A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

mwe-maxxowner

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The seats and some of the interior trim on my '86 dixie need a good cleaning. They are in good shape as far as cracks and tears, but they have some grey spots that are not mildew. It is more like the white coloring is wearing off in specks and grey material is showing through.

So, I basically have two questions.

1) What is a good, effective, safe product I can use to clean these seats while not damaging them further.

2) Is there a paint I can brush on over the vinyl to help color in the grey spots, or even white shoe polish perhaps?

I have a tear in the rear bench seat, so it is getting recovered sometime before summer once I get some money together, but I won't have the cash to have everyhing recovered all the way around. Looking for a way to get the rest of the stuff looking better than it does to get me by until I can recover more seats next winter, especially since there will be a new looking bench seat in the rear to make the older ones even more noticeable.
 

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

mitchelldixie5_zpsad68aeb5.jpg


You can see the spots I'm talking about here ^. I'd also be willing to maybe get a set of nice looking close fitting seat covers to get me through another season.

You can also see it in the trim piece around the gauges below.

mitchelldixie4_zps0e84aaa9.jpg
 

dockwrecker

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

Saw a tread where someone used a Rustoleum Vinyl color restorer. Went on in 3 coats and he seemed to have liked it.
Restoring the Sun Pad to get through the summer - YouTube

I'm gonna try this in the spring, I had my seats redone about 7 years ago and it appears that two different types of vinyl were used in the upholstery, some are fine, some have discolored. I'm hoping the white matches what Ive got, but it's got to be better than the blotchy stains I have typically at the seat tops. I dropped about $900 the last time to "freshen things up", the splotches showed up about three years ago and nothing seems to clean them up. Hope it doesn't look too off from the rest of my interior. Thanks for the Info!
 

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

That YouTube video looks promising! I'd just hate to spend hundreds on recovering otherwise perfect seats if there was another option. I wonder how it held up over time.

I wonder how many colors they have. I wanna do a white and lime green theme on the whole boat.
 

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

For those interested, I plan on doing quite a bit of my interior with this stuff before spring. I'll be sure to post pictures and opinions.it'll have to do at least to get me by till next winter.
 

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

Is the parasol product better than the rustoleum product or the duplicolor?
 

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

Gotcha! I see a gallon is over 300$. How much would it take for one average sized captains chair? I'd like to purchase it in spray cans.
 

OllieC

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

If I have two-tone interior, will this stuff peel off when I tape over a recently painted section to paint the other color?
 

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

I plan on taking my time and letting one color dry well before going to another.

Also, I guess what I'm getting at, if I takes 300$ worth of dye to renew my captains chairs, I could about just recover them for not much more. The bow seats and little bit of trim I also want to do don't see much abuse so I could use the cheaper dupli color stuff on all that.nobody sits in the bow much. That's a rough ride!
 

jimmy wise

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

hey, the best spray can stuff i have ever used is colorbond. you clean it good, wipe with acetone and i sticks great. use thin coats always. summit racing sells it. three to four cans should do alot and its around 12 ish a can
 

generator12

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

I've used the Rustoleum on side panels with great results. Can't comment on its staying power on a seat though.
 

airshot

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

Having been a boater for more years than I care to admit to I have a product that I have been using for many years to clean vinyl and leather on boats and cars interiors and that is D&L Hand cleaner. It is harder to find now a days but still out there, it has lanolin in it and leaves the vinyl soft and flexible. It has a white grease look to it, peculiar smell but not offensive, smear it on and scrub with a soft brush.
It gets the crud out of the pores, wipe off dirt and excess cleaner, then wipe down with a mild soap and water. This product will also help keep the material from cracking. Stay away from the type of products such as armorall, while it looks great for a while, it can reduce overall life by cuasing early cracking/stiff covering. First discovered this miracle product when I was much younger and had a car with a vinyl roof. A car show guy put me onto the D&L and I have been using it ever since.

Airshot
 

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

Is the general concensus just clean with something mild, and wipe with acetone before spraying?
 

ONEGA

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

Having been a boater for more years than I care to admit to I have a product that I have been using for many years to clean vinyl and leather on boats and cars interiors and that is D&L Hand cleaner. It is harder to find now a days but still out there, it has lanolin in it and leaves the vinyl soft and flexible. It has a white grease look to it, peculiar smell but not offensive, smear it on and scrub with a soft brush.
It gets the crud out of the pores, wipe off dirt and excess cleaner, then wipe down with a mild soap and water. This product will also help keep the material from cracking. Stay away from the type of products such as armorall, while it looks great for a while, it can reduce overall life by cuasing early cracking/stiff covering. First discovered this miracle product when I was much younger and had a car with a vinyl roof. A car show guy put me onto the D&L and I have been using it ever since.

Airshot

Is this what you are talking about? D & L Hand Cleaner 14 Oz. Waterless
 

ONEGA

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

?

Some need replacement, some need cleaning...
The answer to my original question will benefit those who are looking for a product which does the job, not a nice smelling crap.
 

mwe-maxxowner

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Re: A paint or shoe polish on old vinyl?

Yeah but they still need a good cleaning before trying the dye, and maybe I should try that cleaner after I get done to keep them looking good! Thanks for all the informative posts guys. I've found a few aerosol products that claim to be dyes and not paint. I've ordered a couple to test out and see how it goes!
 
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