Cleaning the interior....
 

Ok I just received my bottles of Leverage vinyl cleaner and got started on the interior. Seems to be working great on most of the side panels but the seats are a different story. The previous owner left most of the seats out in the weather for a while and eventually put all the seats except the driver seat in storage so the driver seat is showing the most grim and dirty water spots on it. Anyone have any suggestions or tips/tricks of the trade to get the tough deep dirt and grim out?

Magic eraser!

Where do I get one?

Grocery stores, Walmart, etc. Mr. Clean product.

The Eraser is the bomb. Follow up with a conditioner though.

What he said!

I used simple green to get the vast majority of the interior clean, then follow up with the magic eraser. The simple green works great for grease and grime, and did not hurt the vinyl.

Clorox Cleanup is great for deep cleaning white vinyl. It combined with a Magic Eraser should get rid of most anything. Just make sure to rinse it very well and only use when absolutely needed. Bleach is hard on vinyl and stiching.

use white wall tire cleaner(sparingly) on your interior. scrub it in and wipe with a wet cloth. after it dries use 303 protectant on it and it will look like new.

Try this product. But, call Dennis first at BioKleen to learn how to properly use the product. Your going to be surprised on what you will learn on how to properly clean vinyl.
http://www.biokleen.com/proddetail.a...=M00307&cat=12

for the really tough stuff, There is a spray called LA AWESOME, We have it at the dollar store and some other places. Very cheap and use it with the Magic Eraser only(no water) and it cleans white GREAT!!!! BUT, Definately use, 303 protectant afterward. Good Luck

We have been doing some deep cleaning last night on the boat interior cushions and tried several items on a couple trouble spots, as I was out of the Eraser: 409, Bleach White tire cleaner and 3M'S vinyl cleaner. None of those items worked. The Erasor took it off with no effort, plus now the vinyl is whitey white. I always follow up afterwards with a soft brush and 3Ms cleaner/conditioner to get in to the threads and grain, then go over it all with the 303 heavily a couple times and let it soak in. As a rule, I'll just use the Eraser on troublesome spots or for when doing a deep cleaning once a yr, not every day use.

the best thing I have found is that magic eraser. it can clean anything, or at least damn close to. if that does not work, spray some roll off and let that sit then blast it with the magic eraser. between those two things we clean almost everything on a 145 footer and all the tenders and toys. and we have three 10 ft dock boxes full of cleaning supplies and those two things get used the most by far, and I usually stock about 100 magic erasers and a few gallons of roll off.

Cleaning
 

Yep agree with the "Majic Eraser" I spray vynal with Marine Spray Nine let soak then rub with the majic eraser, wash off then hit vynal with a conditioner. Bleach white, and other cleaners are good on the vynal often they will eat up the threads.

Aa
 

SD-20 by Spartan Chemical - works amazingly on white vinyl. Spray it on, wait 3 seconds and then use a brush to clean and follow up by wiping it off with a clean rag or towel. Not sure if you can by it retail. I get is from an industrial distributor. Our marina uses it to detail boats. The service guy at PowerQuest Boats recommended it to me 5 years ago.

PQ26

Break out the big chemicals. If you have stain issues, use Acetone. You can get it at Home Depot. Get a rag completely wet then wipe an entire panel/cushion. Then use 303 to re-seal it. It works very well but its rough on your hands. It removes everything - if this doesnt work, forget it, you cant fix it.

grease lighting and magic eraser then apply 303. always eariser if you pull the seats. that way you can get the entire seat clean and protected.

Acetone is a last resort. It will actually melt off the outer layer of finish on the vinyl. It will also make the vinyl get dirtier easier because it removes the finish.

Yeah, I've seen the grain texture melted before from acetone use.

There was a product I used to use called Bypass (I think I'm spelling it correctly) that worked GREAT. You had to actually follow the directions and let it sit for 45 seconds to one minute, but it was an awesome product when paired with a mild or even a soft scrub brush.

It actaully sounds a lot like ROTAX454's product, but it's only about $15.00 a gallon.

Well, any luck? What did you use?

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for this thread. The magic eraser is the best thing I have ever found in my life as far as cleaning is concerned. There were spots on the white vinyl and rub rail that I had scrubbed and scrubbed. The eraser took it off effortlessly in TV add style. Simply amazing I can't thank you all enough. Is there anything other than 303, no where local sells it.

