Discoloured rub rail

[Almako]

Hi all, has anyone had this discolouration happen to their rub rail before.
625 Cruisecraft explorer

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[scottar]

Cleaned mine with acetone. Effectively just taking the surface off the vinyl. I found some references to it being from a bacteria.

[SUPERDAFF]

Looks exactly like a fuel stain and it appears to be on your starboard side which is where the fuel breather is located. Can result from a full or near-full tank on a hot day/days. Happens when fuel expands. As Mr Scottar says, acetone is your answer, but just do a little section at a time or you will finish with a dirty, greyish smudge mark. Use clean rag. Look under the bowsprit and if you sea 'tea staining' on the nuts and bolts, just give a light spray with phosphoric acid (diluted to around 5 parts water to 1 part phosphoric acid, or buy pre-mixed at that ratio - Bunnings, marine dealerships etc), leave for five minutes then rinse off.

[scottar]

Clean white rag. Not coloured.....ask me how I know. Acid works great on rust stains just don't get it on your trailer gal.

[Almako]

Thanks gents. Not sure it's from fuel the breather is on the port side and there is very little of the staining on the port side.
I tried acetone last night and it wasn't budging but will try again tonight.

Thanks again gents.

[Noelm]

Pink stains of white plastic/vinyl is very common, I have also heard about the bacteria thing, but not sure on that.

[Almako]

Yeah its odd. I took another look at it this morning. The whole port side if fine, starboard is caked in it. I'll try acetone tonight its bloody ugly thats for sure.
Brought the boat 8 years ago new and finding it's about now that she needs lots of TLC. Funny how the warranty runs out at 7 years :)l
Just need to keep on top of it so it keeps it's value. Can see how quickly it can become a piece of shit though if maintenance and upgrades aren't done. Not even a case of looking after it though that helps, it's just keeping on top of maintenance.

[scottar]

I found I had to keep the rag wet with acetone. As soon as it gets "grippy", wet your rag again.

[Fed]

Google pink mold.

[552Evo]

See how you go with the acetone, should do the trick. Another idea worth a try might be bleach. It's cheap. I use it to clean stains on my boat. Try a small spot first to see how it goes.


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[MyWay]

I found I had to keep the rag wet with acetone. As soon as it gets "grippy", wet your rag again.

I did my also with acetone ,it works for me

[SUPERDAFF]

Thanks gents. Not sure it's from fuel the breather is on the port side and there is very little of the staining on the port side.
I tried acetone last night and it wasn't budging but will try again tonight.

Thanks again gents.

Sorry Almako - bit of brain fade there. Fuel vent is and always has been port side. I was wrr wrrr wwwrroo wwwrrrong!

[shakey55]

Couple of years ago I saw a similar stained gunwale rubber on a boat while away and the next day I saw the owner cleaning it up.

All he did to remove that stain was a nylon scourer. Just saying what I saw.


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[Dignity]

Another thought. Does that side have any trees growing near it. I had a swamp blood gum which would do that especially to my clears.

[catshark]

so after you acetone it, would you follow up with a polish or sealant perhaps, havent seen this pink color before, then again all my previous boats had the older black rubber look, now their using white more today

[scottar]

so after you acetone it, would you follow up with a polish or sealant perhaps, havent seen this pink color before, then again all my previous boats had the older black rubber look, now their using white more today

Haven't had to touch mine. The boats storage has changed though from outdoors with the previous owner to living in a shed. Whether that makes any difference I couldn't say.

[ericcs]

is it possible that side of the boat gets more sun exposure?

[Almako]

Last night got home and went to have a look and amazingly the majority of it has gone. I've done nothing since that little trial with Acetone on about 200mm of it. What I think has happened is the sun has killed the mold.

So boat lives under a tarp, the port side is closest to a hedge and the starboard there is nothing except the house which is about 2m away. The boat has been under a tarp for a few weeks maybe 3 and when I lifted the tarp thats what I found. Very strange it didn't happen on the port side.
I was at Whitworths looking at different cleaning products and the guy mentioned it looked like epoxy overspray but (and especially now) I feel its pink mould. I'm going fishing tomorrow so I'm hoping that the sun will kill off the remainder of it. I'll also hit it with some vinegar before I go. Vinegar is what I've used in the past to kill mould off life jackets so hopefully that will fix it.

The Starboard side gets more sun exposure when the tarp is off.

[Dignity]

Neiter vinegar nor bleach will kill mould only remove it, to kill the spores you need clove oil, you only need about a 5% solution at most,

[BigE]

Like Dignity has said , clove oil and vinegar (not together ) I am amazed at what white vinegar will move and the clove oil will kill any mold spore.

Try white vinegar on ant rusty bolt ( fined the worst one you can fine ) cover in white vinegar solution for about 2 weeks then pressure wash really amazing

good rust stains on FG as well.

[Almako]

huh no worries will get some clove oil