Treadmaster cleaning

[swoxholt]

Hi,

I bought a sailing boat a couple of month ago, which has what i belive is a Treadmaster anti slip decking. The Treadmaster was fitted to the boat when it was new in 1985, so its a "couple" of years old now.

My problem is that it looks like its "dirty". Im not sure if its dirt/algae or just wear which causes it.

I took some pictures of the deck the other day, they can be seen on dropbox here : https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x3pfvr1jz91t5nm/QZW7SXHEbt#/

I have tried scrubing it with a stiff brush and different cleaning solutions, but to no luck.

So, does anyone have any idea if this is possible to fix ? I see that Treadmaster has its own paint, but it was hoping i didnt have to do that yet.

Btw, has anyone used the paint ? Is it good, and stays on or does it "come off" after a while ?

Found out i could attach the files to the post aswell, so here they are

 

[Burnham Bob]

gave up trying to clean mine. even when i got the dirt out of the crevices around the diamonds with a stiff scrubbing brush it was still discoloured. the paint works fine but needs redoing after a couple of seasons but its easy to apply and not too expensive.

 

[Vara]

One of the few things that a pressure washer is good for, anoint with cleaning liquid of your choice...I use Aldi caravan cleaner...allow to soak in and give it a good blast, just on the surface otherwise you may lift it off.

if that doesn't work then the paint is the only option.

 

[l'escargot]

I have similar on my Treadmaster and have cleaned it up to an acceptable level with a 3 pronged attack - scrubbed inch by inch with a stiff scrubbing brush using a strong solution of Daz in hot water to get rid of grime; pressure washed to get any loosened bits out of the crevices and finally "Patio Magic" to kill any mould. It hasn't got rid of all of it, some staining remains in certain areas, but it is now clean enough for me to live with. I don't think anything bar replacement will get it back to pristine condition.

 

[ostell]

My wife uses this: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/22942/SonicScrubber for the tread master. Also useful for other bits of the boat.

It's like an elephant size electric tootbrush.

 

[Spirit of Glenans]

I tried scrubbing, using Lidl's all-purpose detergent, followed by a blast with a pressure washer, which produced only temporary results. I used the cleaning fluid, which is also available on the Treadmaster website followed by the specail paint. This was just before I sold the boat, so no idea how well it has lasted. One word of warning, however, do not use this paint if there is any possibility of a shower in the offing. How do I know this?

 

[robmcg]

We cleaned up our blue Treadmaster with something called boat buddy ( in a bottle) and scrubbing using hand held stiff brushes. From the photos, it looks like you have some lichen growing on the surface. To kill this off we used ever build moss and lichen killer from the builders merchant. Overall results were very good.

 

[nigelmercier]

My wife uses ... an elephant size electric tootbrush.

I wonder if they do those special tips that Pauline likes

I saw these in Lidl, are they not just a gimmic? If not, some handy links
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0011E0LKI/dolcetto-21
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001P4AG68/dolcetto-21
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00C87V8RC/dolcetto-21

I've been trying out Grunt! Good results so far:

http://gruntboatcleaner.co.uk/

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Your Treadmaster looked exactly as mine (same colour too). I jet washed it with fresh water only (no soap) which got rid of the grime and brought out the colour again. However, as others have stated above it does not clean it completely, it still had dirty streaks. During the season I have been cleaning it with nothing more than fresh water, washing up liquid and a standard scrubbing brush. It now looks good again and the streaks have gone. I have moved my position from replacing it to maintaining it its come up so well.

 

[ParaHandy]

If you do paint it with the Treadmaster paint, buy more than enough to do the job in one lot. I found that their colour matching between different batches bought at different times was poor.

If yours is the brown/red colour then I found that repeated (over many years) pressure washing ended up with a salt and pepper colour which was quite pleasing. I regretted painting it and, by the way, you have to mask it very carefully. The paint is quite "watery" which gets everywhere if you're not careful.

 

[nigelmercier]

I regretted painting it ...

Once you paint something, you have to paint it again.

 

[Baggy]

I use B&Q floor pant

jobs a goodun

will last a few seasons, before you need to slap on some more

just done mine again ( 3rd time in 10 years ) and looks bloody smart ...

 

[RichardTaylor]

Our last boat had treadmaster which never came clean, however it was very noticiable the area around the diesel filler cap where diesel was spilt was always spotlessly clean.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

...... I jet washed it with fresh water only .....

Recalling this experience a bit more. It's worth mentioning that the jet had to be held very close to the Treadmaster to clean the grime out. I used the lance that produces the cone of water held close enough that I had about 2" to 4" of cone diameter on the Treadmaster. I used small strokes back and forth to clean the area and this is where the streaks came from. If the lance was too far off the deck, say at 5" then it only cleaned the surface grime and not the stuff ground into the Treadmaster material. I am not aware of any accumulation of Treadmaster particles in the pool of water between the scuppers but my Treadmaster surface looks like more grainy than the original, which is relatively smooth (not the diamond profile of course, but rather on the diamond top). I am wondering if I actually did erode away some material from the matrix and may see accelerated wear of the Treadmaster. Food for thought.

All the best with the cleaning efforts.

BlowingOldBoots

 

[ParaHandy]

Recalling this ...... I am wondering if I actually did erode away some material from the matrix and may see accelerated wear of the Treadmaster.

Age does terrible things to the memory ... I recall that, doing exactly as you, in places the edges got a bit frayed and masking them became just that little bit more difficult when painting them.

 

[davidfox]

Hi,

I bought a sailing boat a couple of month ago, which has what i belive is a Treadmaster anti slip decking. The Treadmaster was fitted to the boat when it was new in 1985, so its a "couple" of years old now.

My problem is that it looks like its "dirty". Im not sure if its dirt/algae or just wear which causes it.

I took some pictures of the deck the other day, they can be seen on dropbox here : https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x3pfvr1jz91t5nm/QZW7SXHEbt#/

I have tried scrubing it with a stiff brush and different cleaning solutions, but to no luck.

So, does anyone have any idea if this is possible to fix ? I see that Treadmaster has its own paint, but it was hoping i didnt have to do that yet.

Btw, has anyone used the paint ? Is it good, and stays on or does it "come off" after a while ?

Found out i could attach the files to the post aswell, so here they are
View attachment 33853View attachment 33854View attachment 33855View attachment 33856

I had it on my first boat, jet washer brought it up a treat, no problems with lifting etc, it was a different colour/shade when complete

 

[aquaplane]

This pic is after a couple of months on the hard and probably unwashed all winter.



I use the Finest Universal Cleaner Known, oxalic acid. A strong solution slopped about and left to do it's stuff followed by a good scrub with the deck brush shifts loads of green/black muck. Lots of rinsing/scrubbing untill all the muck has gone and it's done. The green eventually comes back but it takes longer than just washing/scrubbing with water.