How to Prevent Marine Vinyl Staining
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Boat seats made from marine vinyl are generally built-in and replacement is expensive, even for the do-it-yourselfer. Don’t let stains and other environmental factors ruin and degrade your vinyl upholstery. There are simple and straightforward ways to keep your boat seats clean and protected and looking like new season after season. Keep reading to learn about vinyl staining, how it happens and how to prevent it. Plus, we'll discuss the best products for cleaning marine vinyl and recommend our top vinyl upholstery brands that deliver the performance and longevity your boat deserves.
Quick Tips to Prevent Vinyl Staining
- Clean up spills immediately. Wipe down your seats after every use.
- Protect your seats with a solution-dyed fabric cover. Only cover the seats when clean and dry.
- Don’t drape wet towels or swimsuits over your seats to dry.
- Don’t apply sunscreen on the boat. Give the cream or spray time to soak into your skin before sitting on vinyl.
- Clean your vinyl seats with a nonabrasive sponge and only a recommended boat cleaner.
We’ll expand on these points in more detail below. We’ll also give you our expert recommendations for the best vinyl seating brands, best solution-dyed cover fabrics, and the marine cleaning products tested and approved for marine vinyl seating. Keep reading to learn how to take care of your vinyl seats and get the most mileage out of your vinyl.
Why Choose Marine Vinyl for Upholstery
Marine vinyl is a great product that has a variety of uses both within and outside the boating world. It is durable, colorfast, easy to clean and waterproof. It can feel like leather without the issues of real leather. For these reasons, it is the premier choice for pontoon, speedboat and yacht exterior seating. But like any fabric, it also has some negatives. Some of the biggest complaints are that vinyl can get sticky, it’s hot in the sun and it does not look as comfortable as your living room sofa. A faux leather fabric like Ultraleather® helps with some of these concerns, but it is expensive and you must use the Ultraleather Outdoor fabric collections or the fabric will fail.
All that said, Sailrite® still recommends vinyl upholstery over woven upholstery fabrics for marine exterior cushions and seating. Vinyl is by far the smartest option, and the fabric’s strong advantages far outweigh the minor inconveniences associated with vinyl fabric.
Common Causes of Vinyl Staining
Spills happen. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself on the water. Food and drinks are popular items on pontoons and powerboats. If something spills, wipe it up immediately with a clean, dry towel, soft cloth or napkin. Most sauces clean up easily with a mild soap and water solution. Time is of the essence when cleaning sticky liquids like barbecue sauce and chocolate sauce, and dark liquids like red wine.
Then there are tougher stains like oils (including suntan lotion) and pen marks. These are harder to get out. Rubbing alcohol or mineral spirits can lighten pen marks and oils, but the marks might not fully disappear. The most important thing is not to use household cleaners like degreasers, undiluted bleach, Goo Gone or a Magic Eraser. These harsh chemicals and abrasive products will do more harm than good. They strip away the vinyl’s protective top coating, which can never be reapplied. If the top coat is stripped away the plasticizers will degrade. This is what causes vinyl to get stiff and crack. Once that happens you’ll need to replace the vinyl. If left alone, most stains likely fade over time.
Now let’s talk about another type of staining that might not be on your radar but does a lot of damage to vinyl: tannin staining. Tannins are a group of bitter and astringent compounds found in nature, including leaves, bark, stems and seeds. We have done extensive tannin testing on our marine seating vinyl fabrics. Our results have reinforced industry best practices that boat seats should remain covered during the offseason, especially in autumn when the leaves drop. Any leaves on vinyl or woven fabric surfaces must be removed quickly. Stains should be cleaned with fabric- and vinyl-friendly products only (detailed below in the “Recommended Cleaners & Protectants” section), and then any residual stain should be left to fade in the elements.
How to Solve Vinyl Staining
The best way to prevent vinyl staining is to be proactive. When applying sunscreen, let it fully soak into your skin before climbing aboard and sitting on vinyl seats. Don’t leave anything wet on your seats. If your seats get wet, dry them before leaving the boat. Never drape wet towels, swimwear or life jackets across vinyl seats to dry.
The factory top coating on vinyl upholstery fabric is the best protection for stains, mold and mildew. It also holds the plasticizers in, which keeps the vinyl soft and supple. There are aftermarket coatings but they are never as good as the factory coating since they generally don’t penetrate the material. If your vinyl is new, we don’t recommend applying a topical coating in the first few years of use. If you take care of your vinyl, the factory coating will last longer.
Recommended Cleaners & Protectants
Step 1: Clean. There are two options for cleaners depending on the type of stain. 303® Mold & Mildew Cleaner is the best choice for removing mold and mildew stains. If you need a general cleaning, use 303® Multi-Surface Cleaner or IMAR™ Stamoid™ Marine Vinyl Cleaner instead. Follow the instructions on the product labels carefully, and reapply as needed depending on the intensity of your stains.
Step 2: Protect. After cleaning your marine vinyl with either of the products above, follow up with 303® Aerospace Protectant. This essential product protects against fading, discoloration and vinyl cracking from harmful UV rays. It also repels dust and future stains. Each application lasts for months.
Use these products as needed during boating season. Before storing your vessel for the winter, give your seats a thorough treatment.
What Is Vinyl Pinking?
Vinyl pinking is caused by a strain of bacterium called streptoverticillium reticulum. It is harmless to humans but creates vinyl discoloration. It is often seen when seating is covered wet without proper ventilation. The general rule here is to keep vinyl as clean and dry as possible and cover it when not in use or when rain is imminent. Little can be done to remove a pinking stain although the pinking will fade somewhat in direct sunlight.
If you’d like to learn more about vinyl pinking and how to prevent it, click here to read our blog on the topic.
Choosing the Right Vinyl & Cover Fabrics
The best solution to any form of staining on marine vinyl is to start with a high-quality vinyl with a thick, dense backing. Quality and price generally go hand in hand. This is because the top coatings and thickness of the vinyl layer add up in manufacturing, as does the quality of the backing. Our top three choices for quality vinyl upholstery are Eversoft™, Naugahyde® All American and Morbern® Seabrook. EverSoft has a dense backing that protects the vinyl layer from the foam, which reduces the chances of vinyl pinking.
A final consideration is the color of your vinyl seating. Light colors will always be more susceptible to staining.
Shop Morbern Seabrook
Can a boat cover cause staining? Yes, a poor-quality cover fabric can transfer color to the vinyl beneath. And pinking can result when the cover is not made properly or installed when the seats are wet. We recommend using a solution-dyed cover fabric. Solution-dyed fabrics will not transfer color to your vinyl. It’s worth paying a bit more and investing in a quality fabric that won’t damage your seats.
Our top choice for a quality solution-dyed acrylic is Sattler® Marine Grade. If you prefer polyester fabric for boat covers, SureRite™ is a solution-dyed polyester at an economical price point. Both fabrics are highly water resistant, mold and mildew resistant, breathable, and easy to clean. SureRite has higher abrasion resistance, but Sattler beats SureRite on UV resistance. Whether you choose acrylic or polyester, a solution-dyed cover fabric will protect your boat from stains and other environmental factors and extend the life of your marine vinyl upholstery.
We hope this article has helped you understand more about vinyl staining and how to prevent it. If you have any questions, please post them in the comments section below. Sailrite is your source for quality products, tutorials and free educational blog content for the marine DIY community and beyond.
