Surface treatment for Royalex?

I know this has been discussed before, but can’t find it: What is the bast thing to treat Royalex with, in terms of preservation/appearance?

303

I have used 303
but now feel guilty about it. You will hear some say 303 is NOT water soluble. But after treating my canoe and riding around with it on top of the van. I noticed oily “smears” on the windshield and rear window after a rain.

303 protectant
You can purchase 303 at any paddling store, and at some better car parts stores. Any place that sells truck caps, trailers, or powerboats are all shops worth checking out as well.

What happens if you don’t treat?
I understand that Royalex will break down under too much time in direct sunlight. How does this breakdown affect the material? Is it just discoloration or does the material become damaged or weakened in some way? How bad can it get? How fast does it occur and is it more or less susceptible as the boat ages?



Thanks



Suntan

The outer layer of Royalex is vinyl
which is the most UV-resistant plastic in common use. If you don’t scrape that vinyl layer away on rocks and sand the way I do, you can pretty much ignore the UV issue for the first five years. However, 303 on Royalex is like carnuba wax on cars. It makes 'em look spiffy and new.

o good more petroleum products
in rivers. Unless this stuff is absorbed into the ABS, where does it all go?

Just for the heck of it…

– Last Updated: Apr-23-05 2:08 PM EST –

Just for the heck of it, I'll take an opposing viewpoint.........Not my intention to flame anyone; just my perspective on pollution.

Let's say there are 10 million boaters in the United States. These 10 million boaters put a coat of 303 on their 10 million boats, every time they use their 10 million boats.

What will the amount of pollution from 303 be, compared to the harmful emmisions from 10 million vehicles, used to carry these 10 millions boats, coated with 303?

Do we "really" need 303? Nope!
Do we "really" need V-12, V-10, V-8, and V-6 engines??????
Not talking about "real" needs, as opposed to "perceived" needs...........

If I could convince everyone to give up their motorcycles, 4 wheelers, jetskis, snowskis, jon boats, motor boats, off shore boats, drag boats,
yachts, Escalades, Hummers, Navigators, dually pickups, motorhomes, etc, I'd quit using 303 every few months & trade my 6 cylinder for a 4 cylinder.


BOB

P.S. Start taking a real close look at what you throw in your trash can. Where do you think all that ends up? Does your community use a landfill?
Can you say.......ground water? And when you drive through those huge, industrialized cities; have you ever asked yourself the question, "where in the hell does that stench come from"? I'll bet it's all those boaters & that damned 303!

Along those lines
I seem to remember reading that the used oil flushed down the sewer systems in the USA is of greater volume than the Exxon Valdez spill. Seems to me that 303 is a de minimis pollutant.



Jim

And if boats that need UV protection
do not get it, they end up in landfills earlier, and are replaced by other boats which took some polluting processes to produce.



kayakmedic, anytime you have proof that small amounts of 303 harm anything in the rivers, just let us know.

Amen!!

– Last Updated: Apr-23-05 4:37 PM EST –

Heck, the minute particles of rubber dust that wear off your tires while driving to the put-in is bad for the environment too. Also, the average car that is several years old *drips* more oil into the environment than most of us will ever contribute by using 303. I'm all for minimizing pollution, but you've gotta keep things in perspective. We *could* all switch to biodegradable boats, but would that be a good thing? I think not. We'd just be cutting trees at a faster rate than we already do. It never ends. If you live in a house or drive a car, or participate in any way in our modern way of live, you are doing waaaay more to harm the environment than allows one to justify worrying about an occasional drip of 303.

I try to rough sand it with
river gravel. Makes it look pretty gosh darn good I think.

a little
303 is good on royalex because it’s like sunblock, and reduces exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Now think about the declining frog and amphibian populations, most likely due to increased ultraviolet radiation; the hole in the ozone. Perhaps if we royalex paddlers used a little more 303 we could put a protective layer on our waterways and help save the amphibians.