Vinyl Window Cleaning

[racfish]

I took the snapping vinyl side curtains off. I washed them with mild dish soap and rinsed well. Still the spotting is bad. Any tips on cleaning clear soft vinyl.

[Jerry H]

Check this out it's worth a try.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dZeeE4sEFhQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[G-Man]

If the spots won't come off with dish soap and a little help from a sponge or soft brush, I think you are stuck with them. If you don't think they can get much worse, I'd give 303 Marine & Recreation multi-surface cleaner a shot. It works on most anything and their Aerospace protectant is hands down the best plastic treatment out there, it's pricey, but it works.

[racfish]

When I was working we used a company called Perfect fit Macdonald. they sell all kinds of boat ,car,and airplane products. I will call them tomorrow morn.

[sickbayer]

Steam cleaning does the trick. The clear vinyl and dark color stuff lifts the dirt right out.

[Bodofish]

Sprayaway, it comes from the grocery store. It's good for all windows and any plastic products and lcd monitors of all types.
If that doesn't get the water spots, you can always polish with flitz. One of the few things you can use on soft vinyl that won't leave scratches of swirl marks. Be prepared to go slow and do a small section at a time.

[hewesbob]

My upholstery guy(Mild to Wild in Spokane) used Lemon Pledge on all my plastic last spring. That cleaned them up and removed scratches and water stains, they looked like new again. He also said to never use Windex or anything with ammonia. When we get home in a couple weeks from this fishing trip it will be time for me to lemon pledge them again before heading out on the next trip.

[hewesfisher]

My upholstery guy(Mild to Wild in Spokane) used Lemon Pledge on all my plastic last spring. That cleaned them up and removed scratches and water stains, they looked like new again. He also said to never use Windex or anything with ammonia. When we get home in a couple weeks from this fishing trip it will be time for me to lemon pledge them again before heading out on the next trip.

That's what I do and is recommended in my owner's manual.

[Bodofish]

My upholstery guy(Mild to Wild in Spokane) used Lemon Pledge on all my plastic last spring. That cleaned them up and removed scratches and water stains, they looked like new again. He also said to never use Windex or anything with ammonia. When we get home in a couple weeks from this fishing trip it will be time for me to lemon pledge them again before heading out on the next trip.

Some good, some not so much.
The reason behind not using Windex or other Ammonia based cleaners is they are acid. Acid is bad for the plastic. It's a good thing to keep it off your plastic windows, computer monitors and TV's. Now for Lemon Pledge. What is lemon? Ascorbic Acid, and to be more specific, lemon oil or acidic oil. The reason the windows look so clear is you have a hard time seeing the scratches as the oil fills the small to micro voids. You could get he same effect by wiping them with mineral oil or spraying a little pam on. Why is oil bad? It traps any dust dirt or other airborne debris on the plastic. When the oil dries out and it will, it's glued all that grit on to your soft plastic. The next time you wash the windows you'll be grinding that grit right on the plastic. The only thing I've ever used on the vinyl windows of many, many customers boats and quite a few large yachts is a little non-lemon dish soap followed up by a little Sprayaway using only new baby diapers to wipe and dry. If you have scratches you can deal with them using Flitz. It's the only polishing compound I've used that doesn't make the scratches worse.
Lemon Pledge is not something I'd be using on my plastic windows. Coffee table yes, windows no.

[hewesfisher]

Hmm, interesting info Bodo. Might need to check why it's recommended. The other product I had considered was this one. Good video on Sailrite's website showing how to clean, polish and protect "eisenglass" "strataglass" and all clear vinyl using that system.

[racfish]

Sounds like I need to have some babies so I can have diapers.Oy all that just to clean the plastic.I did the kids thing once. Im getting to old for that.Im going to try some sprayaway. Maybe try some on my belly.

[Bodofish]

Sounds like I need to have some babies so I can have diapers.Oy all that just to clean the plastic.I did the kids thing once. Im getting to old for that.Im going to try some sprayaway. Maybe try some on my belly.

Just a little dish soap in water and finish up with the Sprayaway. It works great on the car windows, the TV, the computer and just about anything plastic. The bit with the new diapers is no grit at all. The come absolutely clean and they absorb a lot of water. If you aren't worried about a few tiny scratches, just make sure you use a very clean towel. It's really all about a mild cleaner and clean tools.

[duffy]

I've had good luck with Meguiars #10 and #17 Mirror Glaze polish and cleaner. Use #17 first to clean and remove fine scratches and then if needed #10 to polish. It's a little labor intensive but does a great job on pretty much any plastics like face shields, aircraft windshields, dash instrument lenses, tail light lenses ect. It's sort of more difficult on floppy surfaces like vinyl window but if you could lay it down on a towel and buff it that should work well. It does polish out small scratches and makes things much clearer plus leaves a slick anti static coating.