Cleaning Briney Fins

[knotical]

-1 vinegar. It is a acid and it is not good for rubber products. Will it fall apart, no, but if it were me a good tv show a beer and a brush would be my tools of choice.

Applying the beer to ... the fins or yourself?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I would use the fins, but if I cared, I would use a scotch brite abrasive pad and then maybe a squirt of armour all..

 

[g1138]

You could try diluted household Bleach, mist it on, let it it sit, and wipe it down.
Or just soak the fin in a bucket.

Use a ratio of water and just enough bleach to turn the water slightly yellow.
Sodium thiosulfate (Thio), or aquarium dechlor can be used to neutralize the bleach and keep your fin from smelling bad.
Just let the fin sit, scrub, neutralize, then rinse off.

Shouldn't need to soak for more than 5mins I would imagine. If it doesn't work then it's not going to work.

 

[TSandM]

I'm not sure the hypochlorite is going to be a good solvent for marine salts, but I know exactly who to ask about it!

 

[fdog]

Vinegar. But you may need to allow a long soak. Brine is not just NaCl -- it has calcium and magnesium and other salts in it. IIRC, all acetate compounds are soluble, and most of the calcium and magnesium salts will dissolve, albeit slowly, in an acidic environment as well. So vinegar should eventually remove just about everything, but it may take some time.

Lynne has it right - an acid is your friend here.

If it were purely salts that were the culprit, I would expect them to dissolve in a single pool session. The exposure to fresh water, and agitation, should take care of most any purely salt deposit.

Since the deposits persist, two things spring to mind: either Mg or Ca deposits from the ion; or, a stearate. Both are commonly found in your average bathroom shower (causing angst to the person that has to clean the tub), and depending on the cleaning regime that these fins did or didn't have, I would not be surprised to have them nastily deposited on the rubber.

As a generality, an acid is the answer for both. Acetic acid is usually a good choice, because as an organic acid its action is (relatively) slow. You can speed this up by heating it, and household white vinegar is low enough concentration (less than 10% IIRC) that this is safe. Warm enough that you'd put your hand in it will ensure you don't heat damage the rubber. Mix this with a decent detergent - dishwasher detergent is great - and this might do the trick.

Personally I am a bit more brutal, and I'd run down to the lab and mix up come hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid) with detergent and use that, but that's just me. Oddly, this is the same general preparation used by most bathroom "lime-away" products.

Although abyss_scuba is correct, acid is bad for rubber, the typical Jetfin is actually made from neoprene rubber, a material commonly used for gaskets and O-rings in acid storage containers.


All the best, James

 

[Bob DBF]

I would use the fins, but if I cared, I would use a scotch brite abrasive pad and then maybe a squirt of armour all..

+1 to that.

I'm not sure that anything will hurt Jet Fins, outside of vandalism, and even then you might need to block out some time.



Bob
---------------------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[spectrum]

Update!

I went with the majority guidance and committed a few gallons of white vinegar to a tub and added enough water to cover the fins. I let them marinade in the sun with a lid over the tub to add warmth to the equation. After soaking, the hardware cleaned up to chrome and bare metal. I gave the fins a good scrubbing and some of the crud did come off. In other hard to scrub areas it remained as build-up that would roll off with some finger rubbing, like scum in a bathtub. I then let them neutralize for a few days in a water barrel. They are now drying. I plan to dress them with some silicone spray (Trident non solvent type). I'll eventually use them and probably add spring straps.

With all of that said I found myself with a question worthy of the ScubaBoard brain trust and one that I don't recall seeing here (or anywhere else) before. What effect (temporary of course) will the silicone spray have on fin performance? Will it move water more efficiently or lose traction? Will it matter if only one side of the fin is lubricated. So there with a high probability of hijacking my own thread is my question of the day.

Pete

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Update!

I went with the majority guidance and committed a few gallons of white vinegar to a tub and added enough water to cover the fins. I let them marinade in the sun with a lid over the tub to add warmth to the equation. After soaking, the hardware cleaned up to chrome and bare metal. I gave the fins a good scrubbing and some of the crud did come off. In other hard to scrub areas it remained as build-up that would roll off with some finger rubbing, like scum in a bathtub. I then let them neutralize for a few days in a water barrel. They are now drying. I plan to dress them with some silicone spray (Trident non solvent type). I'll eventually use them and probably add spring straps.

With all of that said I found myself with a question worthy of the ScubaBoard brain trust and one that I don't recall seeing here (or anywhere else) before. What effect (temporary of course) will the silicone spray have on fin performance? Will it move water more efficiently or lose traction? Will it matter if only one side of the fin is lubricated. So there with a high probability of hijacking my own thread is my question of the day.

Pete

Lubrication is VERY important for Rubbers, but not the kind you put on your feet.

 

[boat sju]

This is a 30+ year old fin treated well with Armor All

 

[spectrum]

This is a 30+ year old fin treated well with ArmourAll

A number of people including chemical engineers have told me that Armorall is not a good choice for rubber. Vinyl, yes rubber no...............