treating marine carpet to repel stains?

[bobbo268]

People do this for their home carpets, just wondering if anyone has done this to their new boat or new carpet to repel stains and help keep the carpet cleaner. I plan on shampooing at the end of every season (or spill) but am wondering if people have tried scotchguard (or similar) on marine carpet.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

Marine carpet typically already has this kind of treatment applied. You can add additiona 3m Scotchguarding as needed.

 

[akowcenuk]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

Marine grade carpet is available in a couple different qualities. There is a glue down marine carpet that is suitable for fishing boats and run abouts. This type of carpet is permanently installed from side to side and bow to stern. There is a snap in marine carpet that is suitable for yachts and larger boats. Snap in carpet is installed in walk ways or living area's and has bound edges to prevent fraying as this carpet is not installed all the way to each side. Glue down carpet is typically low maintenance and can easily be hosed down and scrubbed as needed. Snap in marine carpet is generally a berber type carpet and higher in quality. Even though this type of carpet is marine grade is can still show stains due to the lighter choices in colour options for this type of Carpet. Snap in carpet can be spot cleaned and also have a waterproofing applied after it has been cleaned. Outdoor Fabrics Canada has a large supply of Marine specific waterproofing products available. Waterproofing.

 

[bobbo268]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

i'm getting a tan colored 26oz "luxury" carpet, and having come from pontoons with dark blue (and old) carpet, where stains and spills were just left because it was easier and you couldn't see them anyways, I am looking to add some extra protection from sandy muddy shoes and flopping fish. I never knew (and never saw) scotchgard for carpets in a can (thought it had to be professionaly applied), so i may do that since I found them for 6 bucks a can. I figure if i shampoo at the end of every season, and scotchgard at the beginning, this carpet should outlast the boat.

 

[Gibbles]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

If you want stain restant look into nautolex instead of carpet.

I'm done with carpet, it's to much work to take care of...

 

[bobbo268]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

i guess i'm just partial to carpet. i like to lay on the seats, AND lay on the floor. i got some good 26oz carpet on order so we'll see how it pans out... and i couldn't find any 8ft wide nautolex... but i didn't look too hard.

on the flip side though, isn't vinyl flooring way to slippery for a boat.... i never understood that, i know my kitchen floor is a ***** when wet....

 

[jigngrub]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

on the flip side though, isn't vinyl flooring way to slippery for a boat.... i never understood that, i know my kitchen floor is a ***** when wet....

Nautolex is anything but slippery, it isn't your cushiony shiny smooth kitchen floor vinyl. It has a textured pebble grain finish that's very non slip, you can see it in this pic:


It doesn't have a felt or cushion backing and is kind of thin but very strong with a woven nylon back you can see in this pic:


This pic will give some idea of the scale of the pebble grain:


2 of the best things about the Nautolex that I like the most are the non-slip surface and it's resistance to staining and ease of cleaning.

Even red Alabama clay mud doesn't stain it, but even better than that... dried fish blood doesn't even stain it, which I found pretty amazing when I discovered how easy dried fish blood washed off and didn't stain.

To clean the vinyl I just hose it down and squirt a little Dawn dishwashing detergent on it and mop it, then hit it with the hose again and it looks like new! If someone spills a coke on it while we're out on the water, no worries... just scoop up some lake water in an empty can and rinse it off, or you can even let it dry to a sticky mess and hit it with the hose when you get home and it comes right off.


I nearly went into convulsiona when I read you're putting down a light tan carpet, couple light tan carpet and a 3 yr. old with a box of cherry or grape juice and you've go a disaster on your hands.

When you've had your fill of carpeted decking and the stress and work that goes with it, give the vinyl a try... you'll never go back to carpet after your first vinyl deck.

You can see what it looks like installed in my boat here:
http://forums.iboats.com/boat-resto...ir/97-tracker-pro-deep-v-facelift-509163.html

 

[bobbo268]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

well where do you get it thats 8 feet wide? can't find it anywhere

 

[Gibbles]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

Nautolex is sold 6ft wide, I did find this stuff @ 8ft wide...

Boat Marine Vinyl Flooring 8 5' Wide Pick Length Color | eBay

 

[bobbo268]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

so here's my next question... (lets say i decide to return or craigslist my carpet that will be here tomorrow).... here is a picture of my deck, you can see how its kind of wavy, i've sanded the hell out of it but its still a bit wavy. will the vinyl and glue be thick enough to hide these little waves, or do i need to get the extra heavy duty belt grinder out?

 

[Gibbles]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

not positive but it did hide my floor seam very well.... however my floor was perfectly flat and smooth

I even counter sunk and filled over the top of the rivets with epoxy

before

After (I used storm grey)

 

[Gibbles]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

I also got a perfect smooth surface by using wax paper and something to use as a squeegee to push the epoxy around...
Wax paper held it in place as I squeegeed it perfect, once it cured the wax paper pealed off easily as long as I bought the name brand stuff :lol:

As an alt I heard contact cement can be used on the nautolex type stuff instead of the official stuff (bought in the counter top section of hd (used for formica countertops)).

I used carpet glue, so far it's working great, but I have yet to actually splash the boat...

 

[akowcenuk]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

Nautolex marine vinyl flooring is an awesome product. Great for fishing boat because you just have to hose it down. Here is more info on Nautolex marine vinyl flooring - Nautolex? Marine Vinyl Flooring I can only get it in 72" widths. It provides excellent traction. Resistant to mildew, stains and abrasion from sand or dirt. Its a Heavy duty Vinyl flooring is easy to clean and maintain. Most people that have tried this product have fallen in love with it.
That being said Marine Carpet is fairly easy to keep clean when the problem is dealt with right away.
Good luck with your project.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: treating marine carpet to repel stains?

Actually, the Nautolex comes in 2 sizes... 54" and 72".

If it was my boat build I would buy the 54" and remove the deck pieces and wrap them individually and then install them with exposed rivets in a uniform and symetrical layout/pattern.

To me, the exposed rivets give the job a bold manly look that is attractive when they evenly spaced and in line with eack other.

Using exposed fasteners and individually wrapped sheets also has another benefit, if one sheet should start to rot and get weak you can remove it without having to tear up your whole vinyl job... just remove the one sheet and replace it with a new one and just enough vinyl to cover it instead of having to redo the whole boat.