Vinyl Repair Again

[Ndawg12]

I have been going around and around with this guy for over a year now. I had a surfboard fly out of my racks some how and put a 1" gash in the top of my rear seatback. I found a guy on CL to repair it for $50. The first time he came out it was late and got dark while he was working so his color matching didn't quite....match! And it started peeling off becasue he didn't properly prep the area!! So he came out a second time, he got it all cleaned up and re-did it but then it started raining so I ended up with a few blotches in his paint where he tried to "feather" in and match the color. This attempt also started to peel. Now I can't get the prick to call me back and fix it again, and frankly I'm not sure I want him to. So I've decided that the gash looks better than his repair so I want to competely remove all his spray paint and just leave it for the time being. The spray spreads over three peices, the rear seatback, engine cover, and starboard hatch probably about 2' square. I can actually rub it real hard with 1 wet finger and it will come off but will take me hours or days to get it all off, I've heard goo gone or goof off would work but I don't want to damage the vinyl or the stitching, any suggestions or experience?

Beware of cheap CL labor and no guarantees!!!

[Michigan boarder]

Last weekend I had a kid that was in a triathalon the day before, where they marked his arms and legs with his 3 digit number with a permanent marker. As he was sitting, it rubbed off his calves onto the seat, and off of his arm onto the armrest. It looked bad, I seriously thought it was stained for good. Scrubbed it with 303, did nothing. Scrubbed it with alcohol, did nothing. My wife said to use her acetone (nail polish remover), and that worked well. It took a while, but it worked. And when done, it felt like the 303 protectant was still there, it did not do anything to the vinyl, and it evaporates quickly so time will tell but I would use it again.

[99response]

DO NOT USE ACETONE on your vinyl! Stuff will melt though it in a hurry.

If you do wash it off really really quickly.

[Michigan boarder]

DO NOT USE ACETONE on your vinyl! Stuff will melt though it in a hurry.

If you do wash it off really really quickly.

Woa, you seem very sure about that. Did you do something similar and have it go wrong? Honestly, on my vinyl (not original) this worked very well. Maybe it depends on the vinyl? I softly scrubbed each spot, about the size of a hand, for at least 10 minutes with acetone, and it took the marker out and left the vinyl looking good.

[99response]

Very very sure about that, for the old timers back on MBO they remember Rutat's test with CC vinyl vs Malibu vinyl using acetone - the Malibu vinyl melted with acetone.

Any of those harsh solvents do no good on vinyl, but acetone is especially nasty on that stuff.

[srab]

I have been going around and around with this guy for over a year now. I had a surfboard fly out of my racks some how and put a 1" gash in the top of my rear seatback. I found a guy on CL to repair it for $50. The first time he came out it was late and got dark while he was working so his color matching didn't quite....match! And it started peeling off becasue he didn't properly prep the area!! So he came out a second time, he got it all cleaned up and re-did it but then it started raining so I ended up with a few blotches in his paint where he tried to "feather" in and match the color. This attempt also started to peel. Now I can't get the prick to call me back and fix it again, and frankly I'm not sure I want him to. So I've decided that the gash looks better than his repair so I want to competely remove all his spray paint and just leave it for the time being. The spray spreads over three peices, the rear seatback, engine cover, and starboard hatch probably about 2' square. I can actually rub it real hard with 1 wet finger and it will come off but will take me hours or days to get it all off, I've heard goo gone or goof off would work but I don't want to damage the vinyl or the stitching, any suggestions or experience?

Beware of cheap CL labor and no guarantees!!!

Hmmm! This doesn't bode well for me!

I managed to get a tear in an almost identical location 2 weeks ago, but mine is close

to an inch in length.

I couldn't get any vinyl repair people to return my calls or emails up at the lake, so

I pulled the seat back and brought it home with me, thinking that, since I live in a

fairly large city, I should be able to locate someone who does reliable work.

I've been calling around to try to get someone to repair it, but the vast majority of

places that I've called say that they won't. They recommend re-upholstering it instead.

They claim that, one repaired, if anyone steps on the repaired area, there is

a good chance that it'll re-tear at the original spot. So, they just don't do repairs.

