[FreeAgent]

Dampen a rag with some acetone and wipe them clean as new. Use just enough acetone to dampen the rag, no more. Works great for vinyl coated lifelines as well - makes them white as new.

Exactly - that is the way I have always done it. I treat my vinyl rubrail once a year the same way.

 

[Bleemus]

LMGTFY "There are all kinds of*plastics. If a particular*plastic*bears a close enough similarity toacetone, the*acetone will dissolve*or at least affect its surface, softening, smearing or even dissolving the*plastic. Other*plastics, dissimilar to*acetone,*will*remain unaffected by the solvent."

 

[FreeAgent]

LMGTFY "There are all kinds of*plastics. If a particular*plastic*bears a close enough similarity toacetone, the*acetone will dissolve*or at least affect its surface, softening, smearing or even dissolving the*plastic. Other*plastics, dissimilar to*acetone,*will*remain unaffected by the solvent."

Google as much as you wish, but I would take actual hands-on practical experience over a Google search any day!

For lifelines, next time mine need replacing, I think I will go with uncoated 1x19 wire. Had that on racing boat I once owned. S/S or Chromed cowls would also look good, but a bit too expensive for me.

 

[Bleemus]

Well I have ruined a set of dorade cowls with acetone. Must have been a different material. They were more like rubber when new.

 

[hellosailor]

Acetone is a solvent and it MAY melt some plastics, not just cleaning the surface but turning it gummy and partly destroying it. Which is why the little metal cans of "industrial strength" goof off (?) warn that they should not be used on plastics without trying them first.

"My cowls and lifelines get sticky without painting!"
Dirty old secret: Plastics, all flexible plastics, have volatile "plasticizers" in them. If the plastic is not cured properly, if it is not formulated properly, if some cheapass has been trying to cheat on the product? The plasticizer bleeds out sooner rather than later, and the plastic becomes gummy. Solvent cleaning can take off the gum--but more soon bleeds through. The only real solution is TRASH IT and replace it with a better brand name product.
Sorry to be the bearer of bads news, but that's just the way plastic are.

 

[FreeAgent]

The only real solution is TRASH IT and replace it with a better brand name product.
Sorry to be the bearer of bads news, but that's just the way plastic are.

What brand would you recommend as an improvement over Nicro-Fico cowls? Are they made from inferior plastic? Lifelines and tops of fenders are also sticky - I guess they must also be made from inferior materials? :laugher:laugher

However, you are right that plastics like the PVC that many cowls are made from do contain plasticizers that can and do sometimes exude from the surface. Stickiness could also be a sign of incomplete initial polymerization, but this would more likely show up during manufacture or early on in use (BTW, I worked in plastics industry ) In my case, the stickyness is more than likely contamination from aerosols released by the overflying aircraft engines throttling back as they land. Most of the boats on our dock are similarly affected. It even gets on the decks, but there it just washes off.

Not to worry, a good cleaning with acetone soaked rags will make the cowls etc good as new Been doing that for years!

 

[SloopJonB]

They're vinyl, not rubber and the best thing to restore them is MEK - methyl ethyl ketone. It's nasty stuff so use chemical resistant gloves, do it outdoors and stay upwind. Scrub them with a rag dampened with MEK - it will soften them a bit temporarily and even blend in small nicks - then wipe them with Armor All or similar.

If that doesn't make them good enough for you then vinyl paint will be it.

 

[FreeAgent]

They're vinyl, not rubber and the best thing to restore them is MEK - methyl ethyl ketone.

SJB - Most are certainly PVC, but not all. Some Vetus cowls are made from silicone rubber.. We don't know what type OP has.

Interesting that neither MEK nor Acetone are recommended for cleaning PVC items such as windows, siding etc.

TECHNICAL BULLETIN: Use of Harmful Cleaners on PVC (vinyl) Products |

However, the products they recommend just don't work on our cowls & lifelines. So I guess we use those ketones anyway! Acetone & MEK are similar chemically. Neither good if left in contact with PVC. Acetone evaporates quickly and if put on with lightly soaked rag, won't do any harm.

 

[SloopJonB]

SJB - Most are certainly PVC, but not all. Some Vetus cowls are made from silicone rubber.. We don't know what type OP has.

Interesting that neither MEK nor Acetone are recommended for cleaning PVC items such as windows, siding etc.

TECHNICAL BULLETIN: Use of Harmful Cleaners on PVC (vinyl) Products |

However, the products they recommend just don't work on our cowls & lifelines. So I guess we use those ketones anyway! Acetone & MEK are similar chemically. Neither good if left in contact with PVC. Acetone evaporates quickly and if put on with lightly soaked rag, won't do any harm.

I find that MEK is even more volatile than acetone. I'm not surprised it is not recommended by manufacturers because you have to be extremely careful with it - as I said it actually softens vinyl so you need to be quick & careful with it. It sure works on things like cowls, rubrails, winch handle pockets etc. when they are so far gone that nothing else will clean them up.

 

[FreeAgent]

I find that MEK is even more volatile than acetone.

Distant memory from school & working days tells me that the Vapor Pressure of liquids at ambient temperatures provides an indication of their volatility. Higher vapor pressure liquids are more volatile. VP of Acetone at 68F is 180mm; VP of MEK at 68F is 77.5mm. Therefore acetone is quite a bit more volatile than MEK. This assumes pure solvents. Sometimes they are diluted.

For the cleaning we are discussing, we want high volatility so that the solvent evaporates quickly and doesn't attack the PVC, but on the other hand, we want it to stay at surface long enough to be effective. These are actually quite similar solvents, and either one should work. I always have acetone handy, so use that.

 

[hellosailor]

I have no idea what plastic any particular cowl was made from. And that's not the only factor, since the continuing effort to find cheaper sources often leads to just that: cheap inferior suppliers from wherever. ICOM found that out a couple of years ago after massive complaints of microphone coiled cord failures in cockpit-mounted radios that became gooey after extensive UV exposure. ICOM did the right thing, eventually. They replaced them all.

I've seen plenty of "foam rubber" that turned into gooey sludge, literally like tar. Or crumbled into dust. And the whole photography business dumped PVC slide pages 25(30?) years ago, when uncured gooey vinyl chlorides were found to be eating valuable originals in "archival" storage.

Cleaning with high end solvents because the underlying plastic is no good? Hey, if it works for you, enjoy it. NF might have agreed that there was a manufacturing defect, but I don't think they'd hear much after you said "I've been wiping them down with aggressive solvents". You never know unless you contact them. Sometimes, like ICOM, they decide their reputation is worth it.

 

[SloopJonB]

You should only use aggressive solvents as a last resort on sunburned 30 & 40 year old vinyl. If it has a textured, abrasive, stained surface from weathering then do it.

If the alternative is trashing the stuff then MEK will bring it back an amazing amount but it should not be used as a "cleaner" on good but dirty parts.