PVC coatings on Inflatable RIB

[Scott B]

Seems I had a bad reaction to non-skid deck cleaner and storing my dinghy on the boat over the winter or at least that's what I assuming. The top of the dinghy where it was in contact with the sailboat, has turned brown and regular PVC cleaner will not remove. I had cleaned the big boat with non-skid cleaner and then the dinghy with PVC cleaner and flipped the dinghy upside down on top of the big boat. I'm thinking I did not rinse the non-skid cleaner off well enough. I'll post a couple of pictures when I go back up to the boat this weekend.

I've seen a couple of PVC restoration coatings advertised. Has anyone tried these with any success?

 

[Capt jgw]

That's the plasticizer leaching out of the PVC. All PVC dinghies do that eventually but contact with the deck and or cleaners residue appears to have accelerated it. Regular cleaners won't take it off but more aggressive solvents like xylene will. But be aware that's part of the fabric structure that's coming off. It's like planing down a piece of wood, eventually there won't be enough left to do the job. And the more plasticizer leaches out the stiffer the fabric becomes which might make it crack. I would clean it off once then coat it with something. I painted aQuicksilver dinghy with Brightside paint once. Worked real well and I ran the boat another five years that way with no more leaching.