Boat Vinyl Needs to Have Good UV Resistance
Posted by Fred Chappell on Apr 11th 2017
It is the time of year again when boats are being refurbished. One of the most common mistakes we see are replacement jobs where the wrong kind of vinyl is used. UV resistance is the most important thing to consider when replacing any outdoor vinyl. An upholsterer was just in who reported a customer who had his boat completely reupholstered only a year or two ago, and the vinyl has completely disintegrated. The vinyl used on this boat was quite likely a nice vinyl, and looked good when the boat was finished. But, the intense heat and rays from the sun made quick work of destroying the job.
A good UV specification is a minimum pass of 500 hours QUV. I would recommend in the range of 650 hours because of the extensive success and history we have with products in this range. Seascape, Key West, Key Largo, Capitano, Allstar, and Torino all pass 650 hours. Whisper, Allsport, and Shock have a lightfastness of 1000 hours. We have two vinyls that pass 500 hours (Sun Surf and Classic), and we have had no complaints on those, but hey obviously have a lower specification, so they can't be expected to perform quite as well against UV as the others.
So, when purchasing material to be used outdoors, always be careful to review the specifications and test results on the product. They will be listed on our website www.yourautotrim.com.
