Dirty Sponsons - Clean and Protect

[Mr Smiff]

Hello, Hoping for some advice please.

Our rib pretty much lives on the water from end March until October - salt water in the marina.

The sponsons are filthy and I was hoping for some advice about what I can buy to help clean them. And once they are clean, is there something I can put on to protect against UV and weather that wont make things slippery?

I found lots on Google but figured there is no substitute for asking for help from you guys as you’ll have been there, seen that, bought the tee shirt….

If I can find any way to attach a photo, I will. But for info, the dirt is general dirt and also like green mouldy dots.

Thank you for any help you can offer.

[spartacus]

You've got your work cut out there!

You're going to get a few opinions, so here's mine.

Pack of green Scotch Brite pads. Given the ingrained dirt, you might be better giving a soak with diluted TFR (traffic film remover) first. Test small area first. Wear gloves and only let it sit for a few minutes and agitate with soft bristle brush. Rinse off and treat tube sections a portion at a time with Rib Revive. Comes in 1 litre spray bottle and use in conjunction with a green pad, or stiff brush, then rinse thoroughly.

In terms of protecting, 3M make a marine conditioner for vinyl surfaces. At £30 for a 250ml tube it's not cheap. Apply with damp microfibre. Should help reduce UV damage, but regular cleans will keep on top of dirt becoming engrained. Rib Shop make something similar called Rib Conditioner.

The danger with covers is damp and mildew if you're considering that unless well ventilated which isn't practical

[User name]

I've used this "Pink Stuff" to clean up a few boats that looked even worse than yours and it was great. I used it with a wet scrubbing brush and just worked it in and after a little elbow grease it really brought the boat back to life again. I've also tried Cif/Jif or whatever it's called. It was effective, but not as good as the pink one.

I've yet to find a good UV protector that doesn't make the tubes a bit slippery though.



Not a great photo, but you can see the difference.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by User name

I've used this "Pink Stuff" to clean up a few boats that looked even worse than yours and it was great. I used it with a wet scrubbing brush and just worked it in and after a little elbow grease it really brought the boat back to life again. I've also tried Cif/Jif or whatever it's called. It was effective, but not as good as the pink one.

I've yet to find a good UV protector that doesn't make the tubes a bit slippery though.



Not a great photo, but you can see the difference.

That looks a bit like cemco we use to use it to clean fly crap off signal lenses

[User name]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

That looks a bit like cemco we use to use it to clean fly crap off signal lenses

I'm not familiar with Cemco myself but this stuff is a slightly gritty paste and you can buy it pretty much anywhere. They do a liquid version as well but I found it wasn't as good.

[User name]

Found another photo of one that cleaned up well. This boat was in really poor condition but it looked pretty good after a good cleaning.