Cleaning Starboard

[dan365]

Help! The bilge cover, the foot rests beneath the helm, and dinette are made of starboard - they are becoming very soiled after only a months use. I have tried 409, Lysol Cleaner, and Simple Green. Nothing removes the grime.

What is the secret?

Thanks,

Dan

[C-Bill]

Try Clorox.

[Pat Anderson]

"Soft Scrub" by the makers of Comet (I think). Works great. We have tried many products, too, but this worked the easiest.

[Sea Wolf]

Not to detract from this discussion or to devalue anyone's boat, but this brings up a chance to illuminate a point I made somewhere here in the past few weeks.

This is one of those changes they've made in the boat over the years that hasn't always been totally for the best. It's easier to make these covers, floorpieces, and tabletops out of HDPET plastic ( "Starboard"), but the stuff doesn't work as well as the hard plastic covered simulated teak Decaguard that was used in the older boats.

The original new style ("87 on until ???) Cruisers have the wood grain matched as the space related pieces were machined out of the same sheet of marine plywood/plastic overlay Decaguard laminate. In my experience, the hard plastic Decaguard does not stain, period. The Starboard is the same thing that cutting boards are made of, and, being pourous, absorbs some of the things that come in contact with it.

One fix-it option would be to laminate a layer of off-white Formica to these panels to have a non-absorbing surface. For a second idea, after they've been cleaned, try treating them with a plastic preservative or plasticizer which might fill up the pore space in the plastic and render it less absorbent.

HYH, and thanks for your patience! Joe.

[ffheap]

Sea Wolf,
Where can you buy Decaguard Laminate. When you put Decaguard in web search, you get bug control stuff.
Fred Heap
Man From Nantucket

[CAVU]

Fred,
Try Decraguard Plywood.

[jflug]

Fred - I have a swimstep built out of starboard, and a diluted bleach spray always cleans it right up. I'm pretty sure though, that you can't get anything to laminate or adhere to starboard.

After lots of searching, I bought some decraguard plywood to rebuild my at bulkhead through Healdsburg Lumber (707-431-9663) in N. California(at about $150/sheet). It's now sold through Olympic Plywood (http://www.simpson-plywood.com/industrial/marine_decraguard.php). You should be able to find a closer dealer through the website. Decraguard wears so well because it's basically a laminate product, like formica.

Jim F

[Salty Dog]

Just winterized the boat last weekend, and I found that WestMarine brand Non Skid Deck Cleaner cleaned up floor areas under the dinette and helm rather nicely. Quart of it is $7.99 at your local West Marine. Squirt it directly on the area, then scrub it with a wet scrub brush. Took all the soiling out and returned it back to a nice white. Worked on the back door too.

[Byrdman]

Was thinking of getting my floors, back cockpit area, and about a 4" high "kick plate/guard" sprayed with that Rino Guard stuff the next time I have FreeByrd on the trailer... It is great stuff in the back of pick-up trucks, stuff does not slide around, and still holds when wet... Have already busted my backside a time or two with a slip indoors my boat when cooking and carrying on a bit...and I must be carefule due to having a crack in it already...particuarly when pulling those boiling Gulf Coast shrimp off the boil. Byrdman

[Sneaks]

Rhino-lining is nice, comes in white, but the quality is totally subject to the operator's experience. It's nice and has great "stiction" when newly sprayed on but within a year it's as slick as anything else when wet. Unfortunately, It too will eventually stain.

Major warning:

Line-X, which I prefer for my truck beds, also comes in colors, has a very fine and consistent quality, dries almost immediately, looks superior to Rhino and keeps it's "stiction" but it's like spraying 60 grade sandpaper on your boat/truck bed. It'll do a number on your knees if you crawl around on it much after a few brewskys. Talk about nonskid!

[Byrdman]

Jenny B/Don: Thanks for the input.. I will look into the Line-X product here. Yes, gravity always wins.... ...and stupid hurts too. This is the 1st boat I have owned with enough room in it to fall down. It took me my second trip to be sure and put a towel or two on the floors.... to catch the spills from cooking of course.. grin. The floor boards under the dinette and forward port side are real slick... and, I had a guest with wet feet get hung between the slanted windshield, portable table, and the dinette due to having wet feet from just coming in from a dip in the lake to beat the summer heat. I felt worse than she did. I keep those non-slip placemats on those areas now, but under speed with the door/windows/hatch open, they blow around. Thanks for the input and I hope I can find the Line-X local. Byrdman

[Sneaks]

Actually, Byrdman, I wouldn't use either one. Before I took that radical a step I would try the non-skid applique strips meant for a bathtub or shower first. Line-X and Rhino is just too "permanent" for me.

Good luck if you do go that route, take lots of pictures.

Don

[C Spray]

I agree with Sneaks, Rhino is much easier on the knees than LineX but it seems to change color. Also Rhino has a warranty but it is through your installer and they should go out of business the warranty is worth nothing. LineX has a nationwide warranty and the color seems to hold better but if you plan on being down on your prayer bones very much it is very hard on them. I have had both of them. I would also go along with some of the strips that you can apply to those areas that you have problems with or maybe you should go with the square rubber tiles that fasten together. I know someone will help out with the name of them. A lot of the other people have them in their boats already.

[TyBoo]

Maybe old Red Fox will see this and tell you about what he did. He used some DIY bed liner, applied with a roller, and still loves it after several years. It not only provides the non-skid, but I think he says it is a great sound deadener, too. You can go to his Sound Dreams site (linked from our front page) and ask him about it. Remember, though, that stuff is about as permanent as you can get - so be sure!

As for the adhesive non-skid, go to an industrial store and see what they might have. At the mill, we get the stuff is 6" x 3' sheets and use it all over the place. Even outside. It is pretty permanent, too. It sticks well and keeps its sandpaper texture.

As for the Starboard cleaner - FreighterGazer might just be a hero! A lot of people have struggled with that, including me on my previous boat (don't have any Starboard on the new boat). I figured for sure that either Barkeeper's Friend or acetone would clean the stuff, but nope.

That snap-together mat is called Dri-Deck, or something like that.

[Salty Dog]

I probably should have prefaced my earlier response with the fact that I bought the boat brand new this year, so it didn't have years of soiling to undo and I believe the stuff on there is Starboard. I did take the boat down to the Ohio River in mid and late October and tracked a ton of mud/dirt all over inside it. Had some serious flooding down there from the remnants of one of the hurricanes that dumped a bunch of rain on southern Ohio, and it was a mess. Didn't bother to clean it all up after each trip as I knew I was returning the next weekend and it would get all dirty again, so there were a few weeks worth of dirt there to be cleaned off.

Hope it works for everybody else.