Friday FAQ #30 - Can I remove the black spots from my RIB tubes?

Clusters of black spots on inflatables are usually mould and they can appear on tubes made of hypalon, PVC and PU. 

It tends to be two groups of customers who ask about removing black spots from their tubes: 

1. those who have a 'barn find' - a rather neglected boat or inflatable dinghy they're restoring
2. those who look after their RIB and use a cover on it - many covers trap moisture, hence the mould then occurs

It doesn't matter which category you fall into, you can get all, or certainly most, the mould off and 'restore' the tube colour in the process.

Spot Off, by August Race, is the product I've used myself on customers' inflatables and it's what I recommend to RIBstore customers too. After deep cleaning the tubes, apply the Spot Off liquid onto the affected areas using a soft cotton cloth, or brush. Leave for a short while and then rinse thoroughly. Sometimes a second application can be required.

Here are some before and after photos of some Colorado Yellow hypalon water slide dinghies I cleaned earlier this year. I used RIBstore's BoatSoap, then RIBstore's ToobShine with a white 3M hand pad, rinsed this off thoroughly and finally used Spot Off. August Race do strongly recommend using Liquid RIB followed by Spot Off though!

And the after photos - the customer wasn't even convinced these were the same inflatables they came up so well!

And some before and after photos of an inflatable boat floor kindly sent to us by Josh:

Before any cleaning...

After a deep clean...

After a deep clean and Spot Off...

Much more yellow, and much less grey/black!