Help! Save my captains chair!

[ColdFoot]

Hey guys, looking for some advice. My husband and I recently purchased our first boat, a 21' 1988 Steiger Craft. She's a real Beauty, but the captains chair has seen better days. I have tried cleaning it with StarBrite Black Marks cleaner. Its worked amazingly on other parts of the boat, but did nothing for the chair. Is it a sun stain? The passenger chair is in awesome shape, and both are the original chairs. PLEASE HELP! I don't want to buy a new one just because I cant get this one white again! THANK YOU and HAPPY FRIDAY!:D

[tropics]

What kind of material is it?

[dfish28]

Try some graffiti remover in the spray can you can get it at those big orange stores in the paint section and a scotch brite pad, mineral spirits may work as well, we had some chaise lounges covered in grime and the graffiti remover worked out well.
Just don't let it dry do small sections at a time

[ColdFoot]

Its a plastic chair. I was worried about trying anything to harsh, like bleach. I have mineral Oil at home, and will try this afternoon. As for the graffiti cleaner, I will try that next. And by "big orange store" I'm assuming you mean Home Depo, in the most sarcastic way possible. :p Thanks and any more advice is greatly appreciated!

[tropics]

Plastic Try some bath cleaners foaming bubbles, ajax , comit

[dfish28]

That is some tough plastic, don't be scared: and mineral oil is far from mineral spirits- I'd go with the graffiti remover.
Bleach is one of boaters best friends as well. Like that Clorox cleanup in gel type

[cukes]

soft scrub with bleach, cheap and effective, took all the black off my buddies cockpit bolsters, what do you have to lose? two dollars!

[ColdFoot]

I was taught to never use bleach on any part of a boat, but perhaps that's more of a personal opinion then a rule.

[linden nj]

A pressure washer will do the job and good luck with your boat

[Gerry Zagorski]

Hey guys, looking for some advice. My husband and I recently purchased our first boat, a 21' 1988 Steiger Craft. She's a real Beauty, but the captains chair has seen better days. I have tried cleaning it with StarBrite Black Marks cleaner. Its worked amazingly on other parts of the boat, but did nothing for the chair. Is it a sun stain? The passenger chair is in awesome shape, and both are the original chairs. PLEASE HELP! I don't want to buy a new one just because I cant get this one white again! THANK YOU and HAPPY FRIDAY!:D

First thing I have to ask is do you have any sisters :D

All kidding aside, it looks like it might be black mold you are trying to get rid of. Best thing to use on it is bleach which can be found in products like soft scrub or toilet bowl cleaner. That ABC plasctic stuff it tough so I would not worry about ruining it. Just make sure you are careful about overspray. If I were you I would would take the seat off the boat to make sure the stuff you are using does not get anywhere you don't want it.

I would not use bleach on the seat pad though... They sell stuff in most boat stores that will remove mold from it.

[Gerry Zagorski]

I was taught to never use bleach on any part of a boat, but perhaps that's more of a personal opinion then a rule.

If you have stubborn stains on your deck or hull bleach will work wonders. That or liquid pool chorline or toilet bowl cleaner. Works great to get those subborn scum lines off around your water line too. You just need to be careful about not getting it on other things including your boat trailer.

It will strip any wax that you have on so you should rewax the area too.

[Capt. Lou]

Soft scrub w/ bleach elbow grease using a good scrubee pad would be my first choice ! If this fails then try a harsher product ! Not sure how bad the chair may be , the soft scrub always cleaned my chairs like new , however they we're relatively in good shape from onset .

[ColdFoot]

Thank you everyone! I'll post a reply with my results!

[HOUND DOG]

You can paint the plastic part with spray made for plastic.

[Suckafish]

I was going to recommend bleach also I use it on my boat also if it's black mold it will turn orange color when bleach is applied so test in a small area if it turns orange then it's mold and bleach is working. Does anyone know if bleach is bad for a boat?? Never heard that one

[Bass_Appeal]

did u try on/off .....or black streak remover ....or mildew stain remover , take it off and use gas alittle gas on a rag maybe , i know with paint and stuff a little gasoline on a rag and the paint with remove ...

[jimmythegreek]

at wally world they have spray bottles and cans of KABOOM w oxy clean, an old timer turned me onto it, works miracles on everything. As stated the bathroom cleaners like this and bleach mixes are ur friend on a boat......good luck

[Mikey topaz]

Mr clean magic erasers sometimes do the trick

[Treebeard63]

Mr clean magic erasers sometimes do the trick

x2! they can do some amazing work on plastic...

[ScowardNJ]

I would just spray the other chair black.

[Sharkyispy]

Go to your local $$$ store and find the product AWESOME in a spray bottle. This stuff cleans everything, let it sit shortly for stubborn stains, use a sponge and rub it in.....used on my old seat covers and they looked like new when I sold the boat...

[ReelNauti]

.....Does anyone know if bleach is bad for a boat?? ....




ummm, we certainly hope not, kinda a staple cleaner on EVERY fishing boat i've ever been on.....

[MrAC1980]

As someone has already said, try a simple power washer. Works on my captains chairs all the time.

[NJ Dave]

In the automotive section at say wall mart looknlnfor a product called bleach white. It used to clean the white walls on car tires.
We used to use that all the time on our boat. It has a bleaching agent as well as a cleaning agent.
Use one of those Mr Clean magic erasers and I'm sure with a little elbow grease it will be white again.
I think the no bleach boat thing was said due to the run off of bleach in the water when rinsing. Other than that we always bleached and washed with palmolive.

[ColdFoot]

I have so far tried 409, fantastic with and without bleach, scrubbing bubbles, Ajax, colorox pure bleach, acetone, black streak remover, and no luck. The bleach did not change the black stain orange, I didn't do anything! I have been told to go buy something called "Flitz" paste, and the hardest bristle brush I can buy, even if it's meant for brass. I have been looking to buy the flitz, but haven't found it, but in the mean time I'm going to try the magic eraser. I am also going to attempt to contact the company who makes the chair for advice. Thanks again everyone!

[stripbait]

barkeeper friends

[ColdFoot]

While changing the fuel-water separator and the filter in the motor, I took alittle gas and tried that on the chair, nothing.

[linden nj]

Did you try the power washer yet?