What's up with my vinyl and how can I prevent it from spreading?
 

The vinyl on my 2001 'bu is beginning to dry out, turning two tone, and cracking even. It is primarily along the seams. It has always been well cared for, except we had to store it outdoors this past winter. It has only become worse over the past 3 or so months. I've sprayed it with 3m vinyl cleaner/restorer.

What can I do to stop it from further spreading? What causes it to change colors? Stale water in the seams? HELP, need advice!

http://i.imgur.com/uKxZ8.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/aSMvk.jpg?1

What cleaners have you used on it?

that vinyl is toast. paint it with duplicolor dash and vinyl. i had some like that in my sport. painted it it looked perfect

Is that brown from tanning oil? Dye? Yikes, my vinyl is toast in many spots on my '99, but it never discolored like that

What color is your boat cover? Both spots you have pics of are areas where the boat cover would come in contact with the interior. The cover gets scorching hot in the sun. Combine that with a cover that no longer repels water well and the cover is letting water seep right thru the seams of the interior. Sun heats the cover, cooking the interior and creating the perfect scenario for mold/mildew growth. Look for several nice days of weather and leave your boat uncovered in a sunny area. The sun will take most of the staining out but it may take quite a few days of sun exposure to do the trick.

@michael Over the years, an array of vinyl protectants. Not one consistently. i.e. 3M, armor all, greased lightning, simple green, all purpose cleaner, and twice I've used magic erasers. I've heard erasers damage vinyl in excess, but I see no way how it could color the discoloration. It was years ago that I used them.

@882001 How well has the duplicolor held up over time on the vinyl? I'm not familiar with that...

@Bhywatt Boat cover is the stock, gray one that I've had since day one. The underside of the cover is rather dingy, and dark. This seems to be the most plausible cause to me. A new boat cover has been on my list for a while, and I believe this solidifies my notion to get one. I know the sun will get mildew off in a few days, but it's also becoming dryer and spreading. I don't know that it will reverse that dark tan color it's taken to. Aside from sun, and boat cover, do you recommend any products or applications I should use to further prevent this? Thank you.

Armor all, simple green, and greased lighting are the reason your vinyl is dried out. Never use chemicals like that on your interior. Also if you use those cleaners and didn't go back with a conditioner/ protector then that along with your conditions caused the mold. Those stains will likely only come out with sun.

The sun will be the only thing that can take the dark tan color out. My VLX is an 08 and it gets the brownish/tan interior spots in areas where the boat cover touches the vinyl if I leave the boat covered in direct sunlight for more than 2 days or so. Take the cover off, one good day in the sun and it goes away. Yours is bad, so it may take up to a week in the sun to get the spots out. What I've found to lessen the effects is once the interior is dry, dark spots have dissipated from sun exposure, I clean the vinyl with LA's totally awesome cleaner cut 1/10 and then apply 303's aerospace protectant liberally. 303 is a true UV blocker and can be found at West Marine or local auto stores. http://303products.com/index.php/303...7j09tatl4avhj3

Always make sure the boat cover is clean even on the underside from mold/mildew. Laundromats have big enough washers that you can take your cover there and wash it if it needs it. Once the cover is dried out, you can apply a waterproofing spray. I use the cheap spray cans from Walmart's camping section about twice a year. 303 makes a water repellant fabric guard that would probably work better and contains UV protection as well. If your threads are worn out on your cover, like you said, it may be time for a new one.

Last thing I do which probably makes the most difference is - every location the boat cover touches the interior, I put WHITE towels down. Its a pain to do it every time I cover the boat, but it makes a world of difference. In the v-drive pad area I use a large white bed sheet double folded over that covers the whole vdrive pad area. This creates a barrier between the cover and the interior and has eliminated 90% of my interior color fade. Hope this helps.

very well. i painted the dash on my jeep over a year ago to a different color and its still perfect.

I had a custom cover made for my last boat and the guy that made it stitched in a different kind of material (similar to a towel) to all of the areas where the cover touched the vinyl. Never had any issues and my boat was stored outside. Might be an additional option to placing the towels - which I imagine is a pain to do each time.

wait is someone suggesting that he should paint his vinyl with duplicolor? Is it just me or does that sound like a terrible idea?

it couldnt possibly look any worse than it does right now. oh and it works well

my choice was to replace 3 cushions or paint (nothing to lose)and i chose paint the vinyl paint is 8 bucks a can. my cushions didnt look as poor as these do

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...t/83A33E45.jpg here are the custions i painted

What is the best stuff to use on a new boat to keep it looking good and clean it if it gets dirty?

Go with your mfrs recommendations for cleaning. I used to use fantastik then I think I heard it was bad - it was allowed on the list when the boat was purchased by the family.

303 is the only protectant that has ever or will ever touch any of my vinyl on anything.