Maintenance

[webedivn]

hi i am looking for advice from some of you seasoned boaters, I recently bought a new boat and as with all new thinggs I want to keep it in showroom condition, can anyone recommend good cleaning soaps and vinyl clean protectant, I know everyone is saying never use armerall as this drys out and causes cracking, any recommendations appreciated.
tks.
Gary.

 

[roffey]

hmm, I use Armor All on my boat all the time. I've never heard of it causing negative results. In fact I was told the opposite. The only problem I was aware of it will cause fish eyes if you paint over it and it is slippery on seats, steering wheel, gas and break peddles,,, I use 3m on the seats once a year and wax maybe twice a year. I put the cover on the boat every night. Maybe some in here will tell you differently.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I use 303 protectant on the vinyl.

 

[robert graham]

Protect/cover as much as possible from sunlight/UV as much as possible....a boat cover/tarp is a good investment..

 

[briangcc]

I've heard the horror stories about Armor All...BUT having used it since the 80's on car seats and dashes I never saw any of the reported issues. And that's after 10+ years of use in the same vehicle as my family ran cars into the ground.

Cleaning wise for vinyl, defer to the manufacturer instructions (provided you have them) or use a mild cleaner followed by some protectant. Personally, I've used diluted Simple Green to clean more pronounced stains. After 12 years of ownership, boat still looked new. On more stubborn stains, Four Winns included a concoction of distilled water, hyrdogen peroxide, white vinegar which worked really well once the boat sat out in the sun for a bit. Didn't harm the green upholstery at all.

As for wax...I use Meguairs(sp?) about once every other season. I start the boat out clean, wax, run it for a year, wash down before winterization, and then follow up with a spring cleaning to start the season out again. I'll even use either a cleaning wax or rubbing compound (followed by wax) to get out some of the nastier stuff.

If you haven't already...we like pictures! Show off what you bought!!

 

[ahicks]

Fan of 303 as well. Saw too many dashes with split vinyl. Note that there is a cleaner and a protectant. Neither do the job of the other real well.

Biggest thing you can do is to keep all vinyl upholstery covered when not in use. It has a finite lifetime and leaving it in the sun shortens it's lifetime dramatically.

 

[roffey]

...something else to think of, one run on the water and your wax is off the bottom of the boat. I do not wax below the water line, kind of sound perverted. You can get biodegradable soap for the boat.

 

[Blind Date]

Protect/cover as much as possible from sunlight/UV as much as possible....a boat cover/tarp is a good investment..

Agreed - but a garage is even better. The two things you can do to keep your boat looking new is keep it out of the sun and keep it dry!

I found 303 cleaner to be one of the most over-hyped products on the internet. Save your money and clean your vinyl with Dawn dish soap then cover with a protectant like 303. Any marine wax & regular waxing will keep the gel-cote looking like new. But again keeping it out of the sun is most important.

 

[JimS123]

You said showroom....that means only one thing.....keep a cover on it and keep it in the garage.

Armorall has been used by me for 40+ years now, once a year. In between I use Lemon Pledge. My interior is "showroom condition".

I'm sure "303" is chemically a good thing and is a good preservative. But the upholstery ends up sticky and looks like crap. I used it once, and then tried it again based on Internet yada yada, then threw the can in the garbage.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I love the 303 products. They are all I’ll use.

 

[82rude]

Whats the best protectant err oil ,no ethanol or no.:lol:opcorn:.Me I like simonize or armor all.

 

[JimS123]

Whats the best protectant err oil ,no ethanol or no.:lol:opcorn:.Me I like simonize or armor all.

My Dad swore by Simonize WAX and that's all he would ever use, because he used it back in the 1930's.

To me its too much work. But more than that it doesn't last very long. can't beat modern silicone chemistry.

 

[82rude]

My pops use simonize floor paste wax ,man if the sun hit that stuff you were there all day buffing but what a tuff coating,lol.Personally I think he was too cheap to buy car wax and it didn't sit to well with my mom that he was swiping here floor wax.