Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I believe the previous owner of my boat stored it under pine trees (as evidenced by the occasional pine needle that I still find). The cover does not cover the aluminum skin around the playpen. It has light black streaking that does not come off with soap and water. I'm guessing it could be sap or some sort of residue from the trees. Any suggestions on a cleaner that will remove the residue without screwing up the paint on the skin? Thanks.

Welcome to black streak world. It's not from the pine trees. I think it's mostly from the playpen cover snaps and dirt that drains down. We all get it and it's a pain. You can clean it off with various cleaners, and the dedicated black streak cleaners, IMHO, are a rip off. I use Orange Clean I get at the Dollar Store on a sponge with lots of water to rinse it off. Just spray it on and scrub with a wet sponge. Then I put a good wax on. Others may have a better idea.

Thanks for the heads up on the source of the black streaks. I think I'll try some cleaner that my wife uses called ZAP. It's a household cleaner that is supposed to address mineral deposits as well. If that doesn't work I'll keep trying.

Make sure it is aluminum safe. I use ROLLOFF. It is great on streaks, and cleans vinyl real good
Hard to find so I order mine from AutoGeek. If you have a West Marine they may carry it

meguiars paint cleaner.http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/detail/MEG+A3016
works well an won't harm the finish

doc

oldmn19 wrote:Welcome to black streak world. It's not from the pine trees. I think it's mostly from the playpen cover snaps and dirt that drains down.

Yep..the snaps are chrome plated brass. The dissimilar metals cause the black streaks. I tried everything.

A tip: if it says "Eco Safe" on the label this means it either doesn't work or will actually make the streaks worse.

I use Thetford Black Streak Remover:

http://www.thetford.com/Home/Products/C ... fault.aspx

I use those incredible Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. They do wonders for the rub rail as well with very little effort.

sjc195 wrote:I use those incredible Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. They do wonders for the rub rail as well with very little effort.

Yeah they get black marks off the rub rail better than anything else.

20 years ago I painted my cage black, no more streaks ... like I would care.

badmoonrising wrote:

oldmn19 wrote:Welcome to black streak world. It's not from the pine trees. I think it's mostly from the playpen cover snaps and dirt that drains down.

Yep..the snaps are chrome plated brass. The dissimilar metals cause the black streaks. I tried everything.

A tip: if it says "Eco Safe" on the label this means it either doesn't work or will actually make the streaks worse.

I use Thetford Black Streak Remover:

http://www.thetford.com/Home/Products/C ... fault.aspx

I went ahead and ordered some of this from Amazon. I figure anyone who sees as many free naked women as you do must know something I don't If I don't like that I'll try the Magic Eraser. Thanks guys.

A tip - use it when it's above 50 degrees out, for some reason all black streak removers work better when it's warmer out.

I had some of those when I first purchased our toon. Good ol cleaner wax did the trick. Cheap ( I already have some ) and super easy to use.

LA's Totally Awesome cleaner. I think that's the name of it anyway. Buy it at dollar general Works on everything

I cussed the black steaks all last year. If you store your boat outside, it's gonna happen. They pissed me off enough I added a lean-to on the garage so the boat is covered. It was good motivation to get the addition done. No more scrubbing black streaks.

Well, I used the Thetford Black Streak remover this weekend and for the most part it worked pretty good. It still took a lot of elbow grease to get the panels clean. I have a few places I need to hit again but I was just too damn tired this weekend. I showed my wife the side by side results and she was amazed how dirty the panels had been. I also got some 303 vinyl protector as well as 303 vinyl cleaner. I hope the protector works as well as everyone says. I was not that impressed with the cleaner. I had some old mildew spots in a few places and it "helped" but did not totally remove the stains. Maybe the Mr. Clean Magic eraser will be the ticket?