Nasty dirty fenders...

[BellaDonna]

Can anyone advise me as to what will easily clean dirty white fenders?
Hope there is a product available to make this chore easier.
Thanks for any advice.

 

[menzies]

I used Polyform fender covers!

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. BD. Try this stuff. If it doesn't work you can use it on your hands but I think it might...

 

[Bacchus]

Hi Donna
I used both Softscrub (w bleach) and Star Bright Non-Skid Deck Cleaner with decent results.
Both need at least a few minutes soak time and a scrub brush to work best.
A coat of 303 Protectant after cleaning helps shed the dirt and makes them easier to clean

 

[Gordon J]

I use acetone.

Can anyone advise me as to what will easily clean dirty white fenders?
Hope there is a product available to make this chore easier.
Thanks for any advice.

Works great.

 

[Giggitoni]

I second Gojo.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

I have used Z Care to clean my fenders and works great on my dinghy.

https://www.fisheriessupply.com/zcare-cleaners-lvp-marine-stain-remover

 

[markpierce]

For future consideration: get dark-colored fenders. They don't show dirt very well.

 

[Comodave]

I use Spray 9 and it works very well. I also use black fenders...

 

[jleonard]

Greetings,
Mr. BD. Try this stuff. If it doesn't work you can use it on your hands but I think it might...

Here's a second on the GoJo. Soft scrub also works pretty well.
But at some point, making covers is the only out. Cheap terry cloth towels work well, as does sweat pants legs.

Also after cleaning, wax them up good and they will last longer. Turtle wax, Mequire's, etc.

 

[ranger58sb]

A couple years ago I tried about 15 different products.... and of those, Spray Nine worked best. Can't remember if it was the "marine" version or not. It was NOT effortless; stiff brush and lots of elbow grease still required. That test included Soft Scrub, not great. Didn't include GoJo. Included Simply Awesome, or some such. Underwhelming. Included Mr. Clean erasor pads, not bad but even more labor intensive.

The last year I tried a product called Marine Strip, said to be OK for vinyl. Worked better, still not effortless, needs some soak time and a brush... and then about 6 months later, the vinyl was a little sticky.

Since then, I found some decent covers made of Sunbrella, from Harken. Those seem to be OK; I think they'll pick up splinters and dirt along the way, but I'm guessing maybe a periodic dismount/wash/remount might work. Previously, I'd tried some acrylic covers; they disintegrated relatively quickly. The cover for our Polyform buoy is acrylic, so I don't expect long life from that.

-Chris

 

[Chrisjs]

I used to have covers that looked very "yachty" but came to the conclusion that they actually accumulated dirt (grit) over time that was hard to clean off and had potential to scuff awlgrip paint. I second using black fenders (pity nobody offers colors like red or blue). I also was told that "Magic Eraser" works well but never tried it.

 

[rswift]

fender cleaner

When I first tried Z Cleaner on white fenders it worked so well and effortlessly I was afraid to use it thinking it might be too harsh. Over time no adverse side affects seen. The dollar store store a product called Awesome and it also does a great job on white fenders.

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

Our boat came with black fenders - after 26 locks on TennTom and TN River I'm so glad. Sliding up those tall grimy lock walls, any white fenders would look awful and need daily cleaning - saw several fender covers get ripped off on the concrete walls, on other boats. I guess you could just save the fender covers to cover up the dirty fenders.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. C. "...pity nobody offers colors like red or blue".

https://www.pocomarine.com/shop/polyform-g3-boat-fenders/

 

[HiDHo]

I see a lot of boats using white ball fenders. They definitely cut down on the surface area grunge. Storage could be a problem, an air pump that could reverse for flattening them or quickly inflation might solve the storage problem.
The manatee came equipped with four very large white tubular fenders that I use horizontally but they are a chore to clean. I have found Soft Scrub with bleach and a green 3M hand scrubber works the best for cleanup.

 

[Mike GB32]

Do black (or dark color) fenders leave marks on a white hull?

 

[CaptTom]

Best solvent for cleaning fenders is MEK (methyl ethyl ketone.) Acetone will clean them, but it'll leave the vinyl gooey, ruining the fender.

MEK is harder to find nowadays. Read the can carefully, they sell a useless product called "MEK Substitute."

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

Do black (or dark color) fenders leave marks on a white hull?

Sometimes, especially if the lock walls are very dirty. Not so much with other docking. As the old saying goes "every boat is a compromise". The dark fenders themselves do not leave any marks though.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Aceatone ?? Oh My!

pete

 

[localboy]

For future consideration: get dark-colored fenders. They don't show dirt very well.

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants, so long as it is black."


Henry Ford

 

[Chrisjs]

Nice choice of colors there!! Wish I still had a boat so I could color coordinate like Martha Stewart!!

 

[jclays]

I spray them down with Heavy duty Simple green (its clearish in color) found in he janitorial aisle of Home Depot. After a few minutes I scrub them down with Comet cleanser.

 

[localboy]

I spray them down with Heavy duty Simple green (its clearish in color) found in he janitorial aisle of Home Depot. After a few minutes I scrub them down with Comet cleanser.

Bio-degradable too.

 

[Bacchus]

Do black (or dark color) fenders leave marks on a white hull?

They do absorb more UV than light and after time many will get soft and sticky on the surface at which time they will leave marks.
I've had Taylor replace fenders twice with above problem and last time I asked they replace w white to avoid a third repeat. So far no problem after about 10 yrs.

 

[Comodave]

Do black (or dark color) fenders leave marks on a white hull?

Not on my boat they haven’t.

 

[Shrew]

I've had good luck with Mary& Kate On/Off cleaner (Hydrochloric Phosphoric acid, Oxalic acid) . Doesn't seem to harm them at all. I've heard tidy bowl products (which I believe are similar) also work well.

 

[stephenvalliere]

Yup the Acetone if the stuff.....works the best been doing that for years on worn fenders

 

[Beaverlake]

A couple quick notes.

Abrasive cleaners like Comet et. al. may scuff the smooth surface making it likely that the fenders will collect grime more quickly after each cleaning. I would avoid them for this reason. We use Spray 9 for a lot of cleaning chores and it works well (most of the time - nothing is universally “perfect”).

Second - our 44 Tolly came with soft microfiber fender covers. We removed them after a month or two. When the covers get wet (rain, spray, accidental dunking) the fender/cover combo weighs a ton! My wife finally said “no mas” and we trashed them. Canvas/Sunbrella covers probably would not get heavy.

 

[slowgoesit]

Best solvent for cleaning fenders is MEK (methyl ethyl ketone.) Acetone will clean them, but it'll leave the vinyl gooey, ruining the fender.

MEK is harder to find nowadays. Read the can carefully, they sell a useless product called "MEK Substitute."

We used to call it Mehyl ethyl CUTFINDER! That was before we knew that it was horrible to be within 10 miles of and instantly leads to brain damage, sterility, and voting the strict party line in elections