Household products can cause serious damage to your investments, harm the environment, and can even be harder to work with. The following list includes the most common mistakes people use.

#1 – Dish Soap
Dish soaps can cause many problems, from stripping wax to degrading the waterproofing on fabrics. In some cases, these chemicals are harmful to the environment and shouldn’t ever be dumped irresponsibly.

#2 – Windex
Most boat mirrors and windows are made of plastic, not glass. Since Windex and other glass cleaners contain ammonia, they can cause yellowing, cracking and many other issues.

#3 – Paper Towels
Paper towels are not actually a very soft material. They’re too harsh and scratch many soft plastics. Additionally, paper towels fall apart easy and can become very costly over time.

#4 – Limited Storage
Since storage is limited, don’t waste it all on your cleaning tools. Most maintenance tool manufacturers market a product for every potential type of surface, stain, or area of the boat/car/RV. These chemicals and tools become very costly and causes fast overcrowding in the limited storage areas.

#5 – Soft Scrub
Abrasive household cleansers like Soft Scrub are too strong for boat/car/RV material. Fiberglass, clear coat and gelcoat surfaces easily loose their protective coatings to these harsh cleaners. Bleach-based products will have a tendency to discolor fabrics and break down their integrity.

#6 – Pledge
Pledge is great on wood, not on clear vinyl like isinglass. Pledge contains solvents that removes the plasticizers from the plastic. This causes the material to become brittle and yellow.

#7 – Procrastination and Neglect
Environmental build-up can quickly damage anything. Overlooking or neglecting the right maintenance items and schedule will not only reduce the value of your investment over time but will also make maintenance much harder