Boat Seats

I am looking at buying a used boat. Went to look at one today and the seats were in rough condition. He assured me they would be easy to clean up. The mildew seemed to be deep into the vinyl. Any suggestions? We didn’t purchase today, but told him we are considering it.
It is a Ranger Reata fish and ski and looks like a decent deal, but definitely needs tlc

Goddard said:

I am looking at buying a used boat. Went to look at one today and the seats were in rough condition. He assured me they would be easy to clean up. The mildew seemed to be deep into the vinyl. Any suggestions? We didn’t purchase today, but told him we are considering it.

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Having a pristine boat is in my rear view mirror. Having a pontoon boat cured me of that. i don’t know what it is about pontoon seats, but they are the worst to get nasty, and a pain to clean. My suggestion would be, if you like the boat, make an offer close to the asking price minus cost of new seats.

Hard to get mildew stains out of vinyl. If it were easy the seller would probably cleaned them himself.

As above, price replacement seats and make an offer accordingly. If you buy it clean them yourself. You might find you can live with them.

the mildew stains originate from under the vinyl and work their way up from underneath. no way to "clean them Up", if you recover them you will have to replace all the foam because the mildew is in it also

Goddard said:

I am looking at buying a used boat. Went to look at one today and the seats were in rough condition. He assured me they would be easy to clean up. The mildew seemed to be deep into the vinyl. Any suggestions? We didn’t purchase today, but told him we are considering it.
It is a Ranger Reata fish and ski and looks like a decent deal, but definitely needs tlc

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That's not going to clean up. Looks like it has already been tried with some bleach.

Does anybody have a ballpark figure on upholstery?

depends on the boat, I had a 21 bow rider runabout done last year and it was 3k

Goddard said:

Does anybody have a ballpark figure on upholstery?

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I did a Master Craft ski boat two years ago. Cap chair, Pass two person bench, rear wraparound 3 person bench, 2 6'x12 side panels and a full engine cover (inboard v8). Just vinyl no frame repair in 2 colors. I removed and installed the interior. 1500.00 from a small shop. Was quoted as much as 3k and as little as a 1k. Make sure you ask "how long will it take". Had one company say 2200 and 4-5 months.

That mildew pictured can be cleaned up pretty well. Not perfect but almost. The key is not to put JUST anything on it. It will take a few days and some sunlight but it will come out pretty well. I have done it on several boat most being all WHITE interior.
Start with a product by Starbright. It's sold at walmart and is for mildew on vinyl. Spray out of the sunlight and wet well with the product ONLY. Come back in an hour or so and do it again. Again in another hour but this time take a kitchen/green scotchbrite spong and soak it with the starbright. Light to med scrub and spray again, wait a few and rinse well with hose. Let dry a day or so.
If still showing then do this: (your pictured seat will most likely need this process) Test a "color" area first. I know whitish colors are no problem but the red might fade.
Mix of Comet with bleach powder and mix it with liquid bleach (i use outdoor bleach) for a "wet" / "paste" type of mixture. Smear it on with a glove really well, pushing on the seat/ massaging it in. Let it sit a day and rinse. Next day smear it again this time let it dry in the sun for a few hours or next day. Rinse and you should be good.
(be careful not to bleach carpet. Wet it well and offten and you should be good)
Let it sit in the sunlight for a few day to dry and it will continue to work. Full affect will take a week after last process. Spot treat any issue after that.

Be very carefull with bleach on marine seating, it will make the nylon stitching brittle and all the sewn seams will start separating in just a few months, if you've ever seen a boat with all the stiches busted and split at the seams. its because of exposure to bleach

Barkeeper's friend does a good job on mildew stains. That, plus using it and sunlight. My last boat, the seats looked like that when I brought her home. After a few years of fishing, you could barely see the mildew stains.

bilgerat said:

Be very carefull with bleach on marine seating, it will make the nylon stitching brittle and all the sewn seams will start separating in just a few months, if you've ever seen a boat with all the stiches busted and split at the seams. its because of exposure to bleach

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This is true. I got sick and tired of trying all the processes to clean the seats and finally bleached the heck out of mine. They were clean, but the above statement started happening. Sold the boat, with full disclosure of seat issue.

IF it were me I'd ask permission to try and clean a seat....wont take long to tell what gonna happen. Altwood mildew stain remover in Walmart marine section works well.....Tile x shower cleaner works well...a magic eraser helps.... Few bucks investment and 15 minutes elbow grease might give me a good idea if what can be saved to your satisfaction and what can not. I've cleaned some pretty nasty looking stains that were not so tough once the right chemicals and some TLC was applied. Just a thought....

For that style of seat, don't bother paying someone to recover - just replace them. They are an off the shelf item that, with few exceptions, bolts on with a standard bolt pattern. Upholstery is highly labor intensive, so a custom 'one off' recover is going to be pricey, and mass produced seats really aren't that costly.

Look at Bassboatseats.com or iboats, to get an idea about price and available styles.

https://www.iboats.com/shop/boat-seats/ski-boat-seats.html

https://www.bassboatseats.com/collections/fish-and-ski-boat-seats

Goddard said:

Does anybody have a ballpark figure on upholstery?

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I have a pontoon boat and taken it to an upholstery shop and was quoted more than buying new seats. Same with a sofa in the house, it is just as much as complete replacement.
I suppose I picked the wrong career?.

DO NOT USE A STRONG BEECH SOLUTION.
Your boat will look great for about 6 months then the vinyl will begin to blister, split and peel like crazy, a disaster.

My wife did a fabulous job cleaning up the mildew on all of the upholstery on our pontoon boat using Magic Eraser.

YIKES: My buddy told me to use 1/3 bleach, 2/3 water. Put in a hand pump sprayer. I didn't think it would work. Yup, it did. rinsed w/plenty of water. Seats look like new again. He has been doing for years and his seats look good.
GUess the key is not to use a lot of bleach solution and to rinse it well.