Dinghy Cleaning Help

[SailWiz]

Can anyone recommend a good cleaner for my 8' Avon inflatable?

[Jentine]

it is the only stuff I have used that didn't remove the material as well as the dirt and discoloration.

http://cruisersforum.com/showthread....&threadid=2619

[SailWiz]

Many thanks. I'll give it a try.

Wiz

[AnchorageGuy]

We are extremely pleased with Mary Kate Inflatable Boat Cleaner and we use our dinghy hard all over the Caribbean. You can get it at boaters World.

[Talbot]

Prices of inflatable cleaner from a swindlery tend to be excessive for a product that rarely is effective. Here are a couple of options:


contact your local truck haulage company and try to obtain some of the cleaning fluid that they use for removing road grime from their PVC covers - it is cheap and very strong - dilute it properly.

Get a canvas cover made for the dinghy - it will enable you to clean it much easier, it will reduce the wear on the PVC and protect it from the UV (which eventually destroys the PVC), and will also make the dinghy cooler to sit on!

Here is a picture of mine following its final fit of a canvas cover:

[SailWiz]

Great Info folks, thanks.

Talbot, What was the approx price for your canvas cover?

[Talbot]

Approx price £200 , but it could be made by yourself if you have an appropriate sewing machine - my SWMBO refused to allow me near her machine so I went to a proper awning maker, and the material is sumbrella (tm). Thus not cheap, but in a really hot climate will quickly pay for itself in stopping the UV degradation.

[ssullivan]

Wow.... nice canvas cover. Very envious over here.

Is there anything so wrong with a little dish soap, a scrub brush, and a sponge? That's what I used at the end of last season and the Hypalon dinghy I have looks like the day I bought it.

PS: Looking into a cover or the canvas for sun protection.

[SailWiz]

Sean, I tried that then thought perhaps acetone, but I was afraid of damaging the material. Soap and scrubbing just doesn't seem to get it to the condition I want.

[ssullivan]

SailWiz once whispered in the wind:
Sean, I tried that then thought perhaps acetone, but I was afraid of damaging the material. Soap and scrubbing just doesn't seem to get it to the condition I want.

Hi SaiWiz... sorry... didn't mean that comment about scrubbing as something directed your way. I was more thinking about the expensive cleaners they sell, and how scrubbing sometimes does as good of a job. Should have been more clear, but I've been rushing my responses a little as of late since I have so many projects going on at this time.

[SailWiz]

Sean, No Harm, No foul. I live by the addage: "If its free, its for me." I just can't seem to get the thing clean and will probably have to dip into the kitty. BTW, Nice web site;clean and very well laid out.
P.S. I haven't heard from Kai ref the posting on making a living.

Wiz

[Jentine]

is a very bad idea. It has a tendency to melt the hypalon. It makes a gooey mess and requires constant motion to prevent damage. I did it to my former dinghy and the results weren't too bad, but the glued seams started to be a problem after a couple of years.

[SailWiz]

Jim, thanks. I used acetone to clean off some old glue on a patch but didn't want to use it for cleaning the entire dinghy. I'm glad I didn't.