Fenders : how to get them white again ?

[hopern1]

Old boat, old fenders. They might have been shiny and white once but not anymore. They have a mixture of general grubbiness and indelible ink (the boat name) on them.
I have tried a number of cleaning materials with little success.

Any suggestions?

 

[haydude]

G3 paste, cloth and elbow grease

 

[pmagowan]

New fenders?

 

[ip485]

Someone said on another post cellulose thinner.

I have tried the paste and it was very hard work for little result - perhaps just bad technique!

I haven't tried the thinners. They can be like a miracle cure on some "contaminated" surfaces, but can also be very good and dissolving the surface.

I am looking forward to giving the thinners a go!! Nearly did this weekend but ran out of time.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Two approaches.

Either. One. Dream up a wheeze to get a fender manufacturer to give them to you for sponsorship.

Or. Two. Go to Lidl and get some of their brush cleaning solvent. It's the best stuff I have ever used for cleaning fenders. Cheap as well. They had it on sale in our local branch a few days ago, there may be some left.

 

[DPH]

Experiments last week.

Petrol to dissolve gunk
Degreaser to remove gunk
Fairy liquid to clean
Add cif and elbow grease at each stage.

Seemed to work pretty well apart from some stubborn stains that maybe only bleaching would remove.

I'm thinking that bleach will be the only way to remove permanent ink on your fenders.

 

[Piers]

Cleaning with anything that's an abrasive creates minute scratches in which dirt can settle more quickly and more deeply next time.

Last year, a friend came to see us, saw Play d'eau's fenders, said something that hurt (!), but added I should use Inflatable Boat Cleaner from Poly Marine Ltd, followed by Inflatable Boat Finish (or polish?) to protect the fender's surface for a while.

I did, and the difference was quite remarkable. Spray the Cleaner on, wait one minute, and wipe off. For heavy grime, you may need two attempts. Almost a miracle substance. And it's biodegradable.

Not associated in any way, etc. Just a very happy customer.

 

[Hypocacculus]

I've found that household bleach does a pretty good job on other plastics, like my white washing up bowl etc.

 

[cmedsailor]

Acetone!

 

[Al Dickson]

Poly Marine Inflatable Boat Cleaner works a treat

 

[haydude]

Acetone!

Acetone will clean by dissolving the plastic. Not recommended on fenders.
Alcohol can be used to clean permanent ink.

 

[Hypocacculus]

Alcohol can be used to clean permanent ink.

Not necessarily effectively though; If the ink has permeated the plastic, you are probably stuck with it. We tried to clean permanent marker off a pvc horseshoe bouy cover. I tried every solvent I could get my hands on to no avail.

 

[Mrnotming]

Thread drift,here it comes:
When despite your best efforts, they (fenders)do not look new enough, navy dog blankets are cheap, and sew easily on a domestic sewing machine. Pick your preferred colour! channels/hem sewn top and bottom, light line inserted,makes a neat job when they are tensioned.Little outlay and the time spent scrubbing is replaced by shampooing and hosing once a season.Of course the real thing is also available and perhaps just as good!Our blankets were about €8 each in French Supermarket(Intermarche).

 

[snowleopard]

Acetone!

+1

Wear rubber gloves

 

[KevB]

Easy. ribshine and magic eraser sponges. Takes no effort and a couple of minutes per fender.

 

[pmagowan]

a blowtorch?

 

[cmedsailor]

Acetone will clean by dissolving the plastic. .

I am not sure about this, but I see it evaporate so quickly and does such a good and EASY job that personally I don't mind.

 

[Mrnotming]

haha pmacgowan!

 

[Marine Reflections]

Poly marine cleaner followed by protective polish - yes

Other similar combinations - yes

Acetone - yes
Other weaker solvents - yes

Water - yes
Adding detergent to water - yes

Many other products and methods will work.

When cleaning a fender it really depends on what is to be removed, what contaminates are on the fender determines the approach.

Lets take four common contaminates on fenders:

1) Rubs (from paint, pontoons, rubber strakes, etc)

2) Oily waterline on fender

3) Water scale build up

4) Lock sludge, mud, green slime etc.

Many have more but out of the examples above, it's easy to see which ones are more or less going to be broken down by water and which are going to resist being broken down by water.

Lets say we have a magic sponge, some microfibre cloths, a cup and a paintbrush and of course protective gear.

Our products in the cupboard are :

Acetone

Warm water and detergent shampoo

A descaler, Viakal, or some oxalic acid etc, cola even, some sort of fizz.

Now the acetone will work well on the rubs, but how do you think it would fair against the water scale?

The descaler may work wonders on the build up, but probably wouldn't touch the rubs.

Water and detergent would probably shift the oily waterline, lock sludge and slime, but would be beaten when tackling the oil based marks.

Acetone flashes way too fast to be a problem. If you soak the fender in acetone then it will melt it, it will also potentially remove the imprinted logo etc from the surface of the fender, so acetone is more for correction rather than cleaning.

A multiple stage process is usually quicker than using one and working it harder for longer to get off the marks that could have been better dealt with via another method.

To make future cleaning easier a protective coating is wise.

 

[FullCircle]

Good answer from Marine Reflections