Lifelines

[pete faga]

Advice on what cleaner to use on lifelines?

[Steve Laume]

It would help to know what material your lifelines are made of. If they are older vinyl coated wire, then the preferred cleaning method, is to replace them with new wire. You could have brand new, shiny and reliable lifelines for just a couple of hundred dollars.

I never really count on my life lines but it is good to know they will hold if it ever comes down to it, Steve.

[wikakaru]

For the vinyl coated lifelines, I think Mr Clean Magic Erasers work pretty well for the kind of black gunk that accumulates. As Steve said, if you are getting rust stains weeping through the vinyl, it is probably time to replace them. Uncoated stainless or a modern low-stretch synthetic like Dyneema are both options. One problem with uncoated stainless is that the diameter is much smaller than the vinyl coated lifelines they replace, so they are not as nice to grab as the old vinyl coated ones. If you go with a larger diameter stainless to make them easier to grab, they become very stiff, so you should use 7x7 instead of 1x19 wire.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[Chrisa006]

I removed the vinyl cover with a heat gun and knife then cleaned them. It also lets you get a better idea what kind of shape they are in.

[Cathy Monaghan]

Two products that work well at cleaning vinyl-covered lifelines are Fender Cleaner and SoftScrub with Bleach. The fender cleaner you can get at any marine chandlery (Defender, West Marine, etc.). The SoftScrub with Bleach you can get at any supermarket. Wear gloves, use a non-scratching scrubber sponge, and make sure to rinse them thoroughly. Be sure to clean your fenders too.

[sgbernd]

If you like cheap and easy, acetone works well. Use chemical resistant gloves and a clean cotton rag or paper towel. Acetone also does a nice job on fenders, shore power cords, dorade scoops, etc., pretty much anything made of PVC that gets gummy, UV damaged, and dirty. I have a small (700ml) Acetone squeeze spray bottle which is quite useful and doesn't waste as much acetone as dumping it on the rag does.

The bottles are found on Amazon or any industrial supply source and are not expensive. They last about 10 yrs before the Acetone kills them.

-Steve