Cleaning fenders

What do you use to clean your fenders?

Greetings,
I don't know about fenders but several on the board use citrus orange hand cleaner to tidy up power cords.

I keep cloth covers on them and wash them once in a while. The guy who waxed my boat recommended them.

GoJo and a scotchbrite pad cleans them up pretty fast. Then I put a coat of car wax on them (no particular brand, whatever I happen to have around).

I've never found anything that cleans and protects them after cleaning, that is when they get dark black goop on them. I've seen them change colors with harsh cleaners, get gummy with armorall, sticky with some other products and leave marks on the hull.

Canvas or cloth covers. That works.

I've used the West Marine (Pure Oceans, maybe) fender cleaner/protector with decent success. (Or it might have been a StarBrite product, not sure... but I'll be on the boat in a bit, and I'll try to remind myself.) It's not a magic bullet, though.

-Chris

I've always used Soft Scrub cream and a scotchbrite. It works pretty well but my standards aren't that high. They are fenders ...

ranger42c said:

I've used the West Marine (Pure Oceans, maybe) fender cleaner/protector with decent success. (Or it might have been a StarBrite product, not sure... but I'll be on the boat in a bit, and I'll try to remind myself.) It's not a magic bullet, though.

-Chris

Click to expand...

Oops, I did mis-remember. It was Starbrite Inflatable Boat and Fender Cleaner/Protector.

-Chris

I bought navy blue ones. Problem solved.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Trawler

This doesn't address cleaning fenders, but I've heard that McLube Sailkote applied to clean fenders keeps them from getting black goop and other "stuff" on them. And that stops them from transferring anything to the hull. Bob Bitchin told me about that trick - I've just never tried it. However, having used Sailkote in many other applications, I would bet it works great.

Cloth Covers - period! I like navy blue. Easy to spray off with hose. Pressure wash not recommended... at least up close - will shred stitching, did that to one fender cover - - > Once!

Dark hull paint , and let the fenders wear themselves clean.

If you have to moor against some pretty snotty bulkheads, wharfs, pilings etc at some time....you may want to remove the covers and wash them well prior to the next use.

Many covers hold grit the size of 120 sandpaper and you will be defeating the purpose of their intended use.

When fenders have not been cleaned in several years I've found nothing that will clean them including GoJo or citrus cleaner. If relatively new both products work well.

On my really scuzzy fenders that are beyond cleaning, my wife makes covers out of cheap white terrycloth towels.
Sometimes they come clean in the washer and can be re-used, sometimes not.

This worked for me, when we bought our boat the fenders had been down in a locker for a long time and were really bad. First I scrubbed them with GoJo and a green 3M pad. That got off most of the grease. Then I filled a large rubbermaid tub with a really strong bleach/soap/water solution, about 4 parts water one part bleach. Don't get it on your clothes and dispose of it responsibly. I wedged each fender in the tub so they were 1/2 emereged and let it soak for about 4 hours. Then rolled them over and soaked the other side. They all came out looking brand new.

It really depends on the type of dirt and the color/type of fender.

Never, ever use Acetone. It will clear off anything on the fender easily and quickly. But it'll remove the plasticizer from the fender material and make them brittle quickly.

The previous postings gave some great advice. For a little less aggressive cleaning, try a Magic Eraser. It's a kitchen cleaning product. It's pretty incredible for lots of outside scuff and stain removing. It works pretty great on all topside/hull surfaces too. It's one of those things that ever boater should have. You can get them at any grocery store. We use them on white fenders and it does a great job.

Haven't seen the need yet after three years. The fenders (and boat) are rinsed with fresh water upon berthing.