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Cleaning the headliner

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
I'd like to clean my vinyl headliner and am wondering if there are any products that are currently available that might work to do this.

I searched the archives and saw a thread from 2016 that spoke highly of Attwood's Vinyl Cleaner and Polish. It seemed as though it was somewhat difficult to source even then, and I simply cannot find it now. Attwood's own website is kind of a mess, so I had no luck there.

I don't have the time to replace the headliner right now, and it's not as though it's so bad that I couldn't put up with it for a while. But if I could give it a decent cleaning it would definitely improve the look.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I wonder if a call to a store that carries good quality vinyl covered furnishings might be helpful. I know that the best looking synthetic 'cloth' rivals leather for looks.
I can certify that an attempt to remove a black 'marker' mark on our vinyl headliner has been difficult. I even started to try my old standby acetone one time, and quit as soon as I saw it attack the color in the vinyl headliner. (!)
For general dirt, I find that most any soap and some warm water and several cotton towels does a good job.
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
As mentioned above, do not use acetone as it will bleach out the colour. I learned that lesson the hard way a long time ago trying to remove a tiny bit of varnish. Fortunately, a restoration service was able to match paint to make the repair invisible - - the skill was amazing!
Frank
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
I can certify that an attempt to remove a black 'marker' mark on our vinyl headliner has been difficult. I even started to try my old standby acetone one time, and quit as soon as I saw it attack the color in the vinyl headliner.

Try rubbing alcohol for marker removal, including Sharpies.
 

Slick470

Member III
If the stain is really hard to get out it may mean that the stain is actually coming through from the backside. If water gets into the fuzz and molds up it can work it's way through the vinyl that way. A buddy had a bit of hardware leak onto the headliner and his first clue was a darkening stain appearing in the vinyl headliner beneath.

No I haven't figured out a way to clean it when it does that, but I'm guessing you need to kill, clean, and treat what is going on on the back before any progress is made on the front.

My buddy solved his problem by selling his boat...
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
If the stain is really hard to get out it may mean that the stain is actually coming through from the backside. If water gets into the fuzz and molds up it can work it's way through the vinyl that way. A buddy had a bit of hardware leak onto the headliner and his first clue was a darkening stain appearing in the vinyl headliner beneath.

No I haven't figured out a way to clean it when it does that, but I'm guessing you need to kill, clean, and treat what is going on on the back before any progress is made on the front.

My buddy solved his problem by selling his boat...
Ha!

No, that's not the situation I'm facing. Well, actually there is a part of the headliner in the vee berth that has such a stain, from a previous leak, and I know that one is not cleanable. I'll probably replace the headliner up there with something else if I keep the boat long enough.

I don't have in mind cleaning a particular stain or stains. Rather, I'm talking about just a general dirtiness of the headliner in the main cabin. Like I said, it's not terrible, but I think it's due for some kind of cleaning. Just wondering if anyone has found any products that do a decent job. That Attwood one sounded promising, but it doesn't appear to be available, unfortunately.
 

Slick470

Member III
For just general cleaning I've done ok with the generic stuff they sell at WM. Starbrite vinyl cleaner and polish or something along those lines. I'm sure there are different formulations from that brand, but it did an ok job of taking at least most of the dinge off and brightened things up a bit.

Ours is mottled here and there by the cabin windows, probably caused by window leaks over the years, and my wife hates it. Actually she's not a huge fan of the beige color that Ericson chose to use for the interior in general and wished they'd just gone with white.

I've tried a bunch of stuff in various strengths and some will lighten the stains, but not fully remove them. A few gave me a reminder that I should have more ventilation when they set off the CO detector (oops)...

Last we left the exercise was trying to color match with SEM Products vinyl paint system to see if we could touch up the worst of the sections, but that got put on hold for higher priorities. That stuff comes in spray cans, although for my purposes a brush on option would probably work better, and require less tenting/masking/etc.
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
I've had good luck with Mr Clean Erasers.
Thanks. But maybe you can clarify something for me. Would this product be good for a general overall cleaning of the headliner (which is what I want to do) or more for getting out specific stains or marks? Or perhaps both? I've heard it mentioned but am unfamiliar with it.
 

Bepi

E27 Roxanne
Simple green. Full strength. Rinse well. It did an amazing job on my very dirty zodiac.
 

KS Dave

Dastardly Villain
Blogs Author
I've heard it mentioned but am unfamiliar with it.
If you've not used them before, they're pretty amazing for cleaning a lot of different surfaces. Go buy one of the knock-off brands (Wal*Mart, Target, etc.) for a couple bucks and see how they work before committing to a big box. We use them for all kinds of boat and non-boat cleaning.
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
I think Mr. Clean erasers have bleach in them, so you may want to do a small test in an inconspicuous corner to ensure it doesn't take all the colour out.
Frank
 

Slick470

Member III
Mr Clean magic erasers are melamine foam. Think of them as very gentle wet sandpaper. The foam has teeny tiny sharp edges that clean by removing surface dirt and most likely a tiny amount of the surface. If you go crazy, they can damage the surface you are trying to clean. You have to try pretty hard, but it is possible. They are great for lots of cleaning tasks though.
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
Mr Clean magic erasers are melamine foam. Think of them as very gentle wet sandpaper. The foam has teeny tiny sharp edges that clean by removing surface dirt and most likely a tiny amount of the surface. If you go crazy, they can damage the surface you are trying to clean. You have to try pretty hard, but it is possible. They are great for lots of cleaning tasks though.
Thanks. I'll definitely look into these.

I see that they come in more than one type. There is "original" (2x stronger) and "extra durable" (4x stronger). In light of your caution, might the original one be the best? It's not totally clear to me what the difference is. Maybe just marketing hype?
 
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Slick470

Member III
Alan, they sort of self destruct as you use them and work better when wet. I can only imagine that the extra durable version takes longer to wear out. They look kind of like sponges but they are very much sacrificial.

If they don't work on the headliner, the do a really good job with removing soap scum in the shower, crayon or marker marks on painted walls, and a bit more boat related, getting black marks and other grundge off those vinyl vents and winch handle covers.
 

KS Dave

Dastardly Villain
Blogs Author
Just thought I should report back. I tried the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on my headliner and it actually did a pretty decent job. It’s much cleaner than it was before.
Thanks for the report back! Might mention this to the Admiral; she likes to scrub and wipe things on the boat...when she's not napping (her favorite thing to do on the boat).
 

David Grimm

E38-200
I use clorox wipes. Which by the way have no bleach in them. You do have to put some elbo grease into a stubborn stain though.
 
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