recommendation of several posters here. It’s called Marine Strip. It worked extremely well and was very quick. I really liked it a lot, but decided not to use it because my vinyl is original from 2002 and I was a little afraid of putting a solvent on it.
The downsides to the Marine Strip though is that the shipping on it is through Etsy and is almost as much as the product, it’s solvent based and I felt like the vinyl I tried it on was a little gummy after I used it (but it did dry okay), and it evaporates very quickly. I was lucky enough to have a distributor about a 30 minute drive from me so I avoided the shipping charge.

I have separate brushes for cleaning grout/flooring (yellow) vs the ones that are made for cleaning vinyl (white). We do have a variable speed drill and the plan is to use it at it's lowest setting. Our seats are not bad but we'd like to get them looking better. Thanks for the word of caution!
 
I used easy off oven cleaner. It worked well but required a few applications.
Wea Beach.

We just bought a 2001 260 DA and brought it to NJ from Va Beach. The carpet reside was really badly adhered to the cockpit. After trying everything we could think of..soft scrub, mineral spirits, bleach, vinegar... we thought of maybe oven cleaner, since it seemed that the rubber was baked on. After reading your post we gave it a try. MAGIC! Really for the majority of the residue, only one application was necessary, but I was generous with the amount. 6 rolls of paper towels and 5 cans of EASY-Off, and the cockpit looks new!
 

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