Any Hints on Removing Mildew from Morbern vinyl seats?

[Ortley Guy]

I have a 2018 Bennington with the Morbern vinyl seats. I am surprised that I already have mildew on the front seat backs and and a small amount on the seats.
It is an an area that never stays wet - in fact since I do cover my pontoon after each trip, the seats are in full sun most days. I clean the seats after every trip and the seats are never dirty. The worst mildew is on the top of the seat back. I have no idea why it would be there and disappointed it has shown up soo soon.
I have tried three brands of mildew remover and not one has made any difference to the black spots.
Any suggestions?

 

[BigKahuna]

I have a 2018 Bennington with the Morbern vinyl seats. I am surprised that I already have mildew on the front seat backs and and a small amount on the seats.
It is an an area that never stays wet - in fact since I do cover my pontoon after each trip, the seats are in full sun most days. I clean the seats after every trip and the seats are never dirty. The worst mildew is on the top of the seat back. I have no idea why it would be there and disappointed it has shown up soo soon.
I have tried three brands of mildew remover and not one has made any difference to the black spots.
Any suggestions?

View attachment 31259

Educate me on what is "morbern" vinyl seats. If they are just regular vinyl and NOT Simtex I'll tell you what I used to do for years with our Bennington with regular vinyl seats. I used a product from Walmart called Bathroom cleaner with bleach. 98 cents and the best mildew remover I used in the 12 years we had the boat. I sprayed it on spread it around with a clean rag until the mildew disappeared then rinsed it with another spray bottle of clean water then dried it. Done!!! If you don't get this product just put a little bit of bleach and water in a spray bottle and you basically have the same thing. Some people balk at putting bleach/water on their vinyl and I understand that. But this is a tried and true proven method I have done countless times. My seats were brand new looking when we sold the boat. Let us know how it goes.....

 

[Ortley Guy]

Sometime around 2017 or 2018 Bennington switched to a new vinyl "cloth". It is NOT the traditional vinyl, it is much more fabric like, and has a textured surface.
I am calling it Morbern because that is how it is described in my Bennington Owner's manual. It clearly says "Do not use 409 or Armour-All on vinyl furniture" ---- and avoid all industrial strength cleaners, any cleaners with abrasives, wax and lacquers.
I may resort to diluted bleach, but want to hear from others first.

 

[Vikingstaff]

Sometime around 2017 or 2018 Bennington switched to a new vinyl "cloth". It is NOT the traditional vinyl, it is much more fabric like, and has a textured surface.
I am calling it Morbern because that is how it is described in my Bennington Owner's manual. It clearly says "Do not use 409 or Armour-All on vinyl furniture" ---- and avoid all industrial strength cleaners, any cleaners with abrasives, wax and lacquers.
I may resort to diluted bleach, but want to hear from others first.

That is the Simtex vinyl Ortley. Not sure why it would have been described as Morbern. The change over to the Simtex began in 2017 with most models. It was new then, and the cleaning instructions were a bit more limited than they are now for the Simtex. Below are Simtex cleaning instructions.

 

[BigKahuna]

If it's Simtex disregard my previous post. DO NOT USE BLEACH ON THAT FABRIC!

 

[1trotter]

products containing bleach will damage the stitching over time and cause seams to let go.

 

[Ortley Guy]

That is why I am avoiding bleach. I know from prior experience with other materials that bleach will weaken the stitching.
While the PDF supplied above says use 409 cleaner, my owners manual specifically says do NOT use 409.

 

[Jack M]

You can contact Bennington with the link below ,they can answer your question .
Be sure to include your Hull ID .
The link for Morbern is also below

Submit an Inquiry | Bennington

Use the form on this page to submit an inquiry to the team at Bennington about models, boats, dealerships and more.

www.benningtonmarine.com

Morbern Customer Service - Just in Time, Rush & Custom Orders

Call Morbern Customer Service for just-in-time programs, custom orders, and rush turnarounds. Service is built into every aspect of our operations.

morbern.com

 

[Vikingstaff]

That is why I am avoiding bleach. I know from prior experience with other materials that bleach will weaken the stitching.
While the PDF supplied above says use 409 cleaner, my owners manual specifically says do NOT use 409.

Hmmm…Well, I guess Morbern must be something on some of the boats instead of Simtex at that time. I apologize for sharing incorrect cleaning instructions. So sorry. I hope Jack’s links above lead to answers for you.