Cleaning / Detaining Tips

[RedDog]

Here are some cleaning / detailing tips I have learned -

1) an old tip discussed here several times is the use of Mr Clean Magic Erasures for upholstery cleaning

2) a new use of Mr Clean Magic Erasures I found today is to to clean dirty / sooty transoms. Wet the eraser down with water and just wipe the transom down. Cleans up quickly and easily.

3) someone mentioned this one recently on another post - don't remember who but it is a great one. My windshield has been crazed since I got the boat. I used a Mequires Headlight Lens Restoration kit and now my windshield looks almost new. Real quick and easy. Fixed up my son's headlights too while I was at it.

4) HarborMaster told the board this one a while back - for stained hull gel-coat bottoms, spray it down with Mcguires Cool - Hot Wheels wheel cleaner and then just rinse with water

Any other tips you want to share?

[Bamboo Loui]

I Really like the idea of using the Mr clean, but Charlie told me when I bought his boat to use the "soft scrub" on the bildge-- my bildge is pure white--looks brand new


I can't get down there myself-- but my lovely wife tried it and it worked great.

On the exhaust tips, Brian41 suggested miratic acid- have not tried that yet.

I'll try the magic erasers on the transom-- hope it works because it would be easy to use while the boat is on the lift.

the crazed glass thing I have to look at-- I thought my crazing was not just suface, but all the way through--- if you are right, I will be a happy camper!!

[VetteLT193]

The best thing to stop crazing before it starts that I have found is real Zymol. Any of them are fine, so Carbon or Creme is usually what I used in the past. Apply monthly. Same thing for Corvette Targa roof panels BTW.

If you have a newer boat: Magic eraser works on the white rub rail too.

For bottoms turning brown I still lean on FSR. Any spray I have ever used seems too aggressive and the brown comes back faster.

I'd stay away from using Muriatic acid on the boat anywhere because it will nuke the gel. It does the same thing as the spray bottom cleaners... they are all just an acid and they seem to open the pores up in the gel.

[CHACHI]

White vinegar on the tips, also good for removing scale build up.

I use Spectro motorcycle wash on the soot and massage it with a 4 inch paint brush. rinses right off.

Spray 9 on the interior.

Ken

[Ed Donnelly]

Where can one buy this Spectro motorcycle wash you speak of?? ..Ed

[CHACHI]

Where can one buy this Spectro motorcycle wash you speak of?? ..Ed

Motorcycle shop.

Are there any in Canada?

Ken

[Ranman]

For the exhause tips, start with CLR (Calcium, Lime Rust) remover. Once clean, I use a nice metal polish on the stainless like Mothers or Autosol. Not chrome polish, but metal polish.

For tough hull stains Mary Kate On/Off is the stuff. I bet the Meguires Hot Rims or whatever has a similar agent, but On/Off does the trick too. It's nasty stuff though so you have to wear a respirator and gloves and it's not good to get on your trailer. I buy cheap spray bottles and use them to spray it on my hull, lightly brush and rinse. The spray bottles only work once though cause the On/Off eats up the spring in the trigger within a day or so.

Polishes like 3M Superduty rubbing compound on a rag can get out nasty stains, scuffs, spider crap, etc. in the hull too. If they're not bad, 3M's FinesseIt II finishing polish works good.

Also, the 3M caranuba car wax is the same as the 3M Marien paste wax and is half the cost.

I figured out last year that 1000 grit wet sanding your white rubrails works nicely, It gets out all of the black scuffs, etc from docks, pilings, fenders, etc.

303 Makes excellent protective products too. I uses 303 PRotectant on my vinyls. It has UV blockers in it so it's like sunscreen for your interior.

303 Fabric Guard helps keep your Sunbrella, cockpit, covers camper tops and biminis very water resistant. The water beads up ane rolls off. We boat in all weather on the Formula and I hate it when on a rainy day the camper top starts to drip water. The 303 Fabric Guard helps big time.

For general season cleaning, I always keep a bottle of Starbrite or Spray Nine cleaner handy as well as plenty of cotton terry rags.

Lastly, If your boat canvases have Strataglass, I use only IMAR Strataglass cleaner and Strataglass polish. I use this every year and my clear vinyl windows look great.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Outdrives and propellers can be cleaned with a 50% mixture of muriatic acid and water for a quick acting cleaner, but I now prefer Zap porcelin and tile cleaner on Magic Erasers since I can clean the entire boat with it. Zap will remove mineral buildup on outdrives and propellers and those stubborn browning stains on the hull bottom with ease. The Magic Erasers can be bought cheaply on ebay now. You can buy them by the hundred or more in bulk. Zap also immediately gets those water spots that can be so hard to remove - just soak a rag with it and wash it off after seeing the results. I have turned many friends and customers on to this cleaning method and they are all blown away :yes:.
There is no way to get the cracks out of older polycarbonate plastic or regular plastic windshields, but the surface crazing and discoloring will easily polish out with 3M compounds. Sometimes it is a little easier to lightly wet sand the windshield first if it is really badly crazed. Just keep the compounding pad moving along to reduce the heat buildup or you can melt the plastic surface. Even then, it can be wet sanded and compounded back to new. Bill

[FISHIN SUCKS]

I use Acetone to clean the rub rail. works like a champ and rather effortless.

