What do you clean your boat with?
 

I had a gray boat before my new sunny with a white bottom. This white bottom always has a light brown stain that will not come off. I know slimey Grimey will take it off but I fear it takes off the gel coat with it. I also heard from another boat that "Works" toilet bowl cleaner will work but again, I'm guessing it ruins the gel coat.

What do you guys use to keep your bottoms clean? Any tips appreciated. Plus tips for what you do your vinyl with inside the boat. TIA

Slimy Grimy is a great product. I've been using it for many years and no adverse affects. It's the best product for this purpose IMHO.

$1 store degreaser as soon as it comes out of the water at the ramp with some old beach towels and the bottom stays spotless. If it dries forget it has to be wet...

Fountain of Youth Power One Cleaner. Spray on, rinse off. Will kill that brown stain in about 10 seconds or less. I am an authorized distributor so I posted a video on one of the local party spots facebook page. Here you can see how quick it works. This was diluted 50% water. Power One is non-acid based, it does not harm the gel coat or any polish/wax you may have on the boat. It will work on a wet hull, but it works better on a dry hull. I would suggest less dilution if spraying on a wet hull. In this video the boat had just come out of the water, but the staining wasn't too bad. The worse the stain the less dilution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dio3nCkiL4I&feature=youtu.be

For vinyl, leather, plastic, etc... on the interior I use Pledge. Don't use any of that scented stuff. It's worked great for years, I've used it on all my cars, and never have an issue with gray film like you get with water based products (like Armoral used to be). It has all the minerals and oils needed to keep leather clean and soft. Cheap and easy... you can't beat that, plus it's a great cleaner on top of a great conditioner.

I used Mary Kate on/off hull cleaner. Would walk under my formula on the lift and wipe it down. Worked well for me. Mild detergent diluted on interior with aerospace 303.

This stuff won't begin to touch the hard water buiidup/yellowing I get on my hull after a month or so of boating on my local lake. My boat is lift kept on a covered dock. Works eats the yellowing right off. Power One gets the yellowing to sag down a bit and that is it. Now my buddy uses Power One on his lift kept boats at LOTO and it works as advertised. So be aware that it may or may not work for you depending on the waters you boat on.

Mary Kate on off works great. Cheaper option is to buy a gallon jug of muriatic acid. cut it 50/50 with water.

Fair enuff. My only experience with it is in Lake Erie/Detroit River. That yellowing in the video is from 2 days of being in the water....

Both of these options work well, however they strip the wax and polish, and burn like hell. The Power One doesn't burn or pull the wax/polish. But as noted above, may or may not work is different conditions. Power One certainly isn't the cheapest solution at $27.00 a gallon. However in my situation I have found it to be the best for me, as the extra $$ is worth not having to reapply polish and wearing gloves/mask/etc.

I have found, here in the Detroit River, Power One actually works faster than on/off. However On/Off worked really well to dissolve calcium build up (when I first brought my Velocity home it had scale from barnacles or muscles). Toilet Bowl cleaner from the dollar store works very well too, however just like the on/off it will strip the wax/polish and is also acid based.

I believe Fountain of Youth sells quarts of the Power One, so it can be bought in smaller quantities for trial.... I am a reseller, however I only sell to my local area (to avoid stepping on toes..). Plus I don't want it to come across as if I am advertising on this post...

On/off slightly diluted.. works fabulous.. And smells great too :D: hahaha

John jr

I use this stuff, comes in powered form. I get a jug at Lowes for $14 and it makes like 20 gallons of cleaner, 1 jug a year. Acid on your gel for a few minutes is better than having a brown stain all summer :D

http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/07...02_500X500.jpg

Get the least expensive toilet bowl cleaner that you can find - a plastic garden sprayer - goggles and rubber gloves - spray the bottom of the boat let it sit a few minutes (maybe 5-10) and hose off-- what some folks do is put the boat on a trailer - spray it - let it set for a few minutes and then launch - NOT THE BEST FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. I even do the engine to some degree - but I rinse that off much quicker. I have been doing this for 30+ years and NEVER had one ounce of a problem -- in fact I have our boat on a lift but just being in the water for a few hours will put some yellow on it - I typically spray the bottom 2-3 time per season.

as with ANY cleaner try a small spot to make sure you don't screw up the finish

Safe Boating

3pointstar

Slimey Grimey here as well. Put some in a spray bottle with water, spray it on the hull when its dry and hose it off

I love that stuff

The Works toilet bowl cleaner or Sno Bowl work great. The easiest way is use a spray bottle or pump garden sprayer.
Muratic Acid works very well also. It is a little harsher if you breath it in.

