Malco Leather and Plastic Cleaner

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09-09-2010, 05:39 PM
brain_rinse

Malco Leather and Plastic Cleaner

Vinyl cleaning comes up a lot so I thought I'd share my experience with Malco. It gets rave reviews on WW and I had tried everything else so I gave it a shot to compare.

The vinyl was already fairly clean, so pictures wouldn't show the improvement, but it was fairly impressive. Dirt just lifted to the surface. I used a scrub brush since that's my standard procedure, but I doubt I'll bother next time. Even spider poop wiped right off. It's a very aggressive cleaner so you have to keep it away from brightwork, and it dries out the vinyl (and your hands) big time. I followed up with a good water rinse and a 303 application.

In short, there really isn't much that compares. To really test it I tried using Malco on my shop sink. This sink was so badly covered in paint, stain, grease from the bbq smoker, etc that we planned on just buying a new one. I sprayed it down, let set for 1 minute, used a plastic putty knife to scrape it all down, and rinsed. It looks brand new... amazing.

The downsides: not approved by vinyl mfg, no UV protectant, very aggressive, can't stop cleaning once you start.

I plan to use Exquisite and 303 for most of the season and the Malco for the occasional deep cleaning.
09-09-2010, 05:53 PM
you da man

Better yet, just get Totally Awesome from Dollar General for $1 and it does as good of a job if not better than Malco. Plus it's readily available anywhere. It leaves your seats soft but since like Malco it does not have UV protection, follow up with 303 or Babes Seat Saver. Totally Awesome does not have bleach, petroleum, or silicon products in it so no drying out your seats and it's safe on chrome or other bright work
09-09-2010, 05:53 PM
saskyrider

:pI'm sure this has been posted before but i used the majic erasor on one stain and then starting swearing because i had to do the whole damn boat... as the area i scrubbed was stain free and noticably whiter than the rest of the vinyl.....really worked well...
09-09-2010, 06:02 PM
brain_rinse

I hear you guys but I would prefer to use a product with years of proven results. There are plenty of cleaners that work great but aren't safe to use on the marine vinyl uv topcoat. I cant confirm that malco is even safe but at least it's been proven in the industry. Simple green cleans great, so do magic erasers. But they remove that topcoat and your seats will dry out and crack no matter how much 303 you slather on. That's why vinyl mfgs hate bathroom cleaners. They work great but greatly reduce the life of the vinyl.
09-09-2010, 06:02 PM
jamie_abb

Quote:

Originally Posted by saskyrider

:pI'm sure this has been posted before but i used the majic erasor on one stain and then starting swearing because i had to do the whole damn boat... as the area i scrubbed was stain free and noticably whiter than the rest of the vinyl.....really worked well...

Magic eraser is sandpaper. We used it for about three years to keep our trim and baseboard clean and it took the gloss off of them and thinned the paint under the lightswitches.

I used it on our repo'd boat this spring and it worked great.

Use sparingly!
09-09-2010, 06:44 PM
jmvotto

Babe's products have me hooked. seat soap worked wonders, even got the little yellow pollen outas well as spidy's poo. does not seem as harsh as malco my .02
09-09-2010, 07:04 PM
viking

2nd the Malco for spring cleaning and then babes and 303 for the season. Several threads on here about it and I'm a believer after using this spring :)
09-09-2010, 08:21 PM
BWeber

Babes

I just recently used Babes Seat Soap and I was very impressed with how much discoloration (yellowish stains) it removed from the seats with minimal scrubbing. I would prefer to use a product that is safe on the material, if properly maintained there is no need for extra harsh cleaners.

Follow up with some 303 and BOOM!
09-09-2010, 09:00 PM
brain_rinse

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWeber

I just recently used Babes Seat Soap and I was very impressed with how much discoloration (yellowish stains) it removed from the seats with minimal scrubbing. I would prefer to use a product that is safe on the material, if properly maintained there is no need for extra harsh cleaners.

Follow up with some 303 and BOOM!

I'm with you there. I'll just say that the malco gets off dirt that babes can't touch. But agree that regular cleaning with approved cleaners is the way to go.