Cleaning Rub Rails

scotty · February 23, 2015, 07:56:00 PM

The rub rails on my boat work well, but they are kind of faded. Does anyone have a suggestion of how to care for them? I was thinking of spraying them with Armor All. What do you think?

KWKloeber · February 23, 2015, 08:07:36 PM

Quote from: scotty on February 23, 2015, 07:56:00 PM
The rub rails on my boat work well, but they are kind of faded. Does anyone have a suggestion of how to care for them? I was thinking of spraying them with Armor All. What do you think?

Scotty,

I have spruced rub rails mine using a mild abrasive cleaner like Collonite fiberglass cleaner or SoftScrub, and a better protectant than Armor Al, is 303 aerospace Protectant, which is a UV blocker (also good for fiberglass topsides and deck (wouldn't use on non-skid.)

JTSO, others' mileage may vary

Ken K

Clay Greene · February 23, 2015, 08:09:01 PM

I used Barkeeper's Friend to get our rub rails clean followed by Starbrite Cleaner/Wax to keep them shiny and to repel dirt.

Stu Jackson · February 24, 2015, 09:08:53 AM

Any of those cleaners followed by real wax: Collinite Fleetwax.

Ron Hill · February 24, 2015, 03:27:29 PM

Scotty : You can also try any of the cleaner/waxes. Tough spots are cleaned with some laquer thinner.

You might also try one of those "magic cleaner pads"

a few thoughts

mtullier · February 24, 2015, 07:07:33 PM

Acetone works well. Cleaned mine about 5 years ago and still look good.

scotty · February 24, 2015, 07:40:07 PM

Thanks, Guys. I got some Bartender's Friend. Wow, the stuff worked great. I had some teflon boat polish, so I used that. I thought it would be a good match for the rubber material of the rail. They look terrific. So now, at the end of 6 days of work the boat is ready to splash tomorrow.

I buffed out the topsides with 3M FinesseIt. I didn't use the rubbing compound because the hull was in pretty good shape. I then applied Carrumba wax (spelling??-Little joke). The hull is like a mirror. On the bottom I have two coats of Micron 666 (Hell of a deal) (OK, it's only Micron 66 - I guess it's not so Damned good), with extra at the waterline and leading edges. I fixed some broken spots on the two vinyl stripes, polished the strut, shaft and the prop. Sooooo Prettttttyyy. Actually when I say "I", you should think of my three adult sons doing all the heavy stuff.

Oh yes, I also rewired my electric horn. Yes, you heard me correctly, an electric horn. When I beep, everybody listens. I mounted the horn on my radar pole. I got horn envy when I went under the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog and heard the volume of the bridge (unbelievable), and of the various vessels in the channel. Scared the heck out of me. To borrow from the movie Jaws, "Got to get a bigger horn".

Noah · February 24, 2015, 08:33:53 PM

Go get'em Scotty!
Warning: old guy story...Years ago, as a "young fearless Merchant Marine Capt." I operated a 250 ft. oceanographic research ship in and out of the Golden Gate to Pier 39 several times in the fog... scared the hell out of me, even with the traffic separation scheme overwatch and radar. An AIS transceiver and an auto fog signal, connected to the VHF, with mast-mounted horn, would be standard equip. for me today when sailing those waters. Funny how conservative and risk adverse (and sane) one gets with age.

mregan · February 25, 2015, 04:36:18 AM

Scotty, those of us in the snowy tundra of the Northeast would appreciate it if you didn't mention your splash date. Was checking the boat yesterday in -2 weather. It's frozen solid in it's slip.

scotty · February 26, 2015, 07:19:07 PM

Gee, now I really feel badly. I went out for a sail today. I had to put on a jacket! Saw a whale swimming around. We, my brother and I, sailed into the harbor and tied up to the fuel pier (out of the way) then then went up to the local deli and had a pizza sandwich. Then we went back out sailing. The boat is so gleaming clean that I had my brother take a bunch of pictures. So if your in the cold zone, hang in for a little longer. Your day is coming soon!!