Best Cleaners for Fiberglass, Vinyl and Flexoglass
 

May I have your recommendations for cleaning greasy
stains off the hull, general cleaning of vinyl upholstery,
and cleaning of salt off flexible clear plastic windows that
are part of the topset.
Obviously nothing can contain bleach. Some have
suggested Scrubbin' Bubbles for the hull stains (but that
now appears to contain bleach.) Lemon Pledge has been
suggested for the clear plastic windows.
Looking forward to your ideas!
Thank you.
Frank

On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 03:08:12 GMT, frank1492
wrote:

May I have your recommendations for cleaning greasy
stains off the hull, general cleaning of vinyl upholstery,
and cleaning of salt off flexible clear plastic windows that
are part of the topset.

I use plain Soft Scrub (sans bleach) for general hull cleaning and
what not. Any of the 3M vinyl cleaners work great. As to the plastic
"windows", rinse with fresh water and a soft cloth is all that is
needed to clean them.

Thanks. Will look for 3M Vinyl cleaner!





On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 10:08:58 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 03:08:12 GMT, frank1492
wrote:

May I have your recommendations for cleaning greasy
stains off the hull, general cleaning of vinyl upholstery,
and cleaning of salt off flexible clear plastic windows that
are part of the topset.

I use plain Soft Scrub (sans bleach) for general hull cleaning and
what not. Any of the 3M vinyl cleaners work great. As to the plastic
"windows", rinse with fresh water and a soft cloth is all that is
needed to clean them.

"frank1492" wrote in message
...
May I have your recommendations for cleaning greasy
stains off the hull, general cleaning of vinyl upholstery,
and cleaning of salt off flexible clear plastic windows that
are part of the topset.
Obviously nothing can contain bleach. Some have
suggested Scrubbin' Bubbles for the hull stains (but that
now appears to contain bleach.) Lemon Pledge has been
suggested for the clear plastic windows.
Looking forward to your ideas!
Thank you.
Frank

I believe the idea of not using bleach on a fiberglass boat (because it will
harm the fiberglass) is urban legend.

Does anyone have solid proof that bleach is in fact harmful to gelcoat? And
I am not just talking about the fact that it may take off the wax.

Frank,
I've found the best thing for cleaning white cushions is Weatley tire
and white wall cleaner. With one of those sponges with the green
abrasive pad on them you will be amazed just how clean they will come
out. I've shown this to my friends and they couldn't beleave just how
easy it is to make old white cushions look really good, if not new.

John

My experience is that the bleach causes
a white surface to turn noticeably yellow. Fortunately,
when the sun hits it, the yellow seems to go away,
but I do like to stay clear of products with bleach for
that reason.
Frank






On Fri, 8 Jul 2005 09:25:10 -0400, "*JimH*" wrote:


"frank1492" wrote in message
.. .
May I have your recommendations for cleaning greasy
stains off the hull, general cleaning of vinyl upholstery,
and cleaning of salt off flexible clear plastic windows that
are part of the topset.
Obviously nothing can contain bleach. Some have
suggested Scrubbin' Bubbles for the hull stains (but that
now appears to contain bleach.) Lemon Pledge has been
suggested for the clear plastic windows.
Looking forward to your ideas!
Thank you.
Frank

I believe the idea of not using bleach on a fiberglass boat (because it will
harm the fiberglass) is urban legend.

Does anyone have solid proof that bleach is in fact harmful to gelcoat? And
I am not just talking about the fact that it may take off the wax.

Are you sure that this wouldn't cause long-term deteriorative
effects on the vinyl? I wouldn't doubt the immediate effect
would be dramatic, but I'd be worried about the longer term.




On 8 Jul 2005 09:46:20 -0700, "Capt John" wrote:

Frank,
I've found the best thing for cleaning white cushions is Weatley tire
and white wall cleaner. With one of those sponges with the green
abrasive pad on them you will be amazed just how clean they will come
out. I've shown this to my friends and they couldn't beleave just how
easy it is to make old white cushions look really good, if not new.

