How to clean a polyurethane helm seat

B

BoatCrazy

Active member
Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2008
RO Number
30843
Messages
2,332
I have a polyurethane helm seat, nothing fancy, just a plain Todd seat. Its heavily stained with black spots. Ive tried bleach and that doesnt work..

Any ideas??? Buying a new one is not an option lol
 
I've had prety good success with Westleys's Bleach white. You know the stuff they sell at auto parts stores for the old white walls? Or, try a Mr. Clean magic Eraser.
 
I use a Magic Eraser, GENTLY, not too much pressure. Really works magic! LOL I follow with some kind of treatment, most commonly Aerospace 303.
 
Instead of water , wet the Magic Eraser with the 303 to save a step- works great.
 
If this is a molded seat, and you can't get the stain out, you can re-paint it. ParaSolInc.Com makes a great spray for vinyl and plastic.
 
Fantastic works well. My owner's manual even specifically recommends it.

Doug
 
The black spots just have to be mildew. Can't imagine what else it c/b. Don't know how you know seats are polyurethane but if they are; bleach shouldn't hurt them. Are we talking cushions here or rigid seats ?
 
Bleach doesnt work. If bleach doesnt work, then fantastic isnt going to work, and the magic eraser isnt going to work.

Im talking rigid seat, no cushions. I know they are polyurethane because thats what I was looking for when I bought them.
 
Wesley'sBleach white isn't chlorine bleach. Magic Erasers aren't either.
 
I understand those products are not bleach, however bleach is a much stronger product then those..
 
How to win friends and influence enemies!!!

First of all, Todd seats are constructed with polyethylene resins and not polyurethane.

Secondly, why bother to ask for cleaning product recommendations when you've dismissed everyone out of hand? Just because you've used bleach and it didn't work, it doesn't necessarily follow that none of the other recommended products won't work, until they're tried.
 
"bleach is a much stronger products than those"

Bleach and magic erasers are completely different products, the fact that one does or doesn't work does not preclude the other one from working. I've had stains that bleach wouldn't touch that have come out with magic erasers in a fraction of a second. I've never used the magic erasers on rigid seats though, only on cushioned seats. Probably won't work, but there's no way of knowing unless you try.

Anyway, sounds like you know nothing's going to work, so it's time for a new seat!
 
Yup, Ernesto is right. Nothing will work. I' wouldn't stop at the seats though, i'd get a whole new boat.
 
The black spots could be spider poop, not mildew. Soak area with a very soapy solution, then wipe/scrub to see if there is any improvement. I would put some liquid soap [Dawn] on a very wet sponge and let the sponge sit on the stain for about half an hour. Rinse well, dry and move on.

Keep towels, etc on clean vinyl to prevent suture staining.
 
the magic eraser did exactly what I thought it was going to do. It ripped and broke into pieces. Its too soft to use on a rigid surface. I was just using common sense..rigid surface + super soft sponge material = falling apart.

Im almost sorry I asked for cleaning help..loosen up guys
 
And the Wessley's Bleach white? Maybe you should lighten up the touch with the Magic Eraser. I can use one to get black marks off my abrasive nonskid without having it fall apart before the job is done.
 
wessleys bleach white didnt do anything. I loosened up on the eraser and it still came apart. The seat is just so rigid compared to most nonskids..I ended up sanding the spots down, and it actually worked. Who wouldve thought that sanding lightly would work????
 
You mean your seat is more rigid than my boat deck????? Yeah, sanding will get dirt off most anything!
 
Must have been one heck of a tough stain. I recently did some work in my bilge and accidentally tracked some epoxy and bilge paint onto my nonskid cockpit. What a mess. I ended up using a water based abrasive and a deck brush and about an hour of hard elbow grease and it all came off. Alot of work but the deck looks like new.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top