Vinyl cleaning amazing results seat cushion interior

[RustyBucketBay]

Hi all,

PSA for seat cushion vinyl cleaning - with mould / mildew stains.

Oxiclean, blue dawn platinum, water. Soft Sponge on liberally and get a good suds going. Leave for 10+min.

Rinse and drain excess water off.

“Vim ultra power mould remover with bleach” spray liberally and leave for 10min. I worked it in for a bit with the latex cleaning gloves (marigolds) just the fingertips massaging into the seams. and also used the sponge a bit too but I’d mask up if doing for a while. Also glasses in case of spray back. Rinse thoroughly and leave in sun to dry (I saw a suggestion to re wash with Dawn after bleach using a bleach product to ensure it’s all removed as it could dry out stitching - I’m not suggesting using this vim product every time you clean, only if the mould has caused staining)

I am blown away with the results. I had all but given up. The manual advises a hydrogen peroxide, ammonia, water mix. Ammonia is tough to find here in Canada.

More reading: https://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/1055719-stains-upholstery.html see post #14. They say ammonia is a bad idea in the long run.

The star of the show was vim. Immediate results. But the key I believe according to that post is to get the grunge, grease, sun cream residues etc off first. Vim wasn’t mentioned. I was about to make a hydrogen peroxide water mix - spotted this in our cleaning supplies. Tested it in a small area and results!

I’ll be treating it with 303 protectant tomorrow.

 

[RustyBucketBay]

Just to add I’ve used the xps cleaner and other boat cleaners recommended by my local marina/dealer. I’ve used magic erasers and it worked a bit. The link above also cautions against magic erasers on vinyl cushions as it’s a light abrasive.

Attached is the manual cleaning directions. I suspect the ammonia/peroxide mix is similar enough to this vim product.

No matter what I tried there was always that slight mottled staining left over.

They look new now.

And prevention - don’t make my mistake:
Bought the boat 3 yrs ago, immaculate condition. No mould/milduew for 2 years. Last year we kept it on the lawn for several weeks with the bow and helm covers on as well as the trailer cover over that. I believe the double covers prevented air from circulating. Perhaps the cushions were a little damp too. All the perfect storm - let it breath (trailer cover only). I also had not been keeping up with 303 protectant as everything looked new.

 

[BBird]

Marine 31 is amazing as well and you don’t have to mix anything. Just follow directions and 303 after. As a side note…it’s also great for the ring at the waters edge in a toilet.

 

[RustyBucketBay]

Marine 31 is amazing as well and you don’t have to mix anything. Just follow directions and 303 after. As a side note…it’s also great for the ring at the waters edge in a toilet.

Cheers. I heard good things about it too. I believe is contains bleach too, likely why the other products didn’t work.

 

[BBird]

Cheers. I heard good things about it too. I believe is contains bleach too, likely why the other products didn’t work.

It's fantastic for the inside of hulls to get all the black splotchiness out.