I ended up using the magic eraser and leverage and for the most part I give them both two thumbs up. I have a few tough spots that Im just going to have to deal with b/c they wont come clean for ****,but other than those few spots the seats all look really good. Thanks to everyone for the advice, if I could only get my buddy to slap the paint on the boat I could start putting everything back in!!!

Took your guys word for it and tried out the magic eraser on my vynil and coupled with roll off spray and soft scrub it worked great. I did finish it off with a conditioner and plan to buy some leverage vynil conditioner. I will not use those chemicals for the boat unless it gets really dirty as i know it can ruin the vynil.

who makes the 303 conditioner that your talkin about? where can i get it?

Any boat supply, boat dealer, west marine, bass pro

Just bought a gallon $65. not cheap

Generic Magic Eraser
 

I found Generic Magic erasers at the dollar store 4 for a buck work just as good as mr cleans. Best invention ever!!!!

Magic Eraser is awesome, but use it sparingly. It is basically a super-fine sandpaper and you are actually removing material when you use it.

For routine cleaning of vinyl, use a soft-bristle brush to work in your detergent of choice (I like Simple Green). A brush gets into the pores/grain of the vinyl the way nothing else can and improves the performance of any soap, especially in the stitching.

Always finish with a good UV protectant like 303. The vinyl on my ten-year-old Crownline still feels buttery soft...

Loved the info on Magic eraser works great along with Bio-clean but I can't seem to get the small blue looking dots off. I'm thinking it's mold/mildew but even boat mildew remover doesn't work. Any suggestion?

Not sure exactly what you are dealing with; are these 'blue dots' scattered everywhere? If not, you may be dealing with a real pain; I have seen a similar situation where marks made on the back of the vinyl bled through to the front over time. The marks were made by the manufacturer when cutting/sewing the vinyl for installation on the seats. There is nothing that can be done, the vinyl has to be replaced. The marks I saw were red (pink, actually). If you bought new, you may be able to get the dealer or manufacturer to pay for replacement. Hope this isn't your issue...

These blueish dots are located in different areas. The largest area is on the rear bench seat pad, total area there is about the size of a quarter. My buddy is battleing the same thing with his boat. Neither boat is left out in the weather, mine is in an inclosed canapy and his in a garage. I'm at a loss.

I have had those blueish dots on different parts of my boat. If they are what I think, they are spider poop dots. Spiders love the boats and build webs everywhere around the canvas, and usually below where the webs are, you'll see those dots. Softscrub, simplegreen, and awesome usually remove them, but a soft bristle brush is usually needed along with a good dose of elbow grease.

Bill

Thanks Bill, I'll give that a shot.

Hey vindicator 101 I have a 31' vindicator 1990 I just bought about 3 weeks ago, what yours like? I have twin 454's and bravo 1 outdrives. Not to change the thread just interested have not seen many vindicators, none like mine yet

POR15 makes some great stuff.. I got some Marine Clean left over from a project, gonna see how it works on the boat


http://www.por15.com/MARINE-CLEAN/productinfo/MCG/

Tried softscrub and a tooth brush with no luck... Softscrub and magic eraser, no luck... Will try more options tomorrow.


Mine is a 2400 with a 496HO and I love it. I've had mine for about 6yrs. Might not the best built boat but the price was right at the time and the cockpit area was the largest I found for the size to make the wife and kids happy. Doesn't seem to be to many vindicators around in any size, I've only seen one other where I go and It was a 2400 also. I didn't even know they made a 31ft. hought the biggest was 27ft. Love to see some pix of yours. I see you live in Ockawaha, my inlaws live half the year off 134a just south of Hwy40. Small world.

Does Anyone Know What To Use To Clean The Plexiglass Windsheild?? I Need To Remove Some Scratches And Wanna Keep It Clean Without Creating More Scratches. Any Good Products?? What Kind Of Cloth Should Be Used?? Any Help Would Be Appreacated.

Here is what I like to use on my Vinyl with either a light bristle brush or Magic eraser.
Bio-Kleen Amazing
Fast-Orange
Wesleys Bleach White to brighten the white at the start of the season. (keep off the stitching if possible)
And for the most stubborn crap Castrol Purple Super Cleaner. (careful this is caustic DILUTE!)
Protect with Bio-Kleen Vinyl Protectant
And sometimes the best bleach for your White parts of you interior is Sunlight (UV) especially for pinking vinyl some vinyl pigments will turn pink with the lack of UV.

When I worked at attwood Marine we made the rubber (PVC) covers for the stern light pole hole. They would turn pink during shipping to our customers when put in the cardboard shipping boxes. After a few hours being exposed to UV they would turn back to bright white.