Fender covers

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Dave_E

Dave_E

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2014
Messages
276
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Agnus Dei
Vessel Make
36' Shin Shing
Hi All,

I have fender covers on a couple of the older fenders that came with the boat, the rest no. How many of you use them? Are they just cosmetic or do they protect the boat? Salt water.

Dave
 
I don’t use them. They can hold dirt and grind it into the hull. I just keep the fenders clean. I use Spray 9 to clean them.
 
Dave_E said:
Hi All,



I have fender covers on a couple of the older fenders that came with the boat, the rest no. How many of you use them? Are they just cosmetic or do they protect the boat? Salt water.



Dave
Click to expand...


I’ve never had any on my boats. I’m too cheap.

However, I would recommend that for fender covered in the PNW, that you buy them in a dark green color. They will end up that color eventually anyway. ;-)
 
ComoDave... I love your Signature!!!
 
Had fender covers that came with the boat. IMO, as mentioned previously, they hold stuff in the material that may abrade the hull coating. Certainly quicker and easier to clean a fender than a fender cover. I wax my fenders which really helps with cleaning them off. Only time I use a fender cover is when going up against a creosoted dock. Couple of trash can liners over the ball style fenders works great to avoid the creosote clean up.

Ted
 
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My wife insisted on buying some one day. I put them on, and six months later, they were in shreds. Every nail, sharp edge, and splinter of wood on a piling seemed to rip them. West Marine specials.
 
I've had same dark blue covers [from West Marine] on my fenders for 10 years. Still in pretty darn good condition.

When at berth I spray them with nozzle on a pressure hose while they hang off side of boat. The pressure water gets the covered fended twisting very quickly on its line. So... as it winds its line up tightly in one direction and eventually slows to a stop... I simply reverse the side of fender to which I apply the pressure water stream. Fender gets twisting back and forth so fast that centrifugal force throws off the water along with dirt and other contaminants [like spider webs]... sort of like the spin cycle in a washing machine!

Before having covers and maintaining fender covers by cleaning them as mentioned above... I used to spend quite a bit of time scrubbing clean my fenders at least once a year. Since putting on the covers and pressure water spraying them off - not once in the last ten years have I needed to scrub a fender clean.

One word of caution about cleaning fender covers like I do: Use only standard hose nozzle water pressure and not a pressure washer. I learned real fast that pressure washer will tear apart the fender cover's fabric.

Also, I noted in this thread where someone mentioned that fender cover affects the finish on their hull. I find no abrasion at all on our boat's gel coat. Matter of fact... for years before using cloth fabric fender covers I would too often need to buff out marks on hull from a dirty rubber fender itself.

10 years of reduced efforts and consistent OK looks for fenders has made me a believer in good quality cloth fender covers!
 
Art said:
I've had same dark blue covers [from West Marine] on my fenders for 10 years. Still in pretty darn good condition.

When at berth I spray them with nozzle on a pressure hose while they hang off side of boat. The pressure water gets the covered fended twisting very quickly on its line. So... as it winds its line up tightly in one direction and eventually slows to a stop... I simply reverse the side of fender to which I apply the pressure water stream. Fender gets twisting back and forth so fast that centrifugal force throws off the water along with dirt and other contaminants [like spider webs]... sort of like the spin cycle in a washing machine!

Before having covers and maintaining fender covers by cleaning them as mentioned above... I used to spend quite a bit of time scrubbing clean my fenders at least once a year. Since putting on the covers and pressure water spraying them off - not once in the last ten years have I needed to scrub a fender clean.

One word of caution about cleaning fender covers like I do: Use only standard hose nozzle water pressure and not a pressure washer. I learned real fast that pressure washer will tear apart the fender cover's fabric.

Also, I noted in this thread where someone mentioned that fender cover affects the finish on their hull. I find no abrasion at all on our boat's gel coat. Matter of fact... for years before using cloth fabric fender covers I would too often need to buff out marks on hull from a dirty rubber fender itself.

10 years of reduced efforts and consistent OK looks for fenders has made me a believer in good quality cloth fender covers!
Click to expand...

Your success may depend a lot on how you boat. When the fenders slide 10' up between your hull and a slimy lock wall, lots of crap can get ground into the fabric. Simply putting them up against a dock isn't much of a challenge.

Ted
 
Comodave said:
I don’t use them. They can hold dirt and grind it into the hull. I just keep the fenders clean. I use Spray 9 to clean them.
Click to expand...

This. Our boat came with fender covers with the boat’s name embroidered on them. I hate them; as Comodave said, they hold dirt, and with any protracted rocking of the boat, they grind that dirt into the paint, and it takes Finesse-it to get it off. The Admiral loves them. Naturally, we’re still using them, and I get to wash them once a month, which still isn’t really often enough.
 
O C Diver said:
Your success may depend a lot on how you boat. When the fenders slide 10' up between your hull and a slimy lock wall, lots of crap can get ground into the fabric. Simply putting them up against a dock isn't much of a challenge.

Ted
Click to expand...

Correct, Ted! The fenders do not have anywhere near as much crud to deal with, as yours do.

Our berth in a double finger, floating dock is 16' wide. Tolly is 12'6". I always keep her tied off away from the fingers' edges. Fenders hang loose when at dock. :speed boat:

While at anchor the fenders work well for fending off our tow behind runabout; which we keep side tied. They also fend off visitor boats. So, they do get plenty of chance to rub against the hull. I never notice any abrasion due to their rubbing contact on the hull. :dance:
 
Comodave said:
My fenders are black.
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+1 on that just ordered 4 new ones


I had covers last boat to cover old dirt marks that wouldn't clean up.


they were ok but can bother with them now
 
I’m not vain enough to put blankets on my fenders.
That’s yacht club stuff.
 
With our black fenders I have cleaned them once in the 4 years we have had them. The one time was after we go home and had gone through 75 locks. With normal usage we don’t get them dirty enough to need cleaning.
 
Well my fender covers were dark blue and matched the gel coat quite well for about a yesr. Then the sun did its magic
 

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I made my fender covers quickly & cheaply out of sunbrella. Never had any problems, nor did I have to replace them.
 
Wifey B: May be stupid but I like them and it's a bit like sacrificial anodes. Cheaper to replace covers than fenders. As to grungy and grimy locks, we often use fender boards instead of our normal fenders. :)
 
I have a disliking for fender covers.

Kind of like those terry towel toilet seat covers that were fashionable for some people.
 
I used one once to cover a propane tank.
I was vain enough for that.
 
Comodave said:
I don’t use them. They can hold dirt and grind it into the hull. I just keep the fenders clean. I use Spray 9 to clean them.
Click to expand...

Ditto, except don't bother with Spray. Ideally, fenders don't touch boat or dock except when docking.
 
This is right on time . I just spent half the day yesterday cleaning mine and replacing all the lines . Ted I’ve never tried waxing but it makes sense . I’m going to wax a couple of mine today .
 
I have them. We are on a finger pier so the boat is against the fenders a lot. I find they are quieter than uncovered fenders. I wash them at the end of the season. Mine are fleece. I don't worry about the paint since I repaint every year no matter what.
 
Put on good covers. Spray em off with high pressure hose nozzle. Relax, enjoy, appreciate the fender covers' simplicity. This equals = Don't Work Too Hard!
 
We have fender covers that I made of boat blanket fabric from Sailrite that we have used on our sailboat in for 5 years. They work great and stay nice looking and the boat blanket fabric has held up extremely well. (We use it for anti-chafing guards in a few places, also.) The fenders themselves looked awful. They look much nicer with covers. I have never washed them and we've never had a problem with the cover marking the boat. We have since bout a trawler and I've just finished making fender covers for all of the fenders. They look good and I anticipate them holding up nicely for many years.
 
Let's you sleep at night

I agree with most of the comments both for and against fender covers. But, they do help eliminate the "squeaks" from the fenders when the wind is up and the boat is pressed against the pier!
 
Bellakins said:
We have fender covers that I made of boat blanket fabric from Sailrite that we have used on our sailboat in for 5 years. They work great and stay nice looking and the boat blanket fabric has held up extremely well. (We use it for anti-chafing guards in a few places, also.) The fenders themselves looked awful. They look much nicer with covers. I have never washed them and we've never had a problem with the cover marking the boat. We have since bout a trawler and I've just finished making fender covers for all of the fenders. They look good and I anticipate them holding up nicely for many years.
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While I don’t use boat blanket for fender covers, I do use it to make covers for the bimini top frames to keep the eisenglass from burning. I also use it to make a dash mat for the helm console. I use gray and it stops the glare from the white dash and also stops stuff from sliding around. Nice thing about boat blanket is that it is self hemming so when you cut it you don’t have to finish the edges. Also if you sew the hook side of velcro to it it will grab onto the boat blanket.
 
Group9 said:
My wife insisted on buying some one day. I put them on, and six months later, they were in shreds. Every nail, sharp edge, and splinter of wood on a piling seemed to rip them. West Marine specials.
Click to expand...
West marine nuff said
 
Have them. Use them. You have to keep them clean and free of debris just as any other item coming in contact with the gelcoat or paint. I wash the boat regularly, so they get rinsed and cleaned in the process. They reduce the abrasion of the hull surfaces. Other methods to accomplish this already mentioned probably work just as well.
 
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