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Best cleaner for my bennington

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Rickherman

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What is the best overall cleaner for my bennington pontoon? Need something that takes the bugs off the cushion and the crime off as well.
 
I use 303 products and they work great. I have 2 bottles, the "carpet/upholstery cleaner", and the "protectant".   The cleaner works beautifully to take off bugs, food, lotions, and overall dirt. Then I spray it down with the protectant afterwards. Last season was my first full season on my boat and it still looks "showroom new"- GREAT STUFF!!!  Good luck!!!
 
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My dealer said to use Mean Green on the seats and rails.  I use Zep orange degreaser on everything--best stuff ever experienced.  Use Zep with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, and you probably cannot do better. 

Another cleaner of last resort is Awesome cleaner--from Dollar General @ $1 per spray bottle.  It's also great stuff, and our RV store buys it by the case to remove black streaks off aluminum RV's.

I did buy a bottle of StarBrite bug and spider remover--with enzymes.  Now, we'll see if it's got what it takes to get the spider dropping pinhead stains off my ivory vinyl.
 
I finally got around to detailing my boat this weekend.

I used this on all of the seating, helm and even my stern swim platform:   http://www.amazon.com/303-Products-30570-Fabric-Cleaner/dp/B0002KKHSS/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1402927529&sr=8-6&keywords=303+aerospace+cleaner.  I diluted it about 10:1 (can do up to 30:1) and I changed the bucket out 3 times because of how dirty the water was (I just scrubed with a hand towel) which suprised me because the seats really didn't look dirty.  It even took off all of the mildew areas on top of the seat backs where people generally place their arms.  I found it really doesn't do it's thing until after it's been on for a few minutes.  Amazing how bright the seats are now.  I then used the 303 protectant afterwards of course.

For my carpet I bought this:  http://www.walmart.com/ip/11027231?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227000000000&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=41833582510&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=19880599990&veh=sem

I used two full cans plus just a little of the third can I bought locally.  I did small sections at a time and used a large brush (like a tire brush) to scrub it into the carpeting.  That's the key part of this.  You let it dry then vacuum it up.  Was hard work but man oh man does it ever look good and has a nice scent to it as well.  It actually did a better job than last year when I rented a steam cleaner!  I did use this on the stained areas of the carpet first before I used the Resolve:   http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1420173&KPID=1190195&pla=pla_1190195.  It is by far the best at removing stains on carpeting.  I have been using it for years now.  I could be a spokesperson for them it works that well.  Nothing is better....nothing.

I used this on the outer pannels:  https://www.turtlewax.com/products/ice-premium-car-care.  The Turtle Wax Ice Wash and Wax.  It's biodegradable so no big deal with it getting in the water.  It took off the dirty streaks on my pannels and left a nice shine.  While it was still wet I put this on:  http://www.eagleone.com.au/wax-as-u-dry. 

Needless to say my 2005 Bennington looks showroom condition.  I really wish I would have taken before and after pics/video of the interior...especially the carpet because it really did come out great.  My wife came down to look at it afterwards and was equally amazed.

My motto is 'a clean boat makes a happy boat owner.'  And yes....I ended up making time to actually take it out for a cruise.  :)
 
Am I right in thinking that for the bimini and the mooring cover I just need to spray the 303 is a cross pattern for both?  Is the idea to jus saturate the fabric and let it dry?  How do I know if I need to dilute the solution or not?
 
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Hopefully someone else will chime in but...we recently did this so this was our experience:

We spread out the mooring cover, bimini and bimini boot exposing exteriors of each. We bought an inexpensive sprayer from the hardware store, used a funnel to pour the 303 Fabric Protector (undiluted) in the bottle (pouring it in creates soap type bubbles so watch the quantity so not to bubble out and waste-it's expensive!). Spray the canvas as thoroughly as possible, every square inch. (It creates little puddles in the creases so we considered taking a sponge mop to really spread the liquid spray residue more but decided not to because it conjured up a type of 'lather'; it may have been a good idea in the long run but we opted not to, maybe someone add their opinion for the next time!. Instead, we just picked up the canvas and moved it around to disperse the 303). We used an entire gallon on one side only of the three canvases (we actually went through them once and with a little left over went back and sprayed where we thought it may need more, especially seams). Yes, let it dry. The bottle says a whole day but like other's who have posted ours was dry in couple/few hours.

It's amazing how it repels the rain after application! In our marina you can just see the mooring covers that are totally soaking in the rain, while ours lets it just run right off in beads! It's an awesome product.

I'd be interested if anyone did both sides of the canvas? We did not but I bought an extra 16 oz bottle to spray seams or places that I may have missed or wear out faster along the way.

PS: we picked a sunny day (as suggested). It was only slightly windy so we also wore a mask so not to inhale any. The directions also say to wash off your skin right away.

Hope this helped a little anyways : )
 
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Thanks very much for this.  The videos on the website and the instructions on the bottle are not as clear as I needed them to be =).  Looks like I need to buy more protectant.
 
You're so welcome!
 
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The best thing I have found is "Yacht Brite Serious Marine Cleaner"  West Marine carries it. will get anything off the boat or seats, just spray it on and wipe it off. I keep a bottle on the boat
 
Bama Kat said:
The best thing I have found is "Yacht Brite Serious Marine Cleaner"  West Marine carries it. will get anything off the boat or seats, just spray it on and wipe it off. I keep a bottle on the boat
Click to expand...

Will it remove those 'dirt stains' on the outside pannels of my boat?  The ones that are a result of rain water running off of a dirty cover and then running on to those pannels but I cannot get them to come out with the biodegradable soap I used over the weekend.
 
Keith, have you tried the black mark cleaner they make for RV's, same thing, it just comes from water running from the roof of the RV. Should be able to get it at Wally World or a camper place. I have never stored any of my boats outside so not sure.
 
303 vinyl cleaner, 303 protectant and for serious stains i.e. Spider poop mean green that's all you need! FYI Mean Green is not Simple Green dont confuse them.
 
I really like, and use, Turtle Wax ICE products on my car and truck. They make an Interior Cleaner and Protectant, which leaves no greasy residue etc. Any reason to not use this product on my seats, 2017 22' SSRX.
 
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