OK so this post is a bit off topic.  My Captain does such a good job keeping our topsides looking good that I couldn’t stand that those off-white plastic cowls were looking so bad.  I suspect that they had never been cleaned.  And the boat is a 1990!

My thought was that this is a project that I can do and would be best done while the boat is under shrink wrap cover this winter.  No problem.  I unscrewed the cowls, marked the screws in little snack zips so I wouldn’t lose them and brought the cowls home for  a good soak.  The soaking did nothing except get the first layer of dirt off.  They really were mildewed.  Secret trick:  We took Tilex and a bit of Comet to them with a sponge.

The Captain couldn’t help himself.  He jumped into the project too.  The cowls came clean almost immediately.

Now they look almost like new.

We did have a back up plan – spray paint.

Have you solved a cleaning problem or taken out a particularly tough stain?  Share your tips.