How do you clean YOUR props?
 

I know everyone has their own ideas and tricks. I've just been using FJ to polish my Merc OB CNC cleavers after extended in-water use. But that's $500+ so I thought I'd ask.

I'm sure there are several "right" ways and a few wrong ones. LOL

I had a satin finished cleaver from Bblades that would get tarnished a little. If I wanted to destroy my elbow for an afternoon chrome polish would work. Got sick of that. Brett told me toilet bowl cleaner. I was thinking of trying CLR as well, but my merc polished cleavers stay nice and clean.

Greg, you talking about the greying that happens from hard water deposits. Usually on lakes I find more than from ocean. If so, Tim created the fix for that! The Bio Kleen Fiberglass Hull & Pontoon Cleaner is freakin' MAGIC!!! Barrett turned me on to it and I swear dude, it works CRAZY good. Super easy to use too. Just wet the surface down, spray the cleaner on, use your (gloved) hand or a wet rag with some more cleaner on it and gently wipe the affected area. Don't even need to scrub, just wipe. It takes away all the scaling nasty haze with barely any effort. Then spray off. I use it on the external steering, tie bar, exhaust tips and props. Just don't get it on any plastic coated wires or hoses, if it sits on it too long it will stain them.

Here's our Exhaust tips before and after running in Havasu last April for 10 straight days with out cleaning. You know how hard Havasu water is on stuff.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...b9c86d2b32.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...7e0c382c65.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...a08ec8c08d.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...e03bde7ee5.jpg

The toilet bowl cleaner, the fancy hull sprays, all have the same thing in common…Muriatic acid, which is extremely cheap in gallons at your hardware store.

I clean stainless props, and headers tails all the time with acid on a rag. It will even take the discolored exhaust back to new after a blown impeller or overheat. No polishing, just wipe and rinse. The trick is to keep it far away from aluminum and other metals.

That's the thing about this biokleen. Works as good as Muriatic acid but doesn't have the muriatic acid side affects. Also safe for aluminum. Stuffs amazing. Not very expensive as I recall either.

With prop wash. Duh.

I have always used hull cleaner. I’m going to order the bio clean and give it a try

I use a product called Zing which is an aluminum pontoon cleaner. Similar product to what Tank posted. Used to be readily available at various place at LOTO but harder to find now. There was a red and a blue bottle. You wanted the blue bottle. Way less aggressive and still did the job. I used it on my outdrives, props, exhaust tips, swim ladders, etc. I applied it with these fuzzy toilet bowl cleaners that Ozark BBQ used to sell at the lake. I’ll try to find one to post a pic of.

Dude, if dirt and scum is accumulating on your props, your are simply not running it hard enough. MAN UP !!!!!!!

If there is some mineral build up, spray them with some Zep tub and tile cleaner and scrub with a brush. Its mildly acidic, but not as much as toilet or hull cleaners.
Are you wanting a mirror finish?? Then buff using some Mother's mag & aluminum polish.
You can do it by hand or use a drill with a buffing attachments