I pulled batteries out of the boat to give then a really good trickle charge and when I did so I set one of the batteries on the vinyl seating as a temporary stop while I ligged the beast out of the boat and down a ladder. There must have been something on the bottom of the battery that I did not notice because when I later went to put the charged batteries back in the boat the beautiful tuck and roll red vinyl had some brownish discoloration where I had temporarily rested the battery.

I quickly flushed it with soapwater and then thinking this may be battery acid I threw some baking soda in water and scrubbed with that (hoping the base may offset the acid?). The stain lightened up, some even went away but some is still stained (looks like red vinyl with some rust stains on it). Are there tricks to bring back or reset color in vinyl. The stain is on the back bench so to replace it is a fairly large piece in which case I would just throw a towel over it (because there generally is one there anyways).

Thanks!

I use kiwi liquid shoe polish. It's made in all colors and holds up really well. I have the carbon fiber look and it gets dirty just looking at it

I had an issue where I got a brownish/yellowish stain(looked almost like a nicotine stain from a cigarette but nobody is allowed to smoke on my boat)about the size of a quarter on one of my seats on one of the blue stripes running through the seat. I tried everything but I could not get the stain out. Finally I decided to buy one of those 3M Vinyl and Leather repair kits and it did the job. I tested it first on the bottom of the seat. I used some 280 grit sandpaper to rough the surface then I applied the repair material and then used the grain texturing template. It turned out great, can not even tell it was repaired. The most difficult part was mixing the colors to match. I ended up doing it three times before I got the perfect color and grain match. Once I perfected it on the underside I went to work on the top seating surface. I would post a photo but I got the match and grain so close that you can not even tell it was repaired. I also had a small wear through tear where the rear sun pad rubs up against the rear seat when lifting. That part was pink and I paired that section as well and it looks like new. Not sure yet how that part will hold up because it always gets rubbed when lifting the sun pad, but if it lasts the season I will be happy because it is a simple fix. There are several instruction videos published by 3M as well as actual customers showing how to do the repair. It really is as easy as the video shows...just a time consuming process when you factory in the couple of practice runs and cure times.

http://3mauto.com/3m-leather-and-vin...2e3u7Q7F1VL.97

https://youtu.be/P1xUQl9te_I?list=PLV3dt77Yw6lbalVUsYKFL1YcJ4MgEc7IG