Best Vinyl boat seat cleaner

bloodshoti1978

bloodshoti1978

New Member
May 4, 2014
32
Ireland
Boat Info
185 sport
Engines
4.3
Hi All,

New to boating here (sea ray 185 sport) so im looking for some advice as to which products are best for cleaning vinyl boat seats.

I've tried warm water with regular washing up liquid.... i've also tried start brite vinyl seat cleaner and i wasnt impressed with either as they didnt shift much of the dirt and grime.


Can you guys recommend some products please?
 
Last edited:
There's really no one best vinyl cleaner. Lot's of products can work, including what you may have laying around. Simple Green, 3M Sharpshooter, Spray Nine are some excellent brand name products. But more importantly, it's your process that makes the biggest difference. You can use hose or rags. A short bristle brush is great for getting into the grain. Keep the area wet while doing the cleaning. If using rags to wipe off, you'll need a good dozen or so, clean white rags. Once a rag shows even the littlest amount of dirt, flip to a clean spot. Otherwise, you're just dragging the dirt from one spot to another.
 
Step 1: wash with Dreft and scotchbrite sponge. Then rinse with water and dry. Step 2: wash with spray 9. Then rinse with water and dry. Step 3: use 303 aerospace protectant. Wipe down with soft rag.

This 3 step method will make a pig look like the prom queen.
 
Yikes... be EXTREMELY careful with anything abrasive (scotchbrite pads, Mr. Clean eraser, etc). That would be my absolute last resort and even then I would use it sparingly and lightly. They will produce immediate results (which gets people's attention and makes them think "wow, this is great"), but they will also slowly wear away the vinyl and shorten the life of the vinyl.
 
I've used 303 on three different boats now and I think it's great stuff.
 
While my boat was getting the oil pan replaced, the shop left the cockpit cover off and I had a big leaf stain in the middle of the back seat. Tried everything under the kitchen sink. Finally took the seat out, soaked the area good with some hydrogen peroxide and let it sit in the sun an hour or so. Came back and to my amazement, no stain. Wiped it off good and used some protectant and I was good to go.

Bennett
 
Lazy Daze is correct about the scotchbrite pads. You need to be very light with them, but for deeply gound-in dirt, you cant get any better than tiny circles and the pad. For everyday cleaning, I would not use any abrasive properties on vinyl.
 
I've never tried hydrogen peroxide for leaf stains (it's the tannins from the leaf that we're going after here), but I have used a diluted mixture of bleach and water on both vinyl and gelcoat. Sprayed it on (avoiding seams) and/or used a dampened WHITE rag - came back literally less than 5 minutes later and it was gone. The first time I tried that I thought it was magic. Sunlight can do it by itself, too, given enough time.

Craig - try a short bristled brush sometime. It's much less aggressive on the vinyl but it gets into the nooks-n-crannies extremely well. You don't have to push hard - just keep the area wet with a little bit of your favorite cleaner mixed in there. The kind of brush that you could use to clean potatoes.
 
Here is what I do:

Step 1: clean with Spray Nine and soft bristle brush

Step 2: mist Clorox clean-up and let sit for 15-20 mins to kill/remove any mold/mildew

Step 3: condition with 303 or Meguiars #57

I have tried just about every wonder cleaner on the market and this process works the best for my vinyl, which tends to get dirty and mold spots here in humid coastal climate. Turns out looking brand new every time.
 
I like Magic Eraser with soapy water, but due to abrasiveness limit use to about once or twice a year. Also need to rinse really well as I've heard they have Clorox which can make stitching brittle. Otherwise spray nine & 303 for regular use. The LakeTrash wipes video was impressive but I may have to watch again to determine if any cleaning actually occurred.....I got distracted.
 
A clear theme emerges...spray 9 and 303. Cant go wrong. On another note, for sap or spider poop stains on hard deck I recently discover a cheap little product called Bar Keepers Friend. Its in every common grocery store. Off all the fiberglass stain removal tricks I received, this $1.50 can got the job done 100% of the time. Im sure most of you are aware of it, but it was news to me.
 
I bought Bar Keepers Friend last year to clean my Magma grill and it worked great, made it look new.
I now use it on my glass stove top and stainless sink in the house.
 
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