Coating/Protectant for EVA Foam mats

suke

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Planning to put down some EVA foam mats in my boat. Searched all over the place and came up with nothing. I'd like to put a hydrophobic coating of sorts on them. The biggest complaint I see of any brand about these is how easy they stain/get dirty.

Here's what I'm talking about below.

View attachment 67495
 
No one, eh? Any idea on where to look?
 
Those curious I put 303 fabric guard on there without any issue, or spotting. I had a spare mat I wasn't putting in my boat so put it on there just in case it stained it somehow. Theoretically these are supposed to be fairly easy to clean, however we boat primarily in lakes that can be pretty silty. Want to make sure dirty feet don't stain my floors.
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You might be able to use a ceramic formulated for vinyl on that. It wouldn't last forever but I wouldn't be surprised if you got very good protection for a whole season at least. I'd say longer, but chances are you'll have all manner of things being dropped and rubbed into the mat with feet.

I know someone in the industry who works with ceramics, I could ask them if its something that would interest you. Approximately 50 square feet with 2 coatings... $85. Yes, they work by being very hydrophobic
 
You might be able to use a ceramic formulated for vinyl on that. It wouldn't last forever but I wouldn't be surprised if you got very good protection for a whole season at least. I'd say longer, but chances are you'll have all manner of things being dropped and rubbed into the mat with feet.

I know someone in the industry who works with ceramics, I could ask them if its something that would interest you. Approximately 50 square feet with 2 coatings... $85. Yes, they work by being very hydrophobic
I'd be interested to hear what they say. In the meantime I'll see how this fabric guard holds up.

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Hi Suke, I've e-mailed him so might have an answer soon. I've seen posts on the forum about ceramic being snake oil etc, but I figure these are people who haven't seen it in action. I've seen it on a number of boats now in South Florida and as an old school sceptic at first, I'm a full convert now. I worked on a boat that had spent six months in a large and particularly dirty boat yard and the boat looked like it needed to be scrapped, it was black. The boat yard is by busy roads and sits underneath a flightpath as well so wasn't looking forward to cleaning it. That baked on dirt and chemicals washed straight off to leave gleaming gelcoat, then when it had seen the light of day, water started beading straight off it again. I also know for a fact that the ceramic hadn't been applied particularly well because I enquired about the process. That was about a year ago and the ceramic is still going strong. It's worth noting that subsea pipelines are coated in this stuff now, so yeah, it works ok. I think it's one of those things, you just need to see it with your own eyes.
 
I've ceramic coated all my vehicles, except my boat. It's used almost exclusively in fresh water and cleaned top to bottom after every outing. It's just too big for me to try and ceramic coat. Don't have that kind of time or cover to keep it in while I do it.

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How have the cars worked out, how long has the ceramic been on and are they still protected?
 
How have the cars worked out, how long has the ceramic been on and are they still protected?
It has been great. I've gotten to about the 2 year mark before I polish it off and install a new one due to wanting to remove micro marring and such in the coating.

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Thats interesting... it's good to hear its served its purpose of protecting the paintwork for 2 years but not infallible to the effects of micro scratching. Then again it shows you how hard it cures to. Better the ceramic to be micro marred than the paintwork right!
 
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