Cleaning Vinyl-Coated Lifelines

[galleyslave]

Can anyone recommend a good way to clean up vinyl coated lifelines? Even relatively mild cleaners like Jiff or Cif abrade the surface.

[SteveHoiland]

Acetone with a quick wipe and a cotten rag.

[Vasco]

Any degreaser will work.

[Squeaks]

Just a head's up. Reminds me of a dream I had last night - while becalmed (luckily), both of my vinyl-coated starboard lifelines gave way. My subconsious perhaps was telling me not to trust what's going on under those weathered coverings.

[bewitched]

Originally Posted by Squeaks

My subconsious perhaps was telling me not to trust what's going on under those weathered coverings.

Which is why they are not permitted under ISAF Special Regs.

[GordMay]

I don’t recommend using acetone on vinyl, but if you must, wipe the acetone right away and then immediately rinse/flush. Make sure you eliminate all traces of acetone from the lifeline coating.
Alcohol is safe for use on vinyl.

[Ocean Girl]

Hey, before trying the harsh stuff try a Cleaner wax product like Maguires cleaner wax (#50?). Don't ask me why it works, but it does. A straight wax doesn't seem to work, you need the compound. Straight compound may work, but I like the idea of leaving a little wax behind.
I found this out as I was waxing a boat and just had the impulse to apply it to a ugly old cowl vent, it worked so well I tried the lifelines and fenders.
Hope this helps,
Erika

[johnar]

Just to let you know someone told me the other day they had a hard time getting insurance on the boat because it had coated lifelines.

I did not have this problem myself.

Dutch

[speciald@ocens.]

I used to use Meguires but last year gave up and got new cables without the vinyl.

[David M]

I would replace those when you get a chance with bare stainless steel. Stainless actually needs oxygen to reduce the corrosion. Otherwise, the acetone method mentioned earlier works fine. It also works on vinyl cowls.

[SteveHoiland]

I agree with The previous post. Loose the vinal covered. The only advantage to white vinal I believe is the visibility it provides for a visual reference on a dark night to afford situational awarness of where the edge is. Stainless disapears in those conditions. I replaced my with bare 1x19 wire. It's nice to be able to see the wire itself but then again the problem almost always occurs at the terminal fitting. My lines are terminated with Norseman terminels which can be unscrewed and resealed. Lifelines always fail at the terminal where the wire goes into the terminal. I have never heard of the wire parting midway. What happens is the sealent fails, or no sealent, and then one, then two , then three wires corode inside the terminal and so on. This is especiously true of compresion terminals where no sealent is used even when even the best rotary swedge die machines are used to install them utilizing 2000lb machines. These swedges are fine for aloft but lower down near the deck where they can be washed with salt water spray they will fail eventually. Every one of them.