Dinghy is dirty

Status
Not open for further replies.
Alvorada

Alvorada

.
Apr 25, 2010
35
Beneteau 331 Herrington Harbor South (Friendship, MD)
OK, so I did not use the dinghy last year (never even took it out of storage). Now it's a mess. I have tried cleaning it with boat cleaners and with the specific dinghy cleaner one find's at West Marine. It's a little better but not clean. Mostly it appears to be mildew (dark stuff). Does anyone have any experience with the best way to clean this? Every thread I see says don't use bleach so I have not even attempted the Soft Scrub route. Plain old elbow grease doesn't seem to cut it. I will try anything as long as it works and does not harm the dinghy. Any suggestions.

Francisco
 
Brian D

Brian D

.
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
Vinegar? Mixed with water? I have used that on nuclear bird poop when nothing else would clean the poop.

Think I better inflate my dinghy and put in the sun for the day.
 
onecoolair

onecoolair

.
Jun 25, 2012
942
hunter 356 Kemah,the Republic of Texas
Alvorada said:
OK, so I did not use the dinghy last year (never even took it out of storage). Now it's a mess. I have tried cleaning it with boat cleaners and with the specific dinghy cleaner one find's at West Marine. It's a little better but not clean. Mostly it appears to be mildew (dark stuff). Does anyone have any experience with the best way to clean this? Every thread I see says don't use bleach so I have not even attempted the Soft Scrub route. Plain old elbow grease doesn't seem to cut it. I will try anything as long as it works and does not harm the dinghy. Any suggestions.

Francisco
Click to expand
Fast Orange hand soap like you get from auto zone or Wally Mart ....stiff brush plus old tooth brush for the small crevices. Rinse well do not want leave any abrasives that could cause chafing . In fact my dingy is do for another cleaning.... I have a large container of the stuff so if you want to bring your dingy over and promise to do mine first I will let you use some of my orange soap.
 
FourPoints

FourPoints

.
Apr 8, 2010
1,606
Frers 33 41426 Westport, CT
Defender carries something called ztuffstuff, it won't harm or dry out the rubber, and does amazing stuff when cleaning dinghies (I tried a sample last year and was quite impressed, and bought a big spray bottle this year). According to the sales rep, They guarantee it won't affect the manufacturers warranty, or will cover it themselves, they are so confident it won't harm anything.

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10918|309314|311480&id=1783475
 
Rich Stidger

Rich Stidger

.
Feb 10, 2004
4,154
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
I use the following cleaners in order of preference and performance.

First: Spray Nine - it can either be the "Marine" version or the landlubber version. No difference that I can tell.

Second: LA Awesome Orange Citrus or the All Purpose Cleaner - at the Dollar Store - I use it straight, no dilution

Third: Amazon Inflatable Boat Cleaner - most expensive and doesn't work any better than the two products above IMHO

I often use all three cleaners- each of them seems to work on some stains a bit differently.

I use a white or blue scrubby Doby-type pad on a handle to work the cleaners in a four square foot area at a time. Lots of elbow grease, but the results are apparent. I get these pads at Wal-Mart, the local Chinese emporium for about a buck each. Rinse before anything gets a chance to dry.

After all is clean, I spray on a couple coats of 303 Aerospace Protectant on the dinghy. I think that this protectant helps for avoiding UV damage and for repelling dirt. It is NOT the 303 product that is for canvas.

See my results in the pix below.

DO NOT USE Acetone or any cleaner that has silicone in it. The acetone will break-down the surface of the dinghy and damage it and silicone-based cleaners will cause problems if patches ever are needed.

BTW, this same cleaning procedure also works great on fenders and power cords.
 

Attachments

dscribner

dscribner

.
Nov 9, 2008
1,338
Pearson-O'Day 290 Portland Maine
I used Magic Eraser on mine. It's an OLD fiberglass dink so a little abrasive won't hurt that much. Worth a try but they don't last that long.
 
Alvorada

Alvorada

.
Apr 25, 2010
35
Beneteau 331 Herrington Harbor South (Friendship, MD)
This is awesome, thanks. Plenty here to keep me going. I think I will take before and after photos and let everyone know what seemed to work best.
 
windward54

windward54

.
Mar 12, 2008
557
Jeanneau 49 DS San Pedro, CA
I've also had good luck with SeaPower Marine Inflatable Boat & Fender Cleaner.
 
Alvorada

Alvorada

.
Apr 25, 2010
35
Beneteau 331 Herrington Harbor South (Friendship, MD)
I had not thought of the pressure washer because I did not think a pressure washer on an inflatable dinghy was a good thing to do. Does anyone have any experience with this? I only have a small pressure washer (only goes up to 1,500 PSI) but am leery about using even that.
 
FourPoints

FourPoints

.
Apr 8, 2010
1,606
Frers 33 41426 Westport, CT
Alvorada said:
I had not thought of the pressure washer because I did not think a pressure washer on an inflatable dinghy was a good thing to do. Does anyone have any experience with this? I only have a small pressure washer (only goes up to 1,500 PSI) but am leery about using even that.
Click to expand
I'm pretty sure even 1500PSI would damage the seams, I wouldn't attempt it.

I cannot say enough about how impressed I was with the ZTuffStuff cleaner sample I used last summer, it looked brand new in the spots I cleaned, and it didn't require much effort. I am looking forward to getting the dinghy out and cleaning the whole thing this year.
 
onecoolair

onecoolair

.
Jun 25, 2012
942
hunter 356 Kemah,the Republic of Texas
Alvorada said:
I had not thought of the pressure washer because I did not think a pressure washer on an inflatable dinghy was a good thing to do. Does anyone have any experience with this? I only have a small pressure washer (only goes up to 1,500 PSI) but am leery about using even that.
Click to expand
The pressure washer I have . Has spray settings on the wand tip. Probably just like yours. I adjust the spray pattern and psi on the tip of the wand to fit what I am trying to clean. On something like the inflatable dingy I would use the wider fan spray settings..... Basically I just use good old common sense.
In my case I would need to hand scrub the dingy first then use pressure washer to rinse all the soap and any missed dirt out of the crevices.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top Bottom