Hull And Outboard Cleaning

[cadman]

What do you guys use to clean off the white residue on your fiberglass hulls and on the lower unit of your outboards? I've tried very low abrasive rubbing compound, but that is tedious, and then I have to re-wax it. Is there an easy 1-2-3 way of doing this. Thanx for any help.

[slonezp]

Toilet bowl cleaner. Wear gloves and do small sections at a time 

[cadman]

Do I use it full strength?  If so, when I apply it on do I let it sit and then I rinse it off with clean water? Thanks.

[MarkH024]

Chiming in so I can follow, I have nothing to add.  I need some serious TLC for my boat from fiberglass to plastics. 

[slonezp]

I put it full strength on a wet sponge, apply, and rinse it before it dries. Best to do it when it's cool and cloudy. It will take off the water marks, the scum lines and the chalkiness. Then dry it and hit it with a spray wax like Mothers Marine spray wax or BBS.   

[Pa Angler]

There's a product called On - Off mix with water as the directions state. I use a pump  garden sprayer otherwise you need platex type gloves spray on let sit as directions state then hose off just that simple. Oh it's for fibergalss not aluminum.

 

Tight Lines

Pa Angler

[cadman]

Thanks for the info guys.

[cadman]

Then dry it and hit it with a spray wax like Mothers Marine spray wax or BBS.   

Thanks for the info. Couple of other somewhat related questions. I have always been waxing my fiberglass with Nu- Finish. I know there are other products, is Nu-Finish not good to use on fiberglass? Is Mothers Marine spray better?  Also what is BBS? Thanks for the explanation.

[slonezp]

BBS=Bass Boat Saver  I have a 3M paste marine wax that I used once at the beginning of the year, and then follow up after each time I go out with 50/50 water and vinegar, and then the Mothers every other time out. I've used Meguires boat and RV spray wax and like the Mothers better, Never used NuFinish. I'd hit it with the paste at least once at the beginning of the season since it's only 7-8 months long anyway. Someone makes a wax especially for the motor cowl but I've been using the Mothers on that as well

[Jig Man]

Ted I have been using Lime Away on my Champion for 11 years.  I use it on the motor and on the boat.  It does a great job of cleaning.

 

I never wax my boat.  I have tried lots of products and Bow to Stearn is the best I have used.  I switched to it from BBS because it lasts longer and the cleanup when I get home is a wet rag and a towel.

[cadman]

Hey guys thanks for all the info.

[Jig Man]

I just cleaned my boat and motor yesterday after a 5 week fishing trip where it was in and out of the water daily and setting on the trailer in a campground.  I put limeaway on a wet rag and wiped everything down then rinsed it off.  It looks great.

[cadman]

Well, I just cleaned my boat today, and found out that I didn't have any Lime-Away, and then I remembered someone talking about toilet bowl cleaner. So my wife had some toilet bowl cleaner called "The Works". My outboard is black and so is my hull. So I wet my outboard with a hose, put some of the cleaner on a wet sponge, and did a small spot on the outboard. Washed it down, dried it and wow it looked just like it did when I bought it. I then did the entire motor, my entire black hull, and it looks beautiful. You can easily see spots you missed as soon as you wipe it dry. Re-apply in that area, rinse, wipe and finished. Man for 6 years I would get under the hull and painstakingly, try to get the white grime off of my boat.  Somebody shoot me for not asking sooner, Ugh. Anyway, it took all of about 30 minutes to do the entire outboard and my entire hull. Man I feel like I won the lottery.

Anyway, I'm sure other toilet bowl cleaners would work as well, as I know Lime-Away does also, because I just spoke to one of my club members and he uses it. So I thought I'd post this as another product that works really well.

 

Note: Wear eye protection and some rubber gloves, as the toilet bowl cleaner is acidic.

 

Thanks to everyone for all their input.

[slonezp]

You're welcome   While you were cleaning the boat, I was out fishing.

[cadman]

You're welcome   While you were cleaning the boat, I was out fishing.

 

Well, Thank You, it worked like a charm. BTW how did you do fishing????

[slonezp]

I posted a report in the IL thread. About 30 crappies and a couple largemouth. A few small white bass in the mix as well.