Rinse very well after using any of them. All of them will stain an aluminum trailer or diamond plate so cover with plastic if needed.

All the stuff mentioned above eats a bit of your gel every time u apply it.

Read this thread: http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...-easy-use.html

This is what to use!! It works, non acid based, and won't eat gel, skin or have nasty fumes. It works!
Hard part is finding it. A local marina around here carries it, Norfolk Marine in Norfolk, Va.

Yes, once you apply something like Works to your hull you will be cleaning it more and more often as the staining reappears quicker. Not sure if it removes some of the oils in the gel or makes it more porous or both. The freshwater lake I boat on is a nuclear power plant cooling lake. A buddy of mine that slips his boat next to me has worked at the plant and says they put something in the water to help lubricate the seals for the cooling water pumps and he thinks that exasperates our hard water/staining problems.

Anyone ever notice these Acids are sold in a plastic jug? Yes they sit for years on a shelf in plastic. Sure, keep it away from metal. But I have a hard time believing it causes damage to gel.

All I know is in my experience my boats stay pretty clean the first couple seasons then the staining/deposits appear. After the initial cleaning with acid I then have to clean the hull at least twice a year. So the acid does something to the gel.

I use MaryKate On Off. Works in seconds and brings the worst stains all the way to factory white. Sure it strips wax and I have even read that it strips the factory wax from the gel. I figure why fight it since the boat sits in a slip and no matter what you do you will have to strip and re-apply wax anyways. It's unavoidable.

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Wal-mart Hull cleaner blue bottle $8 Transfer it to trigger sprayer, lightly spray on a wet hull, long handle brush push it around and all clean.

Slimy Grimy here!

Star brite Hull Cleaner from West Marine. I use a rubber glove and put a little on a sponge, wipe it on the yellow/brown spots. Leave it on 1-2 minutes and rise with a hose. Takes the discoloration right off.
I'm on the same 32 ounce bottle for a 3rd season (29' boat). $21.95

Along with the sun :D

I just tried something this weekend and it seemed to work pretty damn good.

Mothers Foaming Tire and Wheel cleaner works really good for removing exhaust soot/dirt/ etc from the transom. Just spray it on, it foams up, use a brush to scrub it around and then hose it off.

Just wanted to throw that out there

Thanks for all the replies. Lots of GREAT info.



This is like what I observed. My brother would slimey grimey his boats white bottom about every week. I used it once a year. After a while his bottom was dirtier after a weekend of boating, like the over cleaning opened the pours in the gel coat and it absorbed more of the mud stain from the river.

So now I bought an 03 Sunny, white bottom and it does the same as my brothers boat did after what I think of as over use of slimey grimey. My boat has a brown stain after one day in the water. Guessing it is due to how the previous owner(s) cleaned the boat. I don't want to make it worse by using overly porous type of cleaners but once the problem like this appears you either clean it or have a dirty bottom. Dirty bottoms bug the crap out of me.

I clean mine with a 5foot 3 skinny redhead. Seems to work pretty good! Sometimes it has to go back and clean missed spots but all in all it works pretty good! Smells great also... Heehee

I agree. It will strip all the wax so your boat will stain easier. If I washed and waxed my boat after using toilet bowl cleaner it would stay clean for a long time.

My boat stays in the Lake all year. When I take it out there is a dark brown stain. Tried Power one for the first time. Poured on a towel and wiped it on. After a minute rinsed off. Could not believe how clean and shiny it comes out.

The Works and similar acid based cleaners strip the wax along with the stain. Next time re-wax after cleaning and see the improvement.

for lighter stains i use a product called rolloff,i buy it by the gallon from west marine.apply it on a sponge,clean just like as if it was soapy water,wait one minute and rinse,walla-good as new.for heavy stains i use the works but don,t get it on you as it will burn your skin,rub it on with a soft brush and rinse after one minute.this has worked for me for a lot of years.