ISLAND GIRL BEATS ALL??
The brown gummy stuff you see on the top of genders and dorades is plasticizer that has "sweated out", usually through vinyl that is beginning to break down and become more porous. This breakdown is even worse when acetone or gritty stuff is used to clean. This plasticizer "gum" is very sticky and attracts airborn dirt . As the sun bakes this gooey stuff it becomes baked into a crust that may even have bubbles in it. Another thing that happens is that underneath where this happening, the vinyl breaks down further, becoming yellowed. Anthoner thing that can happen in damp conditions is growth of mildew. The mildew organism loves to eat old plasticizer and even follows it down through the pores to irreversible stain the vinyl (if left long enough). Watery cleaners (the cheapest sort) can do very little on gum and nothing on baked gum. Petroleum based cleaners (e.g. seapower, starbright etc) do more under light conditions and Seapower has turpentine that also helps. For the past five years I have held $100.00 "contests" at boat shows against any other products. One of the things that always leads to IG winning is the test on vents and fenders - why? All three of our cleaners remove the gummy stuff, penetrate dissolve and remove the dried on gum. They can also dissolve the oxided vinyl and remove it. SEA GLOW is the best, however because, in the presence of daylight (sunlight even better) the yellowing (even severe yellowing due to ingrained oxidation disappears) due to the fluorescence. It then protects against drying out of the vinyl and further oxidation by impregnating the vinyl with conditioners that restore suppleness (making up for that lost by sweating of plasticizer). The conditioner also contains anti-oxidants and free radical scanvengers protecting against UV and ozone-induced damage. Finally, there is also an inhibitor of mildew (preventing it from getting hold) and algae (that caseus red/greeen purple discoloration). On vents I also wipe over (briefly) the red painted interior) that has the effect of essentially "repainting" since the color comes up so bright. The final step is to seal the surface. We used to recommend dressings such as 303, armorall etc but the gumminess always came back. The reason? You need a "plastic skin" that physically seal the pores on the surface (through which the gum comes up) as well as giving a shine. THis is what the SILKENSEAL DOES. Not enough? Remember that SEA GLOW and SILKENSEAL also do white. red blue etc inflatable dingheis, upholstery and GELCOAT. Want to see pictures of old vents being restored, the snowy white effect etc go to www.ISLANDGIRLPRODUCTS.com then product uses, then click on vinyl - it also shows how the mildew was blocked! Jim W PS I would count this as an advert if it were not based on comparisons that you can all do for yourself!
