Raft Fabric Marbling: What, Why, and How To Remove

We know what kind of investment finally buying your own NRS raft, stand-up paddleboard or inflatable kayak can be. You’ve waited for years to have a boat or board to call your own and it’s finally here. You unbox it, unroll and inflate it, even though it’s the middle of winter and you won’t get on the river for months, but you just… can’t… wait. But wait. What are those unsightly wrinkles and scuff marks?

It's likely when you unroll your raft for the first time you will notice wrinkles in the Hypalon or PVC. The technical term for these marks is called 'marbling' and it usually appears as a fold mark or a white spot at folding locations. With time and use, these blemishes will disappear. Hypalon and PVC materials are prone to marbling when they are folded tightly and boxed for shipping, however, there is no evidence that marbling adversely affects the lifespan of NRS rafts, SUPs and IKs.

In this video, we discuss what marbling is and why it occurs. Using a fresh-out-of-the-box raft, we unroll, inflate and stage it in our Flagship Store to give an example of what marbling can look like and to show how the marbling eventually works itself out given time, heat and sunlight. In the window of a storefront is not the best option for fixing this issue, therefore, rest assured that once you get your boat on the water and in the elements, you will see much better results in a shorter span of time.

The more you use it—the faster you’ll lose it.

Please note: because there is no evidence that marbling negatively affects inflatables, marbling is not considered a warranty issue. If you notice the marbling is still there after multiple uses, please reach out to our Customer Experience Team to discuss your options.