Is my interior ruined? 2013 Z1 stains on seats...

[1sicktige]

Not sure if I should panic yet or not but here is the story:

Was in Lake Havasu, AZ this weekend with my 2013 Z1. Had a great time on the water all weekend and things were going great. That's until, I pulled the baot out of the water and took all the towels off the seats. The seats are all completely stained with white spots everywhere. I have no idea what it is? The only thing I can think of is maybe spray on sun tan lotion? Regardless I tried using hot sauce vinyl cleaner and scrubbing the seats, nothing, won't come off.

Has anyone ever seen this? And most importantly, are my seats ruined? Or is there something out there that can take care of this?

Any help would be appreciated!

Picture below is the best I can get. Looks much worse in person than in the picture but you can see what I'm talking about:

[Germaine Marine]

Is the color of the discoloration more light then dark? And if so is the actual panel color originally that light of the two? I ask because I had a boat do this once from leaving it on the water 4-5 days. It was more dirt and oil residue then anything, and regular cleaner wouldnt take it off.. I had to use toothpast to get it off. That boat still has the original interior in it as my buddy owns it and the interior looks perfect.

Might be worth spot trying in an area. Maybe even simple green first......

[Captainkurk72]

I can only imagine your anxiety right now. I freaked when it was my 05 22V and no where near that bad. Mine was from the dye in the towel (spongebob yellow all over my white seats). Only white towels allowed in the boat now. The strongest cleaner I know of is Malco Leather and vinyl cleaner. In concentrate it can be quite effective removing just about anything. It got most of the dye out but the sunlight did the rest and after one summer it was all gone.

If all else fails you can paint it. I am currently restoring a jeep TJ which includes painting the plastic and some vinyl. During the project I used SEM Color Coat and Duplicolor. The Duplicolor was horrible and wouldn't be ever using again. The best place i found to get SEM is amazon. SEM is far more superior product than Duplicor and they will also color match. If you reach this point you can call them and they will direct you to a shop close to you that has the ability to color match. Also be sure to follow the prep instructions to the letter or it won't last and look good. The parts I cheated on I had to redo but the ones I did't look amazing.

https://www.semproducts.com/refinish...oattm-aerosols
https://www.semproducts.com/marine-p...ean/vinyl-prep
http://theinteriorguyllc.com/sites/d...lor_chart1.jpg
http://www.malcoautomotive.com/Leath...r-details.aspx

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Cubby_Z]

Spray sunblock use a propellant that is a plasticizer and is terrible on plastics, Vinyl, and rubber. We don't allow them on our boat. As for how to fix it, I don't know what to tell you. Fanning a heat gun or hot blow dryer over PVC decking can make the stains disappear but I would be a bit nervous to try that on my boat seats...

[smithjd11]

Totally Awesome from the Dollar store and follow up with some 303 protected or whatever you are using and the sun is your best friend a couple of hours in the sun and they should go away.

[whiteflash watersports]

That is sunscreen. Had the same thing happen on our boat to the observer seat. I used hot sauce vinyl cleaner as well and it wont touch it. I used Shurhold serious marine cleaner (this stuff works on everything and is safe on everything - paint fiberglass, glass , vinyl etc.) with a scrub brush and it came right off. Followed with 303.

I love the boat bling hot sauce for the hull but the the boat bling vinyl cleaner leaves much to be desired.

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/shurho...Fc0lgQodOlYKxg

[1sicktige]

Thank you guys for all the replies! Looks like I am not the only one who has gone through this before. Sounds like there are a few good suggestions on here and a few products I need to give a try. I am going to buy some of these products this week and start trying it out. I'll keep everyone posted on progress this coming weekend when I get a chance to scrub these seats. Until then, any other suggestions are still welcomed! Thanks again to everyone in advance.

[25cents]

I used a steam machine. Spray the seats with a cleaner like vinyl sauce, babes seat cleaner and then use a professional steamer with a cloth on the end. Made everything look brand new. I now do this at the beginnning of each season and then use 303 after almost every use.

[jimidemo]

P.S. New rule....no spray sun screen on boat. Why does everyone want to get on the boat then put their lotion on.....

[1sicktige]

Just wanted to post a follow up as promised. Spent the morning cleaning the interior. Thank god it was a success! What I used was I created a mixture of hot sauce vinyl cleaner (3/4 of a spray bottle) and filled the other 1/4 of the spray bottle with 50% water and 50% stain remover that I purchased meant for upholstery. Sprayed it on the seats and scrubbed it really hard with a medium soft brush in a circle motion. This not only removed all the sunscreen stains but also made my seats so clean again I think they are even cleaner now than when I got the boat new from the dealer. They are blinding white in the sun. After cleaning all the seats I conditioned them with hot sauce vinyl conditioner and UV protectant to soften them up. Looks great! Ordered some 303 as it seemed popular on here, will apply it when it arrives. Thanks again to everyone for ideas and suggestions. Glad that came off, and as mentioned above, new rule no more spray sunscreen on the boat! Take it from me, not worth it!

[Cubby_Z]

Glad it worked out for you!

[CodyBarrett]

I have an 08 Z1. Got it last year and the seats were super discolored and hard. I have fixed the harness problem but I think the discoloration is to bad for a fix. What do you guys think?


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[Captainkurk72]

The hardness doesn't sound good but color is not a issue.
I would start with a aggressive vinyl cleaner (not bleach or Magic erasure). I found Malco Leather and vinyl cleaner very good. Spray, undiluted, onto seats and gently brush the seats in a circular pattern. Then rinse with water and repeat if needed. Hopefully this will clean and remove the "hardness" and restore color. If color is still not restored you can use SEM Color Coat and paint them. It sounds crazy but it's made for such a thing and works. You will need SEM Sand Free to prep. I can send you a more detailed write up on how to if you get to that stage. The paint can also be "matched" if can't find a rattle can that matches.
Malco and SEM can be found on Amazon. But Malco is cheapest if buy from their website. Buy the gallon. Later you can dilute 1:10 and use as a daily.
If this doesn't work then looks like you have a very expensive next option and bummer for such a new boat.


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[TigeFamily]

know it sounds crazy....but that "totally awesome LA" stuff from the dollar store really is one of the best cleaners I have found (and I bought a bunch)...and cheapest. and i you KEEP the 303 conditioner on seats, most stuff is gonna come off a lot easier and it wont get too bad to begin with

[Dandy]

know it sounds crazy....but that "totally awesome LA" stuff from the dollar store really is one of the best cleaners I have found (and I bought a bunch)...and cheapest. and i you KEEP the 303 conditioner on seats, most stuff is gonna come off a lot easier and it wont get too bad to begin with

TigeFamily - For all of us that don't know. If the TA/LA product applied straight or is it diluted. I picked some up as this seems to be the go to product for vinyl cleaning on every boat forum. This time of the year there are alot of "cleaning product" threads and all of them list this product.

Not trying to take this off topic as this knowledge may benefit the OP as well.