I need to stock up on vinyl protectant for the season. I usually use 3m vinyl treatment, but its getting expensive. Marine 31 sells a gallon for about half the price of 3m. Claims great UV protection. Has anyone tried it?

38 views and no opinions. I ordered a gallon, I will let you guys know how it works.

I have used it a couple times now. I like it. Cleans WAY better than 3M, half the price. Leaves the vinyl dry, but looking new and shiny.

Just had my full interior redone which came out great.

I asked the upholster the question of what was the best protestant to use and received the below answer.

Mild soap and water such as Ivory Snow is all that is needed. I was told to stay away from most cleaners and protectants.

There is a compound in the vinyl that give the softness and with most protectants, this compound is striped away which leads to the vinyl becoming hard and brittle that eventually leads to cracking.

I have heard that too, but I think UV protection is important to protect from fading. I had used protectant since '97 on my old 31, vinyl is still perfect today. I have used it on my 386 since I bought it in 07, vinyl looks better now than when I bought it. Harsh cleaners will make vinyl stiff, but don't seem to effect it if you follow up with good protectant after a good rinse.

I use ZEP vinyl cleaner. Not sure if it is a protectant but it works great as a cleaner.

303 Addict here.

I tell you what. I've been next to the water most of my whole life. I'm partially grey and bald. That's as far as I'm going there.

So, this is what I have to say and it works.

Cover your boat when not in use. Like almost instantly.

Make sure your cover doesn't let water leak in. Most do. Protect it so it doesn't leak.

Don't let people climb all over your interior. Hard to do with kids, but it's your decision. If you let them, fine, I understand, no scolding here, but it takes a lot of life off. Just realize that.

I'm sure most here would believe all the people I hear cry about how there boat interior get's fuked up so fast, yet I see these same boats sitting at the dock with no cover most of the time and people climbing all over them.

I state this to those who do this and cry about the interior....99.9% of the time it is the same answer "It's a boat...that's what it's made for." .1% of the time the owners understand this but they are the ones who usually will pay for the interior redo without much complaining #1, and #2 are usually the only ones who do the redo. The others let things get as bad as their snowmobiles and jet ski's sitting outside with no cover and no seat vinyl left either.

Like leading a horse to water...........

I use Bio-Kleen Amazing Armor after I use their cleaner. Couldn't be happier, and it's cheap compared to some of the other brands.

Been using the Boat Candy cleaner and conditioner for a few years now with wonderful results. 12 year old boat looks like new interior.

I had carbon fiber silver, charcoal, and red interior done on my Velocity a few years ago. From day one I used 303. A few weeks later I began to notice small peach colored stains by the seems (where the cleaner/protectant would maybe puddle up and not get completely wiped away with a towel). Turns out the 303 has some strange reaction with one brand of silver Carbon Vinyl (just the silver). Once I stopped using the 303, no more peach stains. Sucks I had to learn that the hard way. Other than the peach stains on my silver, the 303 worked great. The way I found out it was the 303 was someone had posted a similar experience here on OSO......

I now use a product called "Hubba-Hubba" from Fountain of Youth. So far I have had good success with it. I basically use Fountain of Youth products in every aspect of cleaning/maintaining the appearance of my boat. I like the products so well I became an authorized reseller/distributor... I am slowly converting everyone I know to the product line.