How do I polish my tubes?

[Deleted User YDKXO]

The turqoise coloured tubes on my RIB are looking a bit faded. Is there any product out there which will bring the colour back into them?

 

[mainshiptom]

I used gloves eye cover and a brush with lots of hot water and bleach !

It did a great job nbut a year later dirty again>?


Tom

ps my rib is white , never buy white again...

 

[VicS]

Farécla Marine Rubber Dinghy Cleaner perhaps.

http://www.fareclamarine.com/Washes-and-Cleaners-7420.asp?page=7420

Or something from Polymarine's offereings

http://www.polymarine.com/products/parts...aning/index.cfm

 

[Nick_H]

If it's hypalon, I had great results with Fairy power spray and magic sponges. On their own, each of them cleaned it OK, but together it came up spotless. Don't use the power spray on PVC or other materials though as it makes the tubes sticky, and even on hypalon i'd try a small bit first, and rinse the tubes off straight away.

It's also important to treat the tubes with a conditioner / sealer afterwards, as the newly cleaned tubes pick up more dirt.

 

[Gemini]

Swafage hand clearner ( the green one ) then seal with RIB shine

 

[Nick_H]

Makes sense, Swarfega and Fairy power spray are essentially just strong degreasers, so will do a similar job.

 

[powerboats]

This is the Hypalon manufacturer's own cleaning product:

http://www.pennel.fr/Pages/orca_acces_cleaner.htm

I was given some by the Pennel rep at a boat show and it is probably the best tube cleaner I have used, especially combined with the magic sponge. Not certain whether it will improve the fading though, and not sure if anyone in the UK stocks it?

 

[PCUK]

Engine degreaser followed by wax polish.

 

[ralf2]

Cleaning the rib today,lots of photos!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The poor old avon was dragged out to daylight today for a bit of a scrub,boy did it need it,

Last year i discovered a cleaning product thats needs very little elbow grease to get great results,

So all you do is wet the tubes,spray it on about 18" at a time,leave for 1 minute and wash off,took approx. 1 hour to clean the 3.1 rib from a very grubby ditch colour to near perfect white again,

and here is the product,no affiliation here except a very satisfied customer,costs about €11.00

 

[RogerRat]

Nice post but I didn't have the same success on a PVC air deck when I tried this stuff. I think the Avon is Hypalon though and this may be part of the reason. The really bad stuff in this case was exhaust black and I used 'Jizer' (engine degreaser) to get past that.

Power spray / Whizz stain removers works well with white eraser sponges as they do for white cockpit seating. The 'sticky' feel mentioned by 'Nick_H' above is normal but this just wipes off with a damp cloth.

The sealer sounds a good idea but any auto 'minute wax' will provide a coating to prevent dirt sticking again. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Just one point. I've seen rib tenders lifted out that have been floating for a season without antifoul and these don't clean up to well! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif