Cleaning PVC tubes

[ErikaZ]

Hello... I'm Erikas from Lithuania, im new here...

I have a little problem with my RIB. It had been taken from water and not washed, then taked to garage... Now the tubes ar very muddy (dry algae) ...

I tried some cleaners, but nothing helps...

The mud is algae from the wather I think, but it is impossible tu wash it, can be scrubed with somethink, but then the tubes are damaging...

What can You reccomend me to do... some cleaner?... or...




P.S. sorry for my poor english...

[PeterM]

I have always used this ;

http://www.rib-shop.com/product.asp?...PT_ID=7&P_ID=1

on my PVC sib - I think its great & it comes up very well.

I am sure they could send to you - not sure what it may cost ..........

[Tim M]

That's tricky. I bought a hypalon RIB once with damage like this. What exactly have you tried on it? I would try a pressure washer, followed by a green pan scourer thingy, and lots of abrasive paste/cutting compound/jiff. You could also try leaving the boat in the water for a while then taking it out and trying to clean it straight away; I normally find cleaning green crap off the underside of the rear of the tubes easier when the boat has just come out of the water, as opposed to when it has had time to dry.

PS. Whilst RIB Revive/RIB shine/TFR are great for cleaning, I doubt they'll shift this particularly well

[Bam Bam]

Try none scented baby wipes. I know it sounds like I'm having a laugh but they do work on removing ground in dirt, grease, and all sorts of other stuff. I use them on my tubes prior to washing with tube cleaner and my boat still looks like new. Give them a go, you have nothing to loose and they are cheap to buy. It may take you a while though looking at the pictures.

[jonmitch]

Try liquid biological clothes detergent. Make sure its biological!

[Sonar]

Originally Posted by ErikaZ

Hello... I'm Erikas from Lithuania, im new here...

I have a little problem with my RIB. It had been taken from water and not washed, then taked to garage... Now the tubes ar very muddy (dry algae) ...

I tried some cleaners, but nothing helps...

The mud is algae from the wather I think, but it is impossible tu wash it, can be scrubed with somethink, but then the tubes are damaging...

What can You reccomend me to do... some cleaner?... or...




P.S. sorry for my poor english...

I had a similar problem a while ago and I was talking to a person that was doing some alterations on a dry suit for me and they told me to buy and use a product called TOLENE.
it can be bought in any shop that repairs diving neoprene suits.

Worked for me and made the tubes look like new.

It is the same stuff i am told that hyperlon tubes with a bit of adhesive on
are cleaned off with !
Maybe some of the forum members can put me right on that one ..

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Sonar

I had a similar problem a while ago and I was talking to a person that was doing some alterations on a dry suit for me and they told me to buy and use a product called TOLENE.
it can be bought in any shop that repairs diving neoprene suits.

Worked for me and made the tubes look like new.

It is the same stuff i am told that hyperlon tubes with a bit of adhesive on
are cleaned off with !
Maybe some of the forum members can put me right on that one ..

Toluene is indeed used by some people to clean Hypalon tubes - not sure about PVC though. You'll also see some people refer to "thinners" or "gun wash" - by which they mean the stuff paint sprayers use - both of which contain toluene and some similar molecules. I would suggest a quick search here before putting toluene/thinners on PVC though.

[NautiSeacrets]

3M Citrus cleaner is very good too.

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Toluene is indeed used by some people to clean Hypalon tubes - not sure about PVC though. You'll also see some people refer to "thinners" or "gun wash" - by which they mean the stuff paint sprayers use - both of which contain toluene and some similar molecules. I would suggest a quick search here before putting toluene/thinners on PVC though.

Indeed.. toluene on pvc would be quite aggressive ... synthetic thinners or gun wash contains a lot of xylene, which can be just as hard on some plastics

[Sonar]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

Indeed.. toluene on pvc would be quite aggressive ... synthetic thinners or gun wash contains a lot of xylene, which can be just as hard on some plastics

Sorry I just assumed it was Hyperlon..

[ErikaZ]

hi... so i cleaned the tubes... with - spirit vinegar (for cooking), wasnt so easy, but got all the mud off...

[Solent Ribman]

Originally Posted by Tim M

That's tricky. I bought a hypalon RIB once with damage like this. What exactly have you tried on it? I would try a pressure washer, followed by a green pan scourer thingy, and lots of abrasive paste/cutting compound/jiff. You could also try leaving the boat in the water for a while then taking it out and trying to clean it straight away; I normally find cleaning green crap off the underside of the rear of the tubes easier when the boat has just come out of the water, as opposed to when it has had time to dry.

PS. Whilst RIB Revive/RIB shine/TFR are great for cleaning, I doubt they'll shift this particularly well

Would you mean something like `T-cut' or is that too severe?