PVC Dinghy Restoring

[CaptKermie]

I have this problem with My 9'9" inflatable PVC Titan dinghy (airfloor/airkeel). There appears to be a very sticky gluey residue forming on the uppermost surfaces of the inflatable tubes (where the sun shine hits it). I thought it might be an accumulation of all the 303 protectant sprays I was using on it to protect it from the UV rays so I tried cleaning it off with some Aurora Marine products like Speed Clean, then Fantastic and even Fantastic w/bleach but to no avail. Is there any special solvent to get this off? And more importantly is there some kind of rubber based paint I can use on the PVC that I can paint over the gooey surfaces with so that I can still sit on the tube edges without my pants sticking to the surface? I have some vague memory of someone mentioning a paint for hypalon surfaces on another thread but I cannot locate it. I would like to get a couple more years service from this dinghy since I have only used it about five seasons of only 3 months durations each at most. It cost a fair dollar and I am not that anxious to spend that amount again so soon. What can I do to save this dink.

[erps]

I had the same problem with our pvc dinghy. Bought some expensive two part paint off the internet that was supposed to protect the material and make it look like new. It looked decent when it was finished, but the paint didn't hold up at all and in short order, it looked worse than the original deteriorating surface.

this was the stuff I used:

[DwayneSpeer]

Sounds like the same kind of stuff that forms on the tops of fenders left out in the sun for long periods. All that I can tell you for removal is what I've done with my fenders. Scrape it off with a sharp edge (BEING CAREFUL) and finish with Goo Gone. It should be good for some time after that.

OBTW I have a vague memory of someone addressing that issue related to fenders here and someone else giving them some good? advice on how to resolve the issue. Might try a search.

[hellosailor]

"There appears to be a very sticky gluey residue forming on the uppermost surfaces of the inflatable tubes (where the sun shine hits it)."
I would suspect that what you are seeing is uncured plasticizer leeching out of the PVC. That's a chronic problem with PVC from cheap sources, and from what I've heard it is also a bit toxic, so you'd want to clean it off and avoid exposure to it. Acetone would probably strip it right off, as would many other things. The flip side of the problem is that as the plasticizers leech out--the PVC is literally decaying, even with treatments it is going to fall apart. And if the seams have been glued (as opposed to welded) things like ArmorAll can actually make them come unglued even faster.

Time to clean it up and, probably, scrap it while there's some resale value left to it.