John

I don't think there are any good answers to these needs - they all
depend upon what the specific conditions of the gelcoat, vinyl &
plastic lights are. in general, intact gelcoat is easily cleaned with
almost anything nonabrasive whereas faded or weathered gelcoat is
porous and a whole different problem. Anything containing any kind of
silicone is long-term death to vinyl and plastics as well as rubber,
except for pure silicone grease which is not a cleaning matter. There
are several different plastics used for windows (lights) which differ
slightly as to how they like to be treated and any kind of wax is crap
on clear plastic; some plastics cloud and some don't, under some
conditions & not others; plastic polishes like Novus or MagGuire's
restores 'em all like new after the easy stuff has been washed off, but
takes some physical work & time to do right. It someone sprayed Pledge
on my plastic ports I'd be tempted to shoot them. People bleach porous
gelcoat every day, and Scrubbing Bubbles may work great on it & is
worth a try, but the best porous gelcoat cleaner commonly sold is the
nonskid deck cleaner (even though it's not a nonskid deck) that
penetrates when scrubbed in & is rinsed away. It also cleans stained
shoreside showers/tubs that are dirt-stained beyond Scrubbing Bubbles
or Tilex & I used it for that in a rental property. Waxing porous
gelcoat is also futile in terms of time/results/protection, machine
polishing it is a total waste of time because it just opens up more
pores, the Penetrol trick is less than claimed as a solution, & its
better to paint it for real to professional standards so it is easier
to clean & maintain. Imron is harder than gelcoat & impervious to
grease.

Fantastic is a great cleaner for vinyl, and is recommended by many boat
builders. Bleach will degrade vinyl and the stitching thread.

Bleach will degrade fiberglass, but if it is only used once a year you will
probably not notice it.

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasc.../chem00615.htm



"Ignoramus15786" wrote in message
...
I have had incredible success using fantastic on everything except I
have not tried using it on vinyl.

i

"Real Name" wrote in message
...
Fantastic is a great cleaner for vinyl, and is recommended by many boat
builders. Bleach will degrade vinyl and the stitching thread.

Bleach will degrade fiberglass, but if it is only used once a year you
will probably not notice it.

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasc.../chem00615.htm



According to your link bleach will only degrade fiberglass with long term
exposure, meaning leaving the bleach sit on the fiberglass for a long time
without rinsing.

According to your link "Short contact and thorough rinsing should not cause
damage..".

I take that to mean that even if you were to use bleach on the boat every
week, but did not leave it sitting long and flushed it with water thoroughly
there would be no harm to the fiberglass.

Myth busted IMO.

As noted, my experience is that bleach products seem to cause
a temporary yellowing of white surfaces.





On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 11:39:34 -0400, "*JimH*" wrote:


"Real Name" wrote in message
...
Fantastic is a great cleaner for vinyl, and is recommended by many boat
builders. Bleach will degrade vinyl and the stitching thread.

Bleach will degrade fiberglass, but if it is only used once a year you
will probably not notice it.

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasc.../chem00615.htm



According to your link bleach will only degrade fiberglass with long term
exposure, meaning leaving the bleach sit on the fiberglass for a long time
without rinsing.

According to your link "Short contact and thorough rinsing should not cause
damage..".

I take that to mean that even if you were to use bleach on the boat every
week, but did not leave it sitting long and flushed it with water thoroughly
there would be no harm to the fiberglass.

Myth busted IMO.

"*JimH*" wrote in message
...

"frank1492" wrote in message
...
May I have your recommendations for cleaning greasy
stains off the hull, general cleaning of vinyl upholstery,
and cleaning of salt off flexible clear plastic windows that
are part of the topset.
Obviously nothing can contain bleach. Some have
suggested Scrubbin' Bubbles for the hull stains (but that
now appears to contain bleach.) Lemon Pledge has been
suggested for the clear plastic windows.
Looking forward to your ideas!
Thank you.
Frank

I believe the idea of not using bleach on a fiberglass boat (because it
will
harm the fiberglass) is urban legend.

I believe it is an urban legend, yes.


Does anyone have solid proof that bleach is in fact harmful to gelcoat?
And
I am not just talking about the fact that it may take off the wax.

I don't believe that it won't even take off the wax (its not petro based).
Been using straight bleach on gel coated hot tubs, lawn furnature, and
row boats for years without issue. The only thing that I think will hurt
gelcoat (or any painted surface) is either an acetone, benzene, or
keytone (MEK etc) based products. I've used solvents like Naptha,
and mineral spirits for years to remove tar from painted surfaces
(base coat/clear coat), and fiberglass packing tape marks from
new hot tubs etc. Bleach is basically only good for black mold,
and green moss that gets in the pores of fiberglass. works great!.

