Cleaning boat seats

J

Jfontenot

New Member
Apr 26, 2008
4
Cedar Park, Texas
PLease help with any suggestions on how to clean very dirty exterior boat seats. My 270 Sundancer has been around salt and have a brownish tint to them. I've just been trying different cleaning agents and none seem to work. I was told to try a buffer with cleanign agents. Any tricks out there? thanks:huh:
 
I'm not sure, but would Magic Eraser work? You might have to use diluted bleach, I'm not sure. But, test it first on an inconspicuous area.
 
Fantastik is good. You might also want to try Spray 9 or Wesley's Bleach White.
 
I have used 409 and it seems to work pretty good. If the seats are real bad, I have also used diluted bleach like mentioned above. Just make sure to clean the seats separate from everything else.

I used to own a pontoon boat and when we bought it, the seats were really nasty and had mildew. The diluted bleach cleaned them up real nice and they looked new again.

Once complete, rinse off with water and then apply vinyl protectant.
 
Try Spray Nine first. It is detergent and not harsh, but cleans very well. If that doesn't work try diluted bleach. Do the bleaching in direct sunlight and the sun will also help the bleaching effect. If that doesn't work, the magic eraser should, but it's abrasive and will slightly wear the vinyl. If that doesn't work, you will need to recover the seats.

Best regards,
Frank
 
Great, this is what I was hoping for. I'm gonna go to the store and get the reconmended cleaning agents head head down to the marina. Thank you all so much. I'll post again to see what and how well we did. thanks again...:smt001
 
So after reading all this good info, we thought we'd try the bleach dilution as well on the vinyl seats after the vinyl cleaner polish came up short on the stains.

A quick search of the boat cupboard revealed some deck wash cleaner - ($8.00/gal) hmm - what's in it?? Active ingredient Sodium Hydrochlorite. OK, whats in Javex? Sodium Hydrochlorite.

Used the deck cleaner rather than rob the laundry room. Worked really well. And about the canvas cleaner - checked on the West Marine canvas Mildew Remover - Active ingredient - Sodium Hydrochlorite! at way to much $$ for a squirt bottle.

There's a theme here - next year we rob the laundry room!

And we did follow up with the vinyl cleaner to get the oils back in the material. It all looks great.
 
As suggested, Magic Eraser works great. It was suggested to me by other Sea Ray owners after I purchased a dirty 290.

Lee
 
I really recommend not using "Magic Eraser" I know several the have used it to great aclaim, but I've seen it's bad affects. I used it on the last boat and like Frank mentioned it works but is and abrasive, essentially "sanding" your vinyl clean.
For me it did get rid of the spot I had, but I also had to stare at that really smooth spot in the otherwise textured vinyl.
 
For you magic eraser users...try squirting some 303 protectant on the eraser and go to town, less abrasive and leaves what you want.
 
Fantastik will damage the vinyl over time .DO NOT USE IT. Household and Automotive Cleaners are very powerful and can harm the vinyl composition, and can take years away from the life of your seats. Marine Vinyl has ultra-violet resistant treatment, stain inhibitors, and plasticizer's (for flexibility ) added during the manufacturing process. These cleaners will also weaken the thread that is used to sew the vinyl.


Clean with a mixture of 1 quart warm water, 1 tablespoon borax, 1 tablespoon washing soda (available in the laundry aisle of the store,) 1 teaspoon lemon juice and a squirt of dishwashing liquid. Shake thoroughly to dissolve dry ingredients, and store in a spray bottle. Spray on, work in using a circular motion, rinse and dry.
 
I found the key to magic erasers is a fine balance of damp. To wet and it does not work well and to dry you sand. damp with the correct cleaning agent (409) will get everything clean.
Oh and lightly on the scrubbing.

The only time I don't follow that is cleaning white fenders. Dry/damp magic eraser and black scuff remover sprayed on will get them like new. Simply green works well on fenders.
Oh and don't let them hang so low they float "limply" by the side of the boat.
 
I have 3 boats, and have used a number of things through out the years. My experience is this...

1) DO NOT USE household cleaners (especially if they are strong), they will slowly eat the fabric, and remove coatings, etc. You may soon start to see holes appearing (especially when using bleach based products.).

2) I use Starbrite Vinyl Cleaner & Shampoo with a soft brush. This works great on "normal" dirt.

3) If you need stronger stuff, try Star Brite Mildew Remover. Use this only if shampoo doesn't. If you use this on vertical surfaces, be careful, because it will leave "clean streaks" that are hard to blend out, so make sure you apply it evenly. Follow the instructions!!!!

4) After that, follow up with a vinyl protector (especially if you use the strong stuff). Starbrite Vinyl protector works well, but only lasts 2 or 3 weeks in the sun.

FYI... West Marine's brand cleaners are just Star Brite, so those are identical.
 
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Bleach usually works but you risk drying out the vinyl so with limited use or a one-time use, you can then apply several coats of a marine vinyl protectant. Be aware that any reside of bleach on a product can have an effect of turning it Yellow in color due to exposure to sun.
An old remedy before bleach that women used to whiten clothes was the use of vinegar (white vinegar). Another thing you can do is use Baking Soda and Hydrogen Peroxcide and make a paste let it set on the stain a while but spray it periodically to keep it wet. Dont let the mixture dry on the vinyl.
Something that may work based on that mixture is to purcahse a tube of Peroxident tooth paste, which has Baking Soda and Peroxcide in it.
Like any stain removal, try it on an area that is hidden first to see how it may react. Always rinse well and put a protectant on it after.
Good Luck and report your results to the FORUM after you try something
 
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