Cleaners for plastic spray hood windows?

[thinwater]

One thing I learned for certain in my panel testing is that benign neglect (nothing or an occasional hose) is better than careless washing or polishing with the wrong product or with grit on the cloth. Be careful.


The flexible windows are plasticized clear PVC. Common coated brands include Strataglass and O'Sea, and non-coated brands include Regalite and Crystal Clear.

[406Columbia]

Haven been using 303 for years on our aircraft Windows. Works wonders and protects from uv

[thinwater]

My personal favorite for routine use is Starbrite View Guard. It is the fastest to polish and helps the water sheet off better than the others, improving rainy weather visibility.


Covers are the best overall method. The skylights on my boat are 20 years old and still pristine. They've probably been waxed 4-6 times. The front window is only 10, but again, it is covered with an awning.

[er9]

Novus makes a great product called Novus #2 (dont buy the #1 or #3 they are useless). Its a great mild polish for bringing back the transparency of really dirty plexi, polycarb and soft vinyl windows. Also a great regular use cleaner to maintain the clarity.

I usually clean them first with Windex 'Crystal Rain" (no ammonia) or dish soap and water first with some blue Shop Towels paper towels (they dont scratch plastic). Wipe dry, apply the novus liberally but not heavily (you should be wiping it all off dry as you buff it in) and buff it into the plastic by hand with the blue paper towels or even better with a random orbital sander with soft felt or polyester cloth from the fabric store stuck on the velcro pad.

This combo is all you need to clean and buff any plastic... If it wont buff out the windows then the staining/decomposition is probably too deep to be removed easily and at this point its usually time to replace.

This combo is what we use daily in our plexi fabrication shops.

The only plastic we would never use it on though is plastic that has a thin coating applied like UV coatings, anti scratch, anti glare coatings etc...you find these coatings on sun glasses, motorcycle windshields, visors etc.... If your windows have any coating like these they are easily damaged by even mild abrasive cleaners so proceed with caution if your unsure.

you should have gotten a lot more than four seasons even with complete and absolute neglect. seems something attacked the plastic prematurely or it was a very low quality plastic.

[SV THIRD DAY]

EisenShine -

There is your solution my friend

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by er9

Novus makes a great product called Novus #2 (dont buy the #1 or #3 they are useless)....

The only plastic we would never use it on though is plastic that has a thin coating applied like UV coatings, anti scratch, anti glare coatings etc....

The serious flaw in this recommendation is that all of the better dodger window materials (Strataglass, O'Sea) have coatings. These are ruined by using Novus #2, which is a fine rubbing compound.



Use of a product like Novus #2 voids all warranties. You can easily confirm this with the manufacturers.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

EisenShine -

There is your solution my friend

ONLY the sealer is used for preservation. The other products are used ONLY for restoration, after the windows are far, far gone. Yes, I have used it. Good stuff for windows that are in very bad shape.

[er9]

Originally Posted by thinwater

The serious flaw in this recommendation is that all of the better dodger window materials (Strataglass, O'Sea) have coatings. These are ruined by using Novus #2, which is a fine rubbing compound.



Use of a product like Novus #2 voids all warranties. You can easily confirm this with the manufacturers.

bummer...thats too bad. yes unfortunately it will not work and can ruin the coating. i have plain jane soft vinyl on my dodger and buff it a couple times a year.

[De.windhoos]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

After four summers the plastic in our spray hood’s windows went opaque and sticky and had to be replaced. Now, with new plastic, we are wondering what you wise folk use to clean your plastic dodger windows?

The supplier/maker of the spray hood believed the household window cleaners with alcohol in them which we had been using was too strong, and suggested an industrial alcohol (but with no suggestion of strength). Clear water only and a soft cloth, or clear water with a little vinegar has also been suggested.

Or was the damage normal as a result of four summers in the Mediterranean sun?

It’s the salt that scratches the windows. And the med is fairly salty. That said, 4 years is very short. Sticky could also be UV damage if a cheap plastic was used.
But yeah, never use household cleaning products, they can be very aggressive.

You can try Vuplex and see if that helps restore it a bit. It’s fairly cheap.

[Prairie Chicken]

Thank you all. Lots of different approaches. I’ll read thru all your links, but I’m thinking if we can clean with only a soft clean cloth and water, as suggested, we can’t go too far wrong.

[zeehag]

i used vinegar and water as recommended by the creator of a dodger on my ericson. worked great and plastic lasted many years..when i sold boat the plastic was still clear. more than 10 years. pay what you want to pay, but vinegar and water work best.

[SV THIRD DAY]

There really is more to this issue of "cleaning" the dodger windows than is getting talked about.

ALL of the different brands have a factory UV Coating which over time slowly wears away and once it does, you start getting the haze and whitish fog on the window. Once that starts to happen the only longer term fix is to re-apply new UV Protectant. That's why I like the Eisenshine. It's a three step process with the 3rd step being the application of a new UV Protectant that you apply once per year. Practical Sailor rated it well above some of the other products mentioned that say to re-apply every 3-5 WEEKS (who's really going to do that?).

In the Harsh La Paz Mexico Sun...without keeping up the UV Protectant Layer you can clean it all you want with all the proper this and that and it will still look like S#!$.

Just a little Correction to:

Originally Posted by thinwater

ONLY the sealer is used for preservation. The other products are used ONLY for restoration, after the windows are far, far gone. Yes, I have used it. Good stuff for windows that are in very bad shape.

Step 1 is a Cleaner...good for every day use.
Step 2 is for the restoration that removes the oxidation (which is that whitish haze) along with small scratches from using the wrong stuff on the windows.
And then Step 3 is the UV Protectant

[zboss]

My strata glass says to only use Imar products and that’s what we do. I wash the dodger windows with fresh water after every vigorous sail and before I use the imar protectant. I use the Imar protectant at least weekly, inside and out, to clean.

We are finding that scratches are far more of an issue than opaqueness or yellowing.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by zboss

We are finding that scratches are far more of an issue than opaqueness or yellowing.

That sounds normal....until the factory applied UV Protectant wears off...then the oxidation begins to happen without re-application of a new UV protectant.

[abuzman]

Plexus is undoubtably the best cleaner, polish and conditioner I have ever used. It is also the most expensive. If there are cloudy spots the Plexus cannot clear up I have used Maguires PlastX, also used on car headlights, to clear them up, then reapply the Plexus. I used this method on dodger windows that I thought were almost ruined and it brought them back to very good and useable condition. One caution, like waxing a car, do not do use this treatment in direct sunlight or heat.