265 Express Rub Rail

Bob Meola

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Have a 2005 GW 265 Express. Run Rails have a milky coating on them I guess from sun. I have tried cleaning them but still appear chalky. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get back that shine?
 
Not from the sun - could be salt or hard water deposits.

You didn't mention how you attempted to clean them, but a metal polish (like Flitz, or similar) should do the trick.
 
Had similar problem. Get a couple of rolls of GOOD paper towels. But a quart of acetone. Wash the rail with soap and water. Let dry. Wet several paper towels with the acetone and clean the rail with long strokes. What you are doing is melting the rubber on the surface. That's why the long strokes. It will be apparent when you start doing it. The acetone evaporates very quickly, so you have to re-apply and change paper towels frequently. The blue appears on the towels. Depending on how bad the rail is you may need more acetone and have to make a second lap around. Mine turned out like brand new. Good luck.
 
Acetone will really clean the rub rail and bring back the color. Wash the rail first with soap and water and then dry and I mean really dry. let it sit in the sun for a while. After it is dry, use a rag and acetone. It should clean up nicely. To preserve the look ( for a while at least) a treatment is needed. One trick I do is apply Mop N Glow floor wax. Follow the instructions. You may need to apply every now and then depending on how much abuse ( sun mostly) the rail gets.
Enjoy and safe boating
 
Are you referring to the vinyl (or pvc) part of the rubrail or a SS insert in the rubrail "holder"? It sounds like the other guys are referring to the vinyl part and if you are, too, then another alternative is to use a mild rubbing compound (maybe even just a cleaner wax) which, like removing oxidation from gelcoat, will remove the same from the vinyl. Then wax it a few times a year, like you do the gelcoat, and it should stay looking nice an new for a long time. Don't go too fast or hard if you use a rotary buffer since it could burn it if you're not careful. But, a rotary will produce excellent results very quickly. I have not used acetone on something like that, but I suspect that a rubbing compound might give longer lasting results as it's completely removing the oxidized layer. But, that's just a guess.
 
There is no stainless on our 265's rub rail. Just the outer blue portion and the blue hose insert made of the same material. I would be afraid to buff due to the heat that would be generated in a small area, ie inadvertantly burned areas. The sweet part about the acetone is that it melts the surface and you actually remove the top layer along with the oxidation. The acetone evaporates so quickly and you can't remove much material. I have never followed up with any kinds of wax, but if I did I would allow the rail to "dry" and all traces of acetone to dissipate.