Cleaning the fuzzy interior hull covering

[Hugh Straub]

Now that the Summer in New Orleans has finally broken, I've put my 20 year old 23.5 back in the water. While cleaning out the detritus which collects inside a boat stored in a working boat yard, I took a long look at the fuzzy cloth covering on the hull interior in the forward berthing space. I guess the color was a kind of mottled dull gray with brownish spots. Had any prior owner ever tried to clean that covering? Didn't look like it.

So I took my spray bottle of Clorox Cleanser, which specifically warns against use on fabrics, sprayed the fuzzy cloth and lightly scrubbed with a frequently rinsed, damp sponge. Big difference. The brown has disappeared and the fuzz is now a bright light grey. And the fuzzy fabric appears undamaged in spite of the Clorox warning. The effort took 20 minutes...time well spent.

Kind regards

Hugh

 

[twodzusfittings]

Best thing to do now, is to use a carpet extractor and use the stair adaptor to get the grime and muck out of the wall carpet. Your going to really enjoy the fresh smell and the new look. If you leave the clorox cleanser on to long, its going to break the materiel down and it will end up blotchy. How do I know? That's why I wear the T shirt that says "Trust me, I'm the captain".

 

[Johnb]

Or new carpet

About 11 years ago we scraped off the old and put in a new blue outdoor carpet that we basically glued on, but applied only in patches so that if we had to get it off sometime it would not be too difficult.

This was an easy, inexpensive job and the results are very pleasing.

We aerosol spray painted the dingy "mouse fur" in some of the cabinets for a temporary quick fix and that made a huge difference, looking light and clean when you opened the doors.

 

[Hugh Straub]

I had the same thought about a redo with carpet. Looks great. I'm content at the moment with the cleaned "mouse fur"...no sign yet of the deterioration which 2dzus experienced, but if it happens, I give your carpet plan a try.

Kind regards

Hugh

 

[twodzusfittings]

The damage does not happen right away, it will take some time, pending the strength of the bleach. When I say time, I mean a few years.

 

[CLSailor]

I used a carpet spot remover to clean the hull fabric on my 18.5. If the fabric is polyolefin, bleachmay not harm it. I used straight undiluted bleach on an indoor olefin carpet a number of years ago and no sign of deterioration. Apparently the die used in some olefins is very permanent.

But, try this on a section that you don't normally see, to be sure.