Upholstery maintenance

[sapphire]

The owners manual for my recently purchased 2002 FOUR WINNS 225 Sundowner reads "do not use Armoral on upholstery." The book does not suggest what to use. I see there are many brands of cleaners/protectants on the market. My interior is in mint condition and would like to keep it that way. What have you used that works the best?

Thank you

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

Agreed - soapy water to clean, make sure it is dryed completely, store under cover. Always wonder when I see an interior in really bad shape - it just doesn't seem that hard to keep looking great.

That said, the only salt water my boat sees is the occasional beads of sweat. More may change this equation.

 

[Lrider]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

Armoral - Used to use it until I noticed that things I used it on cracked after several moths (including tire sidewalls) - I am not sure what is in it but it can not be good - like the man said soap and water

 

[jkust]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

Yes Armorall is a big no no. I use MacGuiers Vinyl and Rubber Protectant for marine use. It comes in a blue square kind of spray bottle and I had to order it online. Truthfully I used armor all on my old Bayliner before I knew better without trouble except it damaged the steering wheel material the one time I put it on there which is made out of some sort of rubbery vinyl. That vinyl on the seats is pretty old school and is very thin compared to today's boats. I wouldn't ever use Armorall on my Chaparral seats. My Chap owners manual says the same thing as your FW manual but specifically says to use a product like 303. I haven't used it but have seen people rave about it on here. Also if you find any spots that are a bear to get off a Mr Clean magic eraser or Walmart generic equivalent works wonders but will take take the protective uv coating off your seats if you use it too much.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

the vinyl shop i get my material from says Fantastik is the best thing to use. Ive heard that from a few other people as well.

 

[woosterken]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

armoral has "petroleum distillates in it, this is what google says that is...........

Petroleum distillates are hydrocarbon solvents produced from crude oil. These solvents include mineral spirits, kerosene, white spirits, naphtha, ...

its no wonder it drys every thing out!!!
soap and water to clean and 303 protectant the 303 even says it adds a uv protection


woosterken

 

[srimes]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

what about vaseline ? It does wonders for the gel coat, I'm sure it'd be awesome on the interior as well .

 

[83Evinrude]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

303 protectant

That's what Glastron recommends, and they say specifically not to use Armor All as well.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

Clean with a Magic Eraser and use 303 protectant.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

Not a fan of putting anythng on it myself. keep it clean, dry and out of the sun when not in use and it will last decades.

Ditto. nothing fancy to clean it or preserve it. Keeping it dry and covered when sitting is crucial. UV is every bit as destructive as water.

My wife spent yesterday doing the first Spring cleaning of the upholstery in the C*C. She used a little detergent mixed with a little bleach and a lot of water, and a Magic Eraser on the stains. Once again it looks nearly new.

 

[BTMCB]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

Meguires (sp?) Vinyl and Rubber cleaner / protecterant. Not cheap but does the job IMO. I am using it regularly on my relatively new boat (first owner) so just trying to keep the vinyl clean / new looking / soft / and prevent sun damage. So far so good......

 

[xxxflhrci]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

My boat is 25 years old and has had Armour All sprayed on it's vinyl after nearly every trip. The vinyl is still soft, crack-free, not faded, and looks as good as it did the day it was new. I also have 4 15-20+ year old vehicles that regularly get it put on them. They have no cracks or fading in the plastic or vinyl.....I find it odd that a company could stay in business 30+ years selling a product that would do just the opposite of what it was supposed to do and actually harm instead of protect.

I'm also the guy whose boat hasn't had the bellows changed in 16 years...I spray Armor All on them after every trip....Maybe, I'm just lucky.

 

[SeanT]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

I think that's the thing - you can't just use Armor All once in a while. It's like heroin for vinyl and rubber.

 

[Socal Pat]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

I have been driving a convertible for a looong time. In the Miata community 303 Aerospace protectant is the most used for dash and seats. I just brought home an '04 bass boat and will be treating her to the same stuff. Really good UV protector.

 

[lakegeorge]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

303 protectant is very good, it doesn't make the seats slippery and also has a uv protector in it.

I really like it, and when the vinyl gets dirty I just use water in a spray bottle and everything just wipes right off. I would not use a magic eraser.

 

[Philster]

Re: Upholstery maintenance

Armor All can cause some materials to lose elasticity or actually shrink, depending on what they are made of, and some of the vinyls and vinyl-type materials used on the exterior surfaces of cars/trucks/boats are harmed over the long haul. Instead of guessing whether or not your type of vinyl fills the bill, just skip ArmorAll and use something like 303.

Truck bed covers come to mind. The flexible ones that are hard to button are impossible to button when ArmorAll is used on them. If they are fastened and ArmorAll is used, the material is going to shrink/crack/split.

It makes sense that a steering- wheel wrap would suffer from ArmorAll, because that is the type of thing that is wrapped tight, and if it shrinks the only result will be cracks/splits.