I just use the cheap erasers, they seem to work just fine for vinyl and transom cleaning.

The Works toilet bowl cleaner for the outdrives. cheap and effective.

Thetford hull cleaner works excellent for waterline and hull stains.

I also support the white vinegar for the pipes. Where metal polishes wouldn't work after buffing and buffing and re-applying, the white vinegar just wiped the crap right off, amazing.

Good Thread Tim!

[Cuda]

The best thing to stop crazing before it starts that I have found is real Zymol. Any of them are fine, so Carbon or Creme is usually what I used in the past. Apply monthly. Same thing for Corvette Targa roof panels BTW.
If you have a newer boat: Magic eraser works on the white rub rail too.
For bottoms turning brown I still lean on FSR. Any spray I have ever used seems too aggressive and the brown comes back faster.
I'd stay away from using Muriatic acid on the boat anywhere because it will nuke the gel. It does the same thing as the spray bottom cleaners... they are all just an acid and they seem to open the pores up in the gel.
Clean a brown hull with Sno Bowl or something similar. I used to take my fishboat to the Suwannee every weekend, and it would tannin stain the hull. I always used Sno Bowl and it didn't damage anything. Sno Bowl is phosphoric acid.

I've also used muriatic acid when I got the bottom of a boat covered with barnacles in three days. The acid did not bother the gel at all. It would fizz the barnacles, and then I'd scrape it with a plastic scraper. The only bad thing about using acid on the bottom is being careful not to get it in your eyes.

[Cuda]

White vinegar on the tips, also good for removing scale build up.

I use Spectro motorcycle wash on the soot and massage it with a 4 inch paint brush. rinses right off.

Spray 9 on the interior.

Ken
Vinegar is a very light acid. I've used it to take off the grout haze.
It is acetic acid. It's what you get when you ferment ethanol.

[Tony]

Great thread, RedDog, thanks for thinking of it!

:beer:

[z33donzi]

great thread// some great ideas here ive heard of some will try all thanks again guys tom mason in ky says hi too all any body going to lake Cumberland donzi meet in may ? hope to see you there

[FISHIN SUCKS]

any body going to lake Cumberland donzi meet in may ? hope to see you there
I will be there. I have even been known to do some cleaning while on the dock.......and sometimes even on other peoples boats. I just can't stand to see dirty pipes. See ya there,
tom

[Bamboo Loui]

just thought I would show you guys the before and after of our pontoon boat. The polishing of the toons took just under 4 hours using a Flex 3401 and orange pads from autogeek.
Been a big fan of the metal wax system for years- the before pic is a toon that was polished 4 years ago and then we did them on Saturday-- pretty happy with the product.
the before pic is a sunny day-- today we are overcast--

[dr]

great thread and timely as well as I de-winterize this week…all I need now is a skinny woman for those hard to reach areas….

Edited to clarify I DON”T have a fat woman, rather I have no women….anyway….just doing my best to be politically correct…and cautious in the event my formers wife’s attorney should read this

[Cuda]

The best thing to stop crazing before it starts that I have found is real Zymol. Any of them are fine, so Carbon or Creme is usually what I used in the past. Apply monthly. Same thing for Corvette Targa roof panels BTW.
If you have a newer boat: Magic eraser works on the white rub rail too.
For bottoms turning brown I still lean on FSR. Any spray I have ever used seems too aggressive and the brown comes back faster.
I'd stay away from using Muriatic acid on the boat anywhere because it will nuke the gel. It does the same thing as the spray bottom cleaners... they are all just an acid and they seem to open the pores up in the gel.
I used Sno-Bowl on my fishboat for 20 years, and it didn't nuke the gel. It's phosphoric acid.

[Cuda]

I use Acetone to clean the rub rail. works like a champ and rather effortless.
I just use the cheap erasers, they seem to work just fine for vinyl and transom cleaning.
The Works toilet bowl cleaner for the outdrives. cheap and effective.
Thetford hull cleaner works excellent for waterline and hull stains.
I also support the white vinegar for the pipes. Where metal polishes wouldn't work after buffing and buffing and re-applying, the white vinegar just wiped the crap right off, amazing.
Good Thread Tim!
Acetone will collect in your liver. Wear gloves. I didn't know that and used acetone to clean my hands when using epoxy flooring.

[gcarter]

If the hull is just downright grungy, I use acetone on all of it....paint, gel, etc.
Then I polish.