Babe's seat soap VS 303 Vinyl Cleaner VS Vinyl Sauce

[Big tic]

Our new to us 2009 Mastercraft has arrived after a 2500 miles journey from Texas to Ottawa Ontario then to Fredericton NB. It was shrink wrapped in Texas but the interior is still in need of a good clean.

Up until this point I have only used basic automotive type cleaners on past boats. I took the plunge and bought all the popular products discussed on this website.

I am going to use the back sun pad as my proving ground. I will post pictures tomorrow of before, during and after.

Below is what I plan to do.

Each product will have its own pad (back sun pad left, centre and right). I will attempt to also understand the time needed for each product to work IE if you have 2 minuites to clean the whole interior what is the best product, or what product is best if you want to spend all day just cleaning one area.

1st. 2 min per panel per product.

2nd 5 min per panel per product.

3rd MCOCD 10 min per panel. Focusing on sticking.

I will then attempt to find the best product and clean the other 2 panels with it.

Part 2 Vinyl protectors

303 AEROSPACE VS. Babes seat saver VS Lexol Vinylex

Similar test to the vinyl cleaners.

Please feel free to comment and give suggestions.

[sand2snow22]

4. Totally awesome cleaner from the Dollar Store

[swatguy]

I would also throw Totally Awesome Cleaner or Malco in the mix vs all of those. You will see a huge difference in cleaning potential between the Babes, 303, and Vinyl Sauce vs either the Malco or the Totally Awesome Cleaner. Totally Awesome is cheap , readily available at almost any store, and really can't be beat as a vinyl cleaner. I wouldn't use the Totally Awesome as a daily wipedown like I would the 3 you mention, but again if you have dirty vinyl nothing will clean better than the Totally Awesome or Malco with a soft bristle brush. Also get a soft bristle brush for either of the 3 you mentioned. IT will add even more cleaning power.

[swatguy]

Daum,

Sand beat me to it

[orbeamlb]

Babes Seat Soap fan here

[Big tic]

Great feedback. I have never seem totally awesome before but I will look around tomorrow.

I got the soft brush and micro fiber towels ready.

[Big tic]

BTW this will be my first time using these products I have no brand loyalty.

[swatguy]

No prob looking forward to the feedback from your tests.
I went through the boat wipedown down products last season...Let me know if you're interested on my input from those in this thread

IE
Babes Boat Bright
Boat Bling Hot Sauce
Ducky's Spot Remover Plus
Standard Vin/Water Mixture

I have also went through the protectants as well so will add to it when you post your results.

[Big tic]

Swatguy

Let me post my findings before you comment. I want to ensure i am 100% impartial.

Looking forward to this trial.

[swatguy]

For sure...Why i asked first

[Big tic]

I will upload pictures tomorrow. Below is my brief findings

First off I would say my seats had heavy dirt and grim build up.

3rd Babes seat soap- Best smelling, least aggressive of the three. Might be my everyday cleaner. Left the seats feeling the "smoothest". If your boat is new and are looking for an everyday cleaner buy Babe's. It smells the best and was pretty easy to whip off to a level of no residue. The down side is not enough horsepower to clean deep grim and dirt.

2nd 303 vinyl and fabric cleaner. At first this was my favourite. It worked the best on the white stitching. I found that I used less of the product compared to the other two. It also left the least residue (which may be a benefit to some). I found it worked well on the dash and other hard parts. Overall I was very pleased with this product and would buy this again. This product gave great results but needed more work then then the Vinyl Sauce

1st Vinyl Sauce- I would NOT say that this product blew away the 303 but in my experence it worked the best on spot removal and overall cleaning. I found the 303 did a better job on the white stitching but the vinyl sauce was the best overall.

So here is what I did to clean the boat

step 1- 303 cleaner with brush focusing on the stitching.
step 2- 303 cleaner with microfiber
step 3- Vinyl Sauce with brush.
step 4- Vinyl sauce with microfiber

Dressing

I found it hard to tell the difference between the 3. They all have benefits. All great products.


3rd- Lexol Vinlyex- This product gave the best natural feel. Almost no residue. I feel that this product would be the best at not attracting dust. I want to give this product another try. It might be a great product for steering wheels and dash boards.

2nd- Babes Seat Saver- Like the smell. Makes the seats feel the softest. A little bit to much residue but I was also running low on microfiber towels so I couldn't give it a good buff after. Overall if you want your boat to smell like a strip club buy Babe's products. If my boat was brand new and I was only doing light cleaning. Babes would be the one for me. Once I get the boat to the level I want I may very well switch to babes for everyday cleaning. I just love the smell reminds me of my other favourite place.......

1st 303 Areospace Protectant- To me it seamed to have a slight cleaning action. It really made the colours pop. At first I found it to greasy but after about 30 mins of drying time it looked great and left the seats soft to the touch. I buffed the seats again after about 45 mins of drying time and the seats looked awesome and felt even better.

I am going to order some Malco product and give it a try. There is no local Totally awesome distributor in my area.

Cant wait to keep cleaning.

[CottagerGreg]

Thanks for the feedback... i was always impressed with the 303 products

[swatguy]

Thanks a ton


I found the same results as your stated above with the cleaners. I chose the Vinyl sauce after years of the of the Babes and Exquisite (which I didn't mention because its no longer available, but it was by far my fav) once i tried it. It worked great for me and make wipedowns a cinch. I will agree for sure tho that the the 303 gets to the stitching a bit better, but I just prefered the cleaning power of the Vinyl sauce on the vinyl. I use the Totally Awesome when the threads really need a good scrub anyways.


The only thing I will add to the protectants that you have not experienced yet is that once the 303 gets wet for the first time, even after being buffed good, it does get slimy. That greasy feel will come back when water hits it. It eventually wears off, but the first couple times it can be slick. It also takes the longest to fully dry and set in of the ones you used. It does however give the best shine and showroom gloss look as you mentioned. It also gives the highest UV protection rate IIRC and keeps the shine the longest from my experience , but the slimy feel on the front end is the turn off for me and why I go with Boat Bling's Conditioning Sauce over the 303. I wouldn't say the Boat Bling Conditioning Sauce is any better or worse than the Babes Seat Saver. I think they perform and feel almost identical to the touch. I just do the Boat Bling Conditioning Sauce because I prefer the Vinyl Sauce over Babes Seat Soap as a daily cleaner/wipedown for vinyl and Boat Bling's Hot Sauce over the Babes Boat Bright for after outing wipedowns so one stop shopping is great..

Thanks again for the write up. Never thought of listing all my trials and tribulations. Good to know they match up pretty well with yours for sure

[pap]

Ummm, as somebody who doesn't frequent strip clubs, could you clarify what "if you want your boat to smell like a strip club buy Babe's products" means???

[jrbishop4]

I have used 303 for the last 6 years and have had great luck with it. I have always debated on trying other products but found myself always just buying 303 every time. Thanks for the info.