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Hi All,

I am looking for some advice on deep cleaning. I bought my boat (2002 Ventura 180) late in the season it was in very good shape but it really needed a good cleaning. Rather than worry about it for the remainder of the season I put it in the water and used it- no regrets there. It's on the trailer now but once the shrink wrap comes off and the weather breaks I want to make it look like it should. I tried a few cleaning products to use at the dock and I found that bathroom SoftScrub worked best for removing mildew etc. with a LOT of hard scrubbing. Since it is in the driveway i would like to use the pressure washer and clean it well before waxing. Anybody got any advice on this? The finish is pretty dull already but I don't want to do any damage. There is a scum line to get rid of too and although the bottom paint is in good shape I wonder how much power washