DIY Fender Sox. What to use?

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Shearwater

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I thought of legs from old trousers - grey flannel perhaps or, hey, let's get modern with denim. On the other hand someone on the forum might have sensible ideas; my fenders are grimed and disgusting but I can't really afford to replace them. Any suggestions ?
 
Scouring sponge and 'boat cleaner'. Scrub hard and leave for twenty minutes before scrubbing off.

They'll go mat, so then cut with T-cut to bring up a shine.

Et voila!! It doesn't long as the oxalic acid in the boat cleaner does all the hard work.

You'd be surprised.

Cif is a bit of an effort...
 
Not sure if it was those or some other make, but I bought a kit a couple of years ago at Southampton. The resultant fender socks were shredded within a couple of months.
I now have some that were made by a liveaboard couple in Yachtmarine. They are made of much tougher material than the stuff in the kits.
 
I've used Acetone to clean up fenders. You have to use loads of rags though. One wipe with one soaked in Acetone, then wipe with a clean cloth. Take your time and let the cleaned surface return to a 'hard' state before using ie all the acetone has evaporated and the plastic isn't soft.
As for cheap covers, I saw a boat with all it's fenders fitted with child size T shirts as socks. Not sure how good they are but it struck me as a good idea.
 
Try sleeves cut from sweatshirts - the material is slightly fluffy when you turn it inside out. A bit of cord sewn in and out round the ends to tie it in place.
 
Buy a roll of scrim from a DIY store, it comes as a tube so all you need to do is. Place the fender inside and sew up the ends. Turns scruffy fenders smart at low cost and just a little effort.
 
hlb's "boat remover" is best i've found - quite caustic stuff, think might also be known as truckwash.

You need prewotectors to go over the fender sox to stop them goping manky, and hence soon realise it's a waste of time.

Top tip to make your boat look new - new mooring warps and new fenders. You can usually tell a boats age from these.
 
fine here in lanzarote, usual odd weather of bright sunshine and high wind, gusting to F9 last night, woke up and the mainsail had completely gone! But then i remebered i had taken it to the sail fixing man yesterday.
 
We were in Porto Cervo (Sardinia) a couple of years ago and the Maxi Yacht Racing Fleet were in there for the Rolex Races; one of these had its (very large) fenders 'dressed' in a selection of souvenir tee shirts from various yachting regattas in the Caribean, Florida, Austalia. NZ and Europe.
 
Sorry to say this, but we would be happier to go alongside dirty fenders than salt and grit holding fender sox's. At least grubby fenders usually only leave smear marks that washing up liquid can shift, but grit in sox leave scour marks that need cutting compound to get out.
So do everyone a favour if you do go sox route - please wash them out regularly and not just by dunking overboard !
 
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