Awesome cleaning stuff for Hypalon

[Stoo]

So I had my Zodiac Hurricane in to the dealer last week for a couple of little fix-ups and while I was there, I asked if there was anything "new" in the cleaning product department. My boat was looking filthy. A lot of the mess was road oil and so on on the underside of the tubes from the amount of trailering I do, as well as oil marks from sitting in the harbour...

He put me on to this stuff... I tried it on the weekend, and voila... a new boat. I sprayed it on, let it sit for a minute, rubbed a bit with paper towel, then hosed it off with a pressure washer (on "wide" and from 5' back!)

Supposedly it's just a strong detergent and is biodegradable, although I wore gloves and avoided inhaling it! It seems to be widely available in auto-supply stores. (Canadian Tire and Walmart have it up here.)

Bear in mind, this is on Hypalon. I have no idea what it would do to PVC tubes and the like, so use it at your own risk!!!

Thanks for the tip Scottie!

[Divertris]

This post requires photos of before / after.

[jyasaki]

Thanks, Stoo.

Hope things are well with you. Looking forward to the summer? (Ours has to be better than last year; The Bay Area sort of went from Spring straight into Fall.)

jky

[cgoing]

I'd recommend taking a very close look at the ingredients. It looks to have a number of ingredients that will have a negative effect on any inflatable in the long run.

[jyasaki]

Reading the MSDS is pretty scary. Though I have no clue what most of it means.

Not a lot of info on the company's website.

jky

[Stoo]

Ya I read the ingredients a week later, but it didn't men anything to me either.

Several weeks have passed though and the tubes still appear to be tubes... as opposed to molten piles of rubbery mess. The dealer assured me that Hypalon was impervious to this stuff... they use it in their life-raft refurb business... but was cautious about suggesting using it on anything else. He didn't say it would hurt PVC etc., he just didn't know.

I should have posted some "before and afters", but honestly, I cleaned 15 years of serious grime off in about an hour... I was finished before I realized it. And the thing looks brand new... almost anyway...

JYK, I am indeed ready for the season. I've been in diving most weekends, but balancing that against more renos at the Tobermory Chateau. It always seems to either too nice, or too crappy to work on the old dump. I have a few Jerry Cans of old gas kicking around and have contemplated putting them to use in the renovations. Combined with my 02 tanks, I could get a lot accomplished in a short while!

[Northern Pike]

Hey Stoo, Hows it goin' eh? :^)
Did you go to the guys on Titan Rd.?
They used to make their own product under the Stryco label.
They gave me a bottle of it when I bought my boat but I've always been afraid to use it. Better dirty than damaged, I say.

[captnjack]

Originally Posted by cgoing

I'd recommend taking a very close look at the ingredients. It looks to have a number of ingredients that will have a negative effect on any inflatable in the long run.

It does?
Its a very strong alkaline degreaser. Not seeing anything incompatible with rubber or PVC in there. Not especially toxic ingested, but will burn the crap out of your eyes or mucous membranes.

[Pikey Dave]

I've used TFR for years with no negative affects, rub it on with a sponge, hose it off & the boats come up like new. Around £25 for 20L it's as cheap as chips, does the job & doesn't eat your boat.

[jyasaki]

We don't have TFR over here.

jky

[Smithyyy]

Any particular brand please? Do you have to be careful with the strong stuff on the tubes? I gather there are "neutral ph" TFR's, do you need to use those or are those tubes happy to take anything!?
Thanks

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

I've used TFR for years with no negative affects, rub it on with a sponge, hose it off & the boats come up like new. Around £25 for 20L it's as cheap as chips, does the job & doesn't eat your boat.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Smithyyy

Any particular brand please? Do you have to be careful with the strong stuff on the tubes? I gather there are "neutral ph" TFR's, do you need to use those or are those tubes happy to take anything!?
Thanks

Any bog standard TFR will do from any automotive supplier, try Partco, Macess. Hypalon is pretty bullet proof until you start chucking organic solvents at it like ketones & acetone

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

We don't have TFR over here.

jky

Are you sure? it's the detergent used in pressure washers & steam cleaners, it might go under another name in the States. It's diluted at about 1:30 in steam cleaners, used neat on tubes it gives great results with minimum effort.

[Smithyyy]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Any bog standard TFR will do from any automotive supplier, try Partco, Macess. Hypalon is pretty bullet proof until you start chucking organic solvents at it like ketones & acetone

Thanks!

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Are you sure? it's the detergent used in pressure washers & steam cleaners, it might go under another name in the States. It's diluted at about 1:30 in steam cleaners, used neat on tubes it gives great results with minimum effort.

I've looked at TFR (including reading ingredients), and have not found an analog here in the US. Not saying it doesn't exist, just that comparing ingredients for many products gets really old really fast.

jky

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

I've looked at TFR (including reading ingredients), and have not found an analog here in the US. Not saying it doesn't exist, just that comparing ingredients for many products gets really old really fast.

jky

This looks like the stuff

[jyasaki]

Thanks, Dave; might have to look into it.

jky

[Stoo]

I am pleased to report that my tubes are still tubes. After reading some of your posts, I went out and scrubbed them all down with some soap and water, just to be on the safe side...

One of my friends asked me if I'd bought a new boat...