I finally tracked down a mobile guy that is supposed to come out to the house this

morning to repair the tear. Guess I need to keep my fingers crossed.

What, then, is the concensus on vinyl repairs? Anybody have an opinion on how they

fare long-term?

[obski]

Hmmm! This doesn't bode well for me!

I managed to get a tear in an almost identical location 2 weeks ago, but mine is close

to an inch in length.

I couldn't get any vinyl repair people to return my calls or emails up at the lake, so

I pulled the seat back and brought it home with me, thinking that, since I live in a

fairly large city, I should be able to locate someone who does reliable work.

I've been calling around to try to get someone to repair it, but the vast majority of

places that I've called say that they won't. They recommend re-upholstering it instead.

They claim that, one repaired, if anyone steps on the repaired area, there is

a good chance that it'll re-tear at the original spot. So, they just don't do repairs.

I finally tracked down a mobile guy that is supposed to come out to the house this

morning to repair the tear. Guess I need to keep my fingers crossed.

What, then, is the concensus on vinyl repairs? Anybody have an opinion on how they

fare long-term?

My son threw his kneeboard into the bow of the boat a year or two ago and it punched a good hole into the vinyl. I had it repaired by the local Color Glo guy come to the house for the repair and it literally disappeared. It has held up well since then. If you look really closely at the spot, I can just barely make out that there was a repair. I got referred to him because he was the guy that the local dealers used for their repairs.

One disclaimer for my repair is that it was done on the side of the bow area so it isn't an area that gets stepped on.

[Ndawg12]

Hmmm! This doesn't bode well for me!

I managed to get a tear in an almost identical location 2 weeks ago, but mine is close

to an inch in length.

I couldn't get any vinyl repair people to return my calls or emails up at the lake, so

I pulled the seat back and brought it home with me, thinking that, since I live in a

fairly large city, I should be able to locate someone who does reliable work.

I've been calling around to try to get someone to repair it, but the vast majority of

places that I've called say that they won't. They recommend re-upholstering it instead.

They claim that, one repaired, if anyone steps on the repaired area, there is

a good chance that it'll re-tear at the original spot. So, they just don't do repairs.

I finally tracked down a mobile guy that is supposed to come out to the house this

morning to repair the tear. Guess I need to keep my fingers crossed.

What, then, is the concensus on vinyl repairs? Anybody have an opinion on how they

fare long-term?

Many people on here have had successful repairs done, that's where I got the idea. Just make sure you talk with the guy about any type of guarantee on his work before he touches anything. And make sure it's a nice day, not night time or raining . I think I just got unlucky with a jackleg who doesn't do very good work

Edited July 20, 2010 by Ndawg12

[Ndawg12]

Very very sure about that, for the old timers back on MBO they remember Rutat's test with CC vinyl vs Malibu vinyl using acetone - the Malibu vinyl melted with acetone.

Any of those harsh solvents do no good on vinyl, but acetone is especially nasty on that stuff.

I'm probably even more concerned about using something harsh and it eating away the seam stitching. The previous owner cleaned the interior with bleach or something. All the visible stitches were gone, eaten away. In my rookie year of boat ownership I tried to cry warranty on this to Malibu. They examined it and said a harsh chemical was used which degraded the uv protecting wax which is impregnated in the seam stitch thread. Sucked for me but makes sense. I ran a bead of VLP vinyl repair down each seam and I purchased a whole set of skins for the entire boat and will replace as needed (except the rear seatback which was all ready replaced 1 month before the rip occured ), no blowouts yet.

[srab]

My son threw his kneeboard into the bow of the boat a year or two ago and it punched a good hole into the vinyl. I had it repaired by the local Color Glo guy come to the house for the repair and it literally disappeared. It has held up well since then. If you look really closely at the spot, I can just barely make out that there was a repair. I got referred to him because he was the guy that the local dealers used for their repairs.

One disclaimer for my repair is that it was done on the side of the bow area so it isn't an area that gets stepped on.

Thanks. I did a search on this topic earlier last week and several people recommended Color Glo. Unfortunately, for me, the closest rep is over 50 miles away.

