CARING FOR YOUR SLIDE COVER (that goes on your inflatable). |
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Wasn't it nice to have a slide cover all brand new and shiny, and you climbed up to the top and slid fastly down to the bottom of it. Then slowly, over time, it has turned gray and it's not so slick and now its more like a chug rather than slide? Well here are my personal experiences in caring for my slide covers. (Other inflatable operators may have some different incite). Major information, when a slide has a varying grey color. That is dirt stuck to your slide. Have you ever tried to slide on dirt? Not so slick right? We need to keep our slides from turning grey, and if they turn grey, we need to think of a method that will get them white again. I always wash the slide with a wet rag and a cleaning agent after every use to remove the fine layer of dust/dirt that is there. Similar to a person washing a floor with a rag and a bucket of cleaning agent. You can't see the dirt and dust until you start wiping, but it's there. This fine layer is what slowly builds up and turns your slide cover grey use-after-use. So wash them, whether you think it looks like it needs it or not! Alright, so you know to keep them clean now to learn how to keep your slide slick. If you ask around to various inflatable owners that have cared for slide covers there have been many products used for making slides slick, such as: Silicone spray, turtle wax, Armorall and Tire Shine. I have settled on tire shine. It definitely works to keep the slide slick, but it also seems to keep the greys away. To explain, the dust/dirt is easier to wash off and the tire shine seems to not allow the dirt to stick. Our company typically will reslick our slide with a spray-and-wipe with tire shine after a cleaning at our cleaning-location, and again at the rental site before the rental begins. You're saying, "but my slide is already grey, how can I make it white again"? The following method has always worked with my slides, and I suppose if you've let your slide covers go for so long that the following method might not work at all. But I've used soft scrub with bleach and a kitchen scrubber. For big slide covers I have also purchased a car buffer and used it with soft scrub with bleach. Be sure to rinse thoroughly if you use soft scrub because it has micro sand particles in it, that gives it that gritty feeling. It is these micro particles that make it work so well. Some inflatable owners argue that scrubbing with this product will slowly destroy your slide cover. So using this method is to be done at your own discretion. But what other methods are there? do you know of another method to make slide covers white again? Because... making my slide covers white again and spraying more tire shine on them; makes them slick and fun again. What's the alternative, but to slowly let them become grey and you have to purchase a new one? I've used this method for five years, and my slides still look great and work!!! It doesn't need to be done at every cleaning, only as needed. about twice a year on average. Or spot cleaning as needed. And ew... what about those nasty black streaks going down the center of my slide. Where'd they come from? How do I get them off? As of yet I have not found a method to remove these. More then likely that have come from the skidding of belts on inflatable riders. I have lightened them with the use of goof-off, but even heavy scrubbing and soft scrub does not remove these. Happy sliding! ;-) If this article has helped you or you have a slide cover tip you'd like to share please send them to me at the moonwalkforum. Thank You! Written by Sharon Patten. Member Name: ADB at the Moonwalkforum.com. DATE 02 - 16 - 09 |
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