cleaning ??

[brinky]

What does every body use to clean their tubes with?
I have a blue band and blue rubber which seems to have had blue car polish put on it as when I clean it with sponge and water the blue comes off !!!!

[Bam Bam]

I got a bottle of dedicated RIB cleaner which works wonders but it cost £16 for a 1Ltr bottle. It does however clean loads of grime from the tubes but it conditions them too. I know I'm gonna get ribbed (no pun intended) for this but baby wipes are brill too! Give em a try on a small area first though and see what happens.

[Leo]

First I use lime cleaner (I hope you write it like that ). Then polymarine hypalon cleaner plus protector, works great. Never ever use car polisch. Most of them have silicone in it. You won't be able to glue something ever again!!

[Jonny H]

TFR, Traffic film remover you can get it through the motor trade its rely strong though so you need to water it down, does a good job though

[codprawn]

Here we go again.........


Traffic film remover or TFR from Machine Mart - concentrated not ready mix.

Dilute it 50/50 with water - use a medium stifness scrubbing brush. It works wonders but keep it all wet as it will streak - use lots of water to rinse and wear rubber gloves - it's pretty caustic.

Works wonders - water will turn blue but don't worry. Remember this is NOT meant for regular cleaning - it is to restore your tubes and remove oxidisation. The use Aerospace 303 or Jonson Klear to preserve the tubes.

[fraztiree]

someone told me last week oven cleaner was great for getting tubes clean and getting the colour back .not tried it tho

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by fraztiree

someone told me last week oven cleaner was great for getting tubes clean and getting the colour back .not tried it tho

Quite possibly as TFR is caustic based as are most oven cleaners. Wouldn't fancy spraying it outside though - too easy to get into your eyes!!!

[9D280]

I used the Polymarine stuff on my old SR - worked wonders, but as said above, make sure you rinse it properly before it dries! As already mentioned, bl**dy expensive, but the 500ml spray thing I got did an entire SR4 (including the hypalon foredeck) and I still have half the bottle left.

As for the current boat - once I've finished peeling off the previous paint job I'll need to decide the best course of action...... Remind me to stop buying old RIbs.......

[Heart-trouble]

i tried using the baby wipes, i felt fresh as a daisy!, afterwards i went out to the boat and tried to remove a couple of black marks and tar from the tubes with the wipes (fresh ones, never use the used ones) and it totally works, i was very impressed! thanks bam!

the spray rib cleaner from your local rip off yacht chandler is amazing as well, restores your tubes with no effort.

[tango charlie 8]

Guys i just bought 2 Ribcraft 4.8 rescue boats tubes we dirty as it comes... i was told to use bostik M501 cleaner/thinner...

wow its great but becarful as it us slosh it about it will unstick ya glue.....

[jambo]

I have always used Rib Revive and has always done a good job both for general and subborn stuff.
J