"Real Name" wrote in message
...
Fantastic is a great cleaner for vinyl, and is recommended by many boat
builders. Bleach will degrade vinyl and the stitching thread.

Bleach will degrade fiberglass, but if it is only used once a year you
will
probably not notice it.

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasc.../chem00615.htm

No offence, but I don't buy it. First off, he says bleach will
attack polyester fibers. Fiberglass is just that: fibers of "glass",
not 'esters' (or poly-esters). And I don't know of any resin
used on fiberglass that contains "polyester", but who knows.
Chlorine bleach is used in swimming pools, and swiming pool
related apparatus all the time. As I understand it, it will attack
cotton, paper products, and other "organic" matter, thus why
it is a good cleaner of mold, moss, blood, but bad on cotton,
cloth, paper, etc. BTW, the sticthing on boat upolostry isn't
cotton based, is it ? I'd want more, verifiable proof of what
this guy says before believing it. Maybe a materials safety
handling sheet on bleach will be more helpfull ?




"Ignoramus15786" wrote in message
...
I have had incredible success using fantastic on everything except I
have not tried using it on vinyl.

i

"*JimH*" wrote in message
...

"Real Name" wrote in message
...
Fantastic is a great cleaner for vinyl, and is recommended by many boat
builders. Bleach will degrade vinyl and the stitching thread.

Bleach will degrade fiberglass, but if it is only used once a year you
will probably not notice it.

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasc.../chem00615.htm



According to your link bleach will only degrade fiberglass with long term
exposure, meaning leaving the bleach sit on the fiberglass for a long time
without rinsing.

According to your link "Short contact and thorough rinsing should not
cause
damage..".

I take that to mean that even if you were to use bleach on the boat every
week, but did not leave it sitting long and flushed it with water
thoroughly
there would be no harm to the fiberglass.

Myth busted IMO.

Agreed, but for different reasons. I don't buy that
bleach attacks fiberglass. Keytones, yes, bleach? no.

"frank1492" wrote in message
...
As noted, my experience is that bleach products seem to cause
a temporary yellowing of white surfaces.

What kind of "white surfaces" ?? Fiberglass ?
gelcoated fiberglass ? Plastic? vinyl ?





On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 11:39:34 -0400, "*JimH*" wrote:


"Real Name" wrote in message
...
Fantastic is a great cleaner for vinyl, and is recommended by many boat
builders. Bleach will degrade vinyl and the stitching thread.

Bleach will degrade fiberglass, but if it is only used once a year you
will probably not notice it.

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasc.../chem00615.htm



According to your link bleach will only degrade fiberglass with long term
exposure, meaning leaving the bleach sit on the fiberglass for a long
time
without rinsing.

According to your link "Short contact and thorough rinsing should not
cause
damage..".

I take that to mean that even if you were to use bleach on the boat every
week, but did not leave it sitting long and flushed it with water
thoroughly
there would be no harm to the fiberglass.

Myth busted IMO.

Fiberglass term as used in boats is really Fiber reinforced Plastic (FRP).
And the plastic can be a polyester resin. But if bleach was that degrading,
most hottubs would be bad in 12 years, and my pool sweep would have to be
replaced a lot more often than 15 years

"Mr Wizzard" wrote in message
...

"Real Name" wrote in message
...
Fantastic is a great cleaner for vinyl, and is recommended by many boat
builders. Bleach will degrade vinyl and the stitching thread.

Bleach will degrade fiberglass, but if it is only used once a year you
will
probably not notice it.

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasc.../chem00615.htm

No offence, but I don't buy it. First off, he says bleach will
attack polyester fibers. Fiberglass is just that: fibers of "glass",
not 'esters' (or poly-esters). And I don't know of any resin
used on fiberglass that contains "polyester", but who knows.
Chlorine bleach is used in swimming pools, and swiming pool
related apparatus all the time. As I understand it, it will attack
cotton, paper products, and other "organic" matter, thus why
it is a good cleaner of mold, moss, blood, but bad on cotton,
cloth, paper, etc. BTW, the sticthing on boat upolostry isn't
cotton based, is it ? I'd want more, verifiable proof of what
this guy says before believing it. Maybe a materials safety
handling sheet on bleach will be more helpfull ?




"Ignoramus15786" wrote in message
...
I have had incredible success using fantastic on everything except I
have not tried using it on vinyl.

i