[PotomacBassin]

Is toilet bowl cleaner safe for aluminum hulls?

[MarkH024]

Well, I just cleaned my boat today, and found out that I didn't have any Lime-Away, and then I remembered someone talking about toilet bowl cleaner. So my wife had some toilet bowl cleaner called "The Works". My outboard is black and so is my hull. So I wet my outboard with a hose, put some of the cleaner on a wet sponge, and did a small spot on the outboard. Washed it down, dried it and wow it looked just like it did when I bought it. I then did the entire motor, my entire black hull, and it looks beautiful. You can easily see spots you missed as soon as you wipe it dry. Re-apply in that area, rinse, wipe and finished. Man for 6 years I would get under the hull and painstakingly, try to get the white grime off of my boat.  Somebody shoot me for not asking sooner, Ugh. Anyway, it took all of about 30 minutes to do the entire outboard and my entire hull. Man I feel like I won the lottery.

Anyway, I'm sure other toilet bowl cleaners would work as well, as I know Lime-Away does also, because I just spoke to one of my club members and he uses it. So I thought I'd post this as another product that works really well.

 

Note: Wear eye protection and some rubber gloves, as the toilet bowl cleaner is acidic.

 

Thanks to everyone for all their input.

This is great to hear. I'm going to try it myself now.

[slonezp]

Is toilet bowl cleaner safe for aluminum hulls?

It's safe on painted aluminum. I have no idea about bare aluminum. There is a product called Sharkhide that will make the bare aluminum look better than new.

http://youtu.be/au-GMGcQ2kg

[cadman]

This is great to hear. I'm going to try it myself now.

MarkH024

  This is so easy it's not even funny. If you are going to use it around the carpet on your deck be careful. The reason I'm saying this is, I don't know what this would do to your carpeting.  I did my hull, and although my hull sits on carpeted bunks, if they would discolor, it wouldn't matter to me. Now when I put the boat away 4 hours later yesterday, I didn't see any discoloration on my carpeted bunks. Just a reminder and a precaution for you.

[MarkH024]

MarkH024

  This is so easy it's not even funny. If you are going to use it around the carpet on your deck be careful. The reason I'm saying this is, I don't know what this would do to your carpeting.  I did my hull, and although my hull sits on carpeted bunks, if they would discolor, it wouldn't matter to me. Now when I put the boat away 4 hours later yesterday, I didn't see any discoloration on my carpeted bunks. Just a reminder and a precaution for you.

Thanks Ted,

I meant to ask, did you use it on the plastic cap of your outboard too?

[Basscat7]

Any of the commercial hull cleaners will work, or toiler bowl cleaner..............all of them are  mixtures of diluted Oxaloc acid or muriatic acid.

 

As stated be sure to cover the trailer , tires and inside the fenfers as the acid , if left sitting will discolor carpet and paint.

 

Acetone can be used on the gelcoat to remove any stubborn stains or black roller marks on the hull, acetone will not harm gelcoat if used as a wipe on/off cleaner.  DO not use acetone on any of the windscreens or plastic dash surrounds as it will react with plastic.

 

Once you have the glass clean it needs to be protected for the UV rays of the sun.

 

The key to keeping a glass boat shining is to keep the Gel Coat sealed.

Gel Coat is the outer layer of your boat, made of polyester resin, about 1/16th of an inch thick. Pigments and polyflake are added to get your color ordered.

Boats are made inside out in a highly polished fiberglass mold.

Clear  Gelcoat is sprayed in first, then any striping/arrows, etc. are taped off and sprayed in, then the colored Gel is sprayed in.  Very time consuming and a lot of hand labor involved.
 
Gel coat is very hard, but also porous, if seen under a high powered lens you can see why dirt, scum will adhere easily to unprotected Gel Coat.  This is very noticeable on white hulled boats that are not protected, the hull starts to turn a yellowish color from the Gel Coat breakdown.  Not as noticeable on colored polyflake  boats, but it is happening when the Gel Coat is not well protected.

You see a lot of questions on boating boards asking how to " fix " dull top caps, etc.
The key is preventing Oxidation from occurring. Oxidation is what causes the dulling, and eventual breakdown of the gelcoat.