[Michigan boarder]

I'm probably even more concerned about using something harsh and it eating away the seam stitching. The previous owner cleaned the interior with bleach or something. All the visible stitches were gone, eaten away. In my rookie year of boat ownership I tried to cry warranty on this to Malibu. They examined it and said a harsh chemical was used which degraded the uv protecting wax which is impregnated in the seam stitch thread. Sucked for me but makes sense. I ran a bead of VLP vinyl repair down each seam and I purchased a whole set of skins for the entire boat and will replace as needed (except the rear seatback which was all ready replaced 1 month before the rip occured ), no blowouts yet.

Yeah, the stitching always worries me too. This was just on the vinyl surface. I did hand pick the material with the upholsterer when the interior was re-done, and went with some really thick, high quality stuff. I never would have thought acetone would be an issue! Bleach, yes. In fact, I've used some Clorox cleaner on this vinyl is some spot cleaning areas (bird/bug messes), and that seemed to dull the finish. The acetone just didn't hurt it at all. BUT, now that I think of it, I just applied a liberal, fresh coat of 303 a week before. And it felt like the 303 was still on it after using the acetone on it. So, maybe all it did was get on the 303, which kept the acetone from damaging the vinyl. ???

So, back to your original question - I think that Goo Gone stuff has petroleum distillates in it, and I would worry about turning the vinyl yellowish.

Here's a link with some tips....that include not using acetone!

[Ndawg12]

Yeah, the stitching always worries me too. This was just on the vinyl surface. I did hand pick the material with the upholsterer when the interior was re-done, and went with some really thick, high quality stuff. I never would have thought acetone would be an issue! Bleach, yes. In fact, I've used some Clorox cleaner on this vinyl is some spot cleaning areas (bird/bug messes), and that seemed to dull the finish. The acetone just didn't hurt it at all. BUT, now that I think of it, I just applied a liberal, fresh coat of 303 a week before. And it felt like the 303 was still on it after using the acetone on it. So, maybe all it did was get on the 303, which kept the acetone from damaging the vinyl. ???

So, back to your original question - I think that Goo Gone stuff has petroleum distillates in it, and I would worry about turning the vinyl yellowish.

Here's a link with some tips....that include not using acetone!

Thanks for the link MB, now I'm afraid to even put water on the vinyl I suppose the "lick the finger and scrub" trick is gonna hafta work, I should be done by...November or so

[Dave SML VA]

Hmmm! This doesn't bode well for me!

I managed to get a tear in an almost identical location 2 weeks ago, but mine is close

to an inch in length.

I couldn't get any vinyl repair people to return my calls or emails up at the lake, so

I pulled the seat back and brought it home with me, thinking that, since I live in a

fairly large city, I should be able to locate someone who does reliable work.

I've been calling around to try to get someone to repair it, but the vast majority of

places that I've called say that they won't. They recommend re-upholstering it instead.

They claim that, one repaired, if anyone steps on the repaired area, there is

a good chance that it'll re-tear at the original spot. So, they just don't do repairs.

I finally tracked down a mobile guy that is supposed to come out to the house this

morning to repair the tear. Guess I need to keep my fingers crossed.

What, then, is the concensus on vinyl repairs? Anybody have an opinion on how they

fare long-term?

I repaired a cut in my seats with a repair kit I purchased from JC Whitney(search vinyl repair they have 4-5 differnt kits). Looks better than a tear but if you want it back good as new re-upholster the piece. My repair shows up to me but no one else. I also used the repair kit on a 1960 190SL Mercedes show car but the leather was black and you could not tell it was repaired. The tear still bugs me but, I am not ready to pony up for a new skin.

[Ndawg12]

I repaired a cut in my seats with a repair kit I purchased from JC Whitney(search vinyl repair they have 4-5 differnt kits). Looks better than a tear but if you want it back good as new re-upholster the piece. My repair shows up to me but no one else. I also used the repair kit on a 1960 190SL Mercedes show car but the leather was black and you could not tell it was repaired. The tear still bugs me but, I am not ready to pony up for a new skin.

Sweet, they've got the same brand at Autozone, I might try that.

[srab]

So, my guy came out and repaired the cut in the vinyl. $95 (ouch!). It looks about how I

expected: noticeable when I look at it, but from some angles, it's even difficult for me to see.

So, at 24 hours, it's holding up well!