Cleaning Grime of Pontoons

[Dubliquid]

Hi,

Hoping you guys can help. Grime is building up on the pontoons of my Rib. I have tried almost everything to get it off but with no success. No standard household cleaning product seems to work. I have used Mr Muscle, boat cleaning agents, and even methalated spirits. The spirits seem to work to a limited degree but I am worried that it will damage the hypalon. I use the boat for fishing, and it could have something to do with the fish oils, but doubt it. When the pontoons heat up it becomes sticky. The boat is washed down after every trip to sea so it is not a washing issue.

What can I use to clean this nonsense of the boat and to prevent it from forming?

Please see attached images.

[Polwart]

Originally Posted by Dubliquid

Hi,

Hoping you guys can help. Grime is building up on the pontoons of my Rib. I have tried almost everything to get it off but with no success. No standard household cleaning product seems to work. I have used Mr Muscle, boat cleaning agents, and even methalated spirits. The spirits seem to work to a limited degree but I am worried that it will damage the hypalon. I use the boat for fishing, and it could have something to do with the fish oils, but doubt it. When the pontoons heat up it becomes sticky. The boat is washed down after every trip to sea so it is not a washing issue.

What can I use to clean this nonsense of the boat and to prevent it from forming?

Please see attached images.

Hopefully the search tool will help you find it - once you realise that most people in the UK call them "sponsons" or more often simply "tubes" rather than pontoons. I'd search specifically for cleaning PVC, PU or hypalon too (depending on which your boat is made from). The stickiness sounds suspiciously like plasticiser leaching from PVC tubes which is bad news.

If none of that helps search for TFR, Thinners and Toluene and you'll have plenty of reading on tube cleaning!