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Recommendations for preserving buttons/fenders


Mr Adagio

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Is there any recommendations for preserving buttons by the forum. Mine is of black rope construction and has cleaned up well after a jet wash and I was wondering if it was worth putting a preservative on it before putting it back?

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That would depend on the type of rope used to construct the fender. There would be no point in using a preservative on a fender made from polypropylene rope as this does not rot. Since you say yours is black it could well be polyprop.  A rope made from natural fibre would benefit however and you will find suggestions for using various mixtures including old style creosote and used engine oil on here. I never managed to stop mine rotting and have switched to man made material. The job now is to stop plant life growing on the fenders. One of my neighbours has what looks like a small tree well established on his.

Phil

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We have just come back from 3 weeks on the boat, unfortunately not cruising, doing maintenance during which I removed all fenders (pp not rope)  and cleaned them, first with bilge ex and then with heavy duty car wash. I left them to dry then washed them with 'clean and wax' and when they were dry I polished with a cloth and they came up brilliantly.  If you just want to kill plant life/algae  you can rinse them with a mild solution of household ammonia & washing up liquid. 

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I have a friend with a Hudson which is his pride and joy. This boat is in "showroom" condition in every respect and he swears by Cuprinol wood preserver for the rope fenders.  He does redo them every year though, I really couldn't be bothered it will be polyprop for me next time.   

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As others have said, if synthetic rope there is little point in using preservative. I've always treated our natural covered fenders with clear wood preservative, usually a cheaper version of Cuprinol, although this time they looked rather variegated after pressure washing. I applied several coats of Creocote, a brown creosote substitute, available from Tool Station, to give a deep brown look. After 16 years, they are no longer newish looking. I usually re-treat them every couple of years.

 

Dave

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Ours are all natural, so each was dunked in creosote for a week or so, then hung up to drip dry for a month or so. This was done in our rented garage, and you could smell the creosote from the entrance to the block on a warm day!

 

Black sounds, as others have said, like polypropylene, which can't be preserved and does degrade in sunlight. If it is truly bad, the core could be recovered by a fender maker, for less than the price of a new fender.

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Take your fenders off every winter and store them somewhere dry. Get some old patched ones for winter if you're travelling a bit. A good source for part worn fenders are boat painting sites. After a boat repaint quite a few seem to treat themselves to a new set and dump the old ones. 

We treat our natural fibre ones each winter with some some brown cuprinol type fence preservative. It works fine and looks ok. Just let it dry really well though.

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