Grubby Taylor Made and other vinyl fenders

[skipgundlach]

The only threads on this subject I could find are 2015 or earlier.

I have several rope-through vinyl fenders by Taylor Made and a couple by another manufacturer I can't recall at the moment.

Some of them are altogether gray and others are less so, mostly from having been in covers for years, I think.

Those other threads had lots of suggestions, one of which was a pressure washer; we don't have one, and live aboard full time.

Would taking them to a DIY car wash provide enough pressure to get the bulk of it off?

T-M suggests using a whitewall cleaner, and Starbrite and some others have marine fender cleaner$, but I'd like to reduce the grunge a bit before hitting it with stuff that requires scrubbing...

[JPA Cate]

Hello, Skip,

It is brutal, but we use acetone to clean fenders. They get grey from being old. It comes off. You could try meths first. If yours are gummy, that comes from plasticizers working their way out, and the acetone will cut it, too. We have found that fenders do seem to last better when protected from UV, but I haven't found the best stuff to make covers out of. I've used fleece, and also heavy polyester canvas. I used Sunbrella once, but it chafes so badly.

Ann

[deblen]

I had some luck with 6% household bleach.
Use a 20L plastic pail,stand fender in pail,add 1 Ltr of bleach,fill remainder with water,use the bail to hold fender from floating.
Let set for 2+ hours-
Remove & scrub with stiff brush.
Repeat til satisfied.
This will remove the gloss also!

Wax the fender with good boat wax before using-to help prevent dirt from working it's way into vinyl.
Cheers/ Len

[skipgundlach]

Unless it was a one-off, we won't use acetone.

We did, now many years ago, on a very large fender. It got it clean but left it entirely and irremediably sticky. We wound up giving it away to someone who was going to tie it to a dock and let it grow oysters like most of the stuff in the water in that area.

Manufacturer rep suggested whitewall cleaner, or any other vinyl cleaner (which explains the gummy above, acetone being a solvent for vinyl), and to avoid acetone altogether. I just want to get off the big-dark before getting into chemical warfare...

[tkeithlu]

+1 on bleach. That gray stuff is mildew. Bleach kills it and every other organism on earth, because it dissolves lipids, and cell walls are largely lipids. Try a mild solution first, wear gloves and eye protection, and give it a little time to work. If you've got a big enough basin, float them and roll them. Yeah, anything that will dissolve the fender itself, such as actone, may result in a permanently sticky fender.

[tstano]

Magic eraser from a dollar store, I used one with some simple green. Easy with light pressure on the surface.

[redhead]

I use a product called "30 Seconds" cleaner on almost anything that has mildew. It works great on hard and soft surfaces.

I can't tell you what's in it because they say it's proprietary, but it can't have much bleach because it will spot my clothes but not as much as bleach does.

I can buy it at most hardware stores, or Walmart. But then this is the Capitol of Mildew-land.

[arcticmonkey]

morning all
maybe it was just me but I preferred tires... nobody wanted to steal them ... nobody rafted up...:

[Gary Matthesen]

Ditto on sticky fenders. I used an SOS pad, cleaned great but turned them sticky.

[SV__Grace]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Hello, Skip,

It is brutal, but we use acetone to clean fenders. They get grey from being old. It comes off. You could try meths first. If yours are gummy, that comes from plasticizers working their way out, and the acetone will cut it, too.

I'm a fan of acetone but spotted a Practical Sailor article on the 4 Solvents for Nearly Every Boat Job and I like what they said about Xylene/Xylol for removing marks on the hull. Haven't tried it yet, but got some at the hardware store ready to go.

[Cheechako]

Either Acetone or Lacquer thinner. One may leave them a bit sticky temporarily. I think Acetone but I could be wrong. One cleans much better.

[Woodland Hills]

Acetone and a scotch rite pad followed by a scrub with a brush and detergent to remove the residue. We did all 4 of our 36” white fenders before putting them into fleece covers. That was three years ago and they never got sticky.

[Dougtiff]

Never use ACETONE, as it will leave it STICKY FOREVER, same goes for LIFE LINES.

[skipgundlach]

My apologies for possible dictation errors as I am on my phone.

That was my experience as well, but in this and prior
cruisers forum threads, there are several strong advocates for acetone...

[Woodland Hills]

Originally Posted by Dougtiff

Never use ACETONE, as it will leave it STICKY FOREVER, same goes for LIFE LINES.

Then why aren’t mine sticky?