3 things are needed for Oxidation to occur :

 

 Oxygen, Heat and UV radiation.

Eliminate  one of the three and you will slow down the process.

A good wax or sealant will help to eliminate this. This wax layer diffuses (refracts) both UV and infrared radiation from the sun.

Without the wax/sealant coating, the radiation is absorbed by the pigment in the gel coat causing it to over heat, once the gel gets too hot a chemical reaction process starts that will dry out, dull and oxidize the surface.

Once oxidation gets too bad, the actual clear Gel coat will start to turn cloudy.  This is a combination of a chemical breakdown in the gel that causes a powdery white dust to form ( plastic rust ) and any other surface contaminants ( dirt/pollution,etc).

This powdery substance will settle in the pores in the gelcoat,  this is why you see the whitish, dull looking areas on boats that are not kept waxed.

The 2 most used ways to prevent oxidation are :

Protect the Gel Coat with a paste wax.
Any good paste wax with a high Carnauba content will protect.
Most retail waxes only contain between 3 % and 5 % pure Carnauba, the more Carnauba, the higher the price.

Pros = Inexpensive, easy to find decent paste wax, easy to use. Will seal the Gel Coat initially.

Cons = Most paste waxes will start to break down and melt in High air temps/humidity,  high 90 degree temps.
High air temps and friction from the water will remove a lot of the wax layer eventually.
If boat is used in these conditions, paste wax should be applied every couple of months, or sooner.
Hard to find high Carnauba content wax, can be expensive.

Another option is a Polymer  Sealer for the gel coat.

One of the best made is a product called Pro - Tec.

A Polymer sealer forms a chemical bond with the Gel Coat to seal the pores preventing contaminants from settling in the pores.

Pros = Bonds to Gel Coat , sealing pores. Usually will last up to 6 months.  Not affected by high heat/sun/brackish water.
Holds a high gloss shine.

Cons = hard to find. Boat must be stripped of any wax first before applying, use a solution like Simple Green/water to wash/strip the wax.
Two coats needed, must wait 12 hours between the 2 coats.

Once the Gel is sun damaged , then it will need to be protected regularly.  One of the easiest ways is to  keep a good wax or Sealer on, and then , after each time out, give the boat a quick wipe down with one of the quick  spray type waxes that contain a UV inhibitor.  This will not only remove the scum line and dirt from the gel, but also enhance the wax/sealer with a thin coat  of UV protection.

Bass Boat saver is an excellent product for this, contains UV inhibitors and wax.
A 5 minute wipe down at the ramp with it or any similar product will help keep your Wax/Sealant working like it should.
Another feature from using this type of wipe down product is that after  the first few times, you'll notice that the scum lines and water spots will become less noticeable and much easier to wipe off.


Basscat7

http://www.protecproducts.com/products.html

http://www.bassboatsaver.com/

Collinite makes one of the best Carnauba marine waxes, The Heavy Duty paste Fleetwax.  Here is a link for them :

http://www.waxbytes.com/marine.html

[MarkH024]

Thanks Basscat. That was a great amount of information and much appreciated.

[cadman]

Thanks Ted,

I meant to ask, did you use it on the plastic cap of your outboard too?

 

Mark,

   As I was applying it to the lower unit  just below the cowl cover, I did get some on the black cowling. It did not do any damage to it. However I did not do the whole cowling cover, as there are Mercury decals on the cover, and I don't know if it would do anything to those, so I was careful not to get anything on that.

[Traveler2586]

Mark,

   As I was applying it to the lower unit  just below the cowl cover, I did get some on the black cowling. It did not do any damage to it. However I did not do the whole cowling cover, as there are Mercury decals on the cover, and I don't know if it would do anything to those, so I was careful not to get anything on that.

 

I have lost my Mercury decals to UV damage, they curled at the edges and became very brittle; I understand it's a problem with Mercury decals, and they want $240.00 for replacements.  So I replaced them with large BR decals I got from Glenn.

 

Also, the top of my cowling turned white from UV damage.  I buffed it off with an auto rubbing compound and waxed with Mothers. I now use a spray on cleaner from BPS which contains a UV inhibitor and use an engine cover when the boat is parked.