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Follow these 5 tips to keep your vinyls conditioned and your boat seats looking great longer
One of the best ways to keep a boat’s seats looking new is to keep them covered when not in use. Photo: Lenny Rudow
Who wants to sit on a cracked, ripped boat seat that’s covered in mildew spots? No one! Keeping those seats in tip-top shape will help keep your pride and joy looking like new, and everyone who steps aboard will appreciate the effort. But yes, there is some effort involved – pay heed to these five tips and, in the long run, all that work will pay off.
1. Rinse for the reward.
The number-one thing you can do to maintain vinyl with vitality is to keep it clean. Mold and mildew generally get their start on boat seats when a contaminant of some form gets into the porous surface and gives those frustrating fungi a place to grow. Then, the growth spreads to the materials in the seat itself.
A gentle but thorough washdown at the end of every trip will help keep those pores pristine and ensure the microorganisms stay away. Note: It’s important to never skip this step even if the seats don’t show any visible goop or grime on the surfaces at the end of a day of boating. Things you can’t spot, like sweat, dust, and sunscreen, are all it takes to create an environment conducive to microbe growth.
2. Use a gentle touch.
You need to keep that vinyl clean, but scrubbing vigorously on your boat seats can strip away treatments and protective coatings added by the manufacturer. Most modern marine seats get both antimicrobial and UV-protective treatments, which will help prevent mold and mildew growth and UV deterioration for years. Scrub them away, however, and they’re gone forever.
The best way to clean marine vinyls is with a soft mitt or sponge and gentle boat soap. When spills occur, rinse them away immediately so scrubbing won’t be necessary. And never, ever take a power washer to your boat seats.
3. Careful with the cleaners.
When the first mold or mildew spots show up (and, eventually, they will) you’ll want to scrub them off, but make sure caustic cleaners like bleach don’t get within a mile of the fabrics on your boat seats. Also stay away from cleaners that have a high alcohol content. They’ll take a toll on the vinyl itself, but they’ll take an even bigger toll on the threads used to stitch the vinyl panels together. It’s particularly common to see the threading deteriorate and the panels come apart on seats that have been cleaned with bleach. Using a dedicated vinyl cleaner/protectant is the move or, in the case of tougher spots, use a separate cleaner product first, then apply a dedicated protectant.
It’s common to see the threading deteriorate and the panels come apart on seats that have been cleaned with bleach
This leaning post has become a mold and mildew farm. Most manufacturers don’t recommend using aftermarket products on your boat seats until they begin showing wear and it’s absolutely necessary. After that point, however, these products can significantly extend the vinyl’s lifespan.
4. Cover all the bases.
The best preventive measure you can take to keep those seats looking good and feeling soft and supple for years on end is to keep them covered. The use of covers whenever the seats are not in use will dramatically reduce UV exposure, keep off the rain, and critically, prevent bird droppings from raining down on your boat seats. Those droppings don’t just look icky, they’re acidic and can eat right into the seat’s materials. Covers will also help protect the other materials used in the seat’s construction, like bases, fittings, and staples.
It’s just as important to ensure your seat covers can breathe or are vented for breathability. Otherwise, moisture gets trapped inside and promotes mold and mildew growth. Many modern boat covers are made with microporous materials that will breathe, but some (like vinyl-coated polyester) won’t breathe at all and can actually do more harm than good by trapping the moisture inside.
5. Dry it out.
What if your problem isn’t in the vinyl but in the foam cushioning underneath? Some foams may deteriorate over time, and replacement is the only option. Another issue, however, is saturated seat cushions. Nobody enjoys getting a dose of wet-butt. What’s worse is that mold and mildew can grow in a saturated cushion and then spread to the rest of the seat from the inside out.
While the best way to prevent this issue is to keep the seats covered, it may also be that the cushion had a moisture barrier (sometimes called “silk film” or “slip film”) that’s been damaged. These thin plastic layers are used mostly to make it easier to slide the foam into the vinyl covering, but they do also help prevent the foam from becoming saturated. If yours has failed, you’ll need to remove the foam and dry it out completely. This can take days, but you can speed the process by putting the foam into a plastic contractor’s bag, inserting the hose of a wet-vac, and duct-taping around the bag’s opening to create a seal. After vacuuming out as much water as possible let the foam air out until it’s completely dry, then rewrap it in barrier film and replace it in the vinyl cover.
Tip
When all else fails
Even if you take pains to keep your boat seats in great shape they’ll eventually suffer from weather and wear; like any soft good on a boat, eventually they’ll need replacement. You may, however, be able to buy time.
When mildew dots begin to appear regularly or surface cracking becomes visible, you can usually extend vinyl’s lifespan for a few more seasons by treating it regularly with vinyl restorers and protectants on a monthly basis. Most manufacturers don’t recommend using the stuff right out of the gate, as it can interfere with or remove the antimicrobial and UV protective coatings that were already applied. However, the visible damage tells you that those coatings are already long gone and the end is drawing near. Using a restorer/protectant on a monthly basis can help.
Even when those dots turn into mildew farms, all isn’t lost. Remember how we said you should keep bleach a mile away from boat vinyl? That’s good advice, but it’s also true that nothing removes mold and mildew as effectively. Using the stuff should be considered a last resort, and you need to expect that any cushion you use it on will have to be replaced the very next season. But if you just want to eradicate those awful stains and get one more year out of a seat, have at it.
We boaters are in a never-ending battle to keep our pride and joy prideful and joyful. We want that gelcoat to gleam in a blinding fashion, the metals to remain smooth and corrosion-free, and, yes, we want the seats to look like new, too. These are our boats we’re talking about – setting aside health and family, nothing is more important. And for as long as you can keep that mold and mildew at bay, nothing will be more beautiful, either.