Products for Protecting a PVC Boat

[kestrel452]

My Zodiac Cadet 350AL is supposed to arrive this Wednesday, and I'm looking for something I can use to protect it from UV/stains/discoloration/etc. So far I've seen two products that might work, but I'd like to know what the SIB collective thinks works the best. I know 303 Aerospace is popular but don't know if it's an effective protectant against anything except UV. The only product I've seen that claims to protect against it all is Aurora Poly Guard. What other products might work more effectively, or is Poly Guard pretty much the best protectant?

[Maximus]

3M do a Rib tube protector which gives decent UV protection and helps build seal agianst grime
I've also been useing Armoral for a few seasons now,and it seems to do a good job too.

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by Maximus

I've also been useing Armoral for a few seasons now,and it seems to do a good job too.

Armoral looks great and works well, but beware of walking on the tubes with wet bare feet after. It's as if they've been covered in soap!

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by Mollers

Armoral looks great and works well, but beware of walking on the tubes with wet bare feet after. It's as if they've been covered in soap!

Not if you've got textured wear patches for standing stand on

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by Maximus

Not if you've got textured wear patches for standing stand on

Nope, only textured feet.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Mollers

Nope, only textured feet.

That 3M ain't half slippy! I nearly came a cropper last season. Worse than the time we used silicone lube to pull wires and got a bit on me tube...

I need your feet Mollers.

[Mollers]

Polymarine Blow-up boat protector. Not slippy. :-)

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by willk

I need your feet Mollers.

I'm only counting 5 toes/foot there & where's the webbing?

[cgoing]

Never ever ever ever use armor all or any other product containing petroleum or silicone. It will pre maturely breakdown the material and make it almost impossible to get any patch to ever stick to it.
303 aerospace is one of the best products for UV protection and it makes the tubes much easier to clean. Not had any luck with the aurora products. The poly marine products seem to work well also.

Cheers

[Ronaldj]

There are a couple of things you can use.
You can use the Marine version of 303 Aerospace Protectant.
It works very well.
I'm in the southeast U.S. And UV rays are a real issue here
We are not as bad as the Caribbean , but it's close.
I put it on after every cleaning.
The other thing you can use are Chaps.
They are like covers for your tubes.
They also work well.

Of course you can not leave a PVC boat out in the sun uncovered for any length of time.
I would also not leave it sitting in the water either for any length of time

[Binty_Bexter]

I used something like Armoral containing UV block and silicone. Bad decision on my part!! Wearing flip-flops, I trod on the newly treated tube to enter the boat from my dock and my foot slipped off the tube and into the bottom of the boat, some 3 - 4 ft below the level of my dock. Left foot remained on the dock, right foot in bottom of boat. Outcome: badly bruised and scraped foot and a damaged cruciate ligament and much pain - which is still sore (8 weeks later).
I live on a fairly remote island in the Bahamas with minimal basic medical care (read: zero!) so must wait until I visit the UK in a few weeks to get my private medical insurance to sort me out.

Prior to the slip, I used some cleaning stuff I bought from a company in Florida, specially formulated for cleaning ribs, which was very good at cleaning the tubes (Zodiac 650 Pro Open - pvc - c. 2003).

As a last resort, the tubes can be re-painted if they look too discoloured.