# sticky pvc raft



## Ezcruzr (Feb 27, 2008)

Ive got a PVC raft that has served me well over the years,however, it has developed a problem with the stern and bow. It has become sticky and collets a lot of dirt, foot prints and anything else that touches it. I clean it and apply 303 but to no avail. It is still sticky. I was wondering if anybody else has encountered this problem and what you might do to remedy this situation? Thanks for any help or ideas.


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## 2kanzam (Aug 1, 2012)

I've heard of this issue with some cheap PVC boats and late 90's (I think?) achilles boats....I got the impression that it was a problem typical of early pvc materials.

I *believe* it comes from UV exposure and I *doubt* anything can be done about it. I did hear one guy was told by a manufacturer that the sol'n was to clean the material with a solvent and repaint the boat...so it's unlikely that it's worth saving if this is the only fix.

...it's probably on it's way out.


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## davecosnowboarder (Apr 25, 2007)

My boat was replaced due to this issue. Manufacturer called it PVC mitigation and gave me a new boat. Is yours red?


Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz


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## captishmael (Feb 8, 2008)

I had a similar problem with a PVC boat that I had cleaned with Wesley's Bleche White, After a couple of years of this cleaning the fabric started to get gummy, sticky and 2 years or so later the seams started coming apart, I had always assumed it was the harsh and inappropriate cleaner that caused my problem, maybe it was the other PVC issues mentioned above. FYI, I bought the boat new in 2000 so it was probably made in 1999. It gave up the ghost in 2010. The fabric started getting sticky in 2008 or so.


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## Ezcruzr (Feb 27, 2008)

I guess cheap PVC comes in multi colors. The boat I have is grey. It would also seem that I need to start thinking about checking out new boats. Thanks for the input.


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## geobucket (Oct 16, 2009)

I believe I read somewhere (Aire website?) that 303 should only be used once per year on PVC. May not be the problem, but may not be helping to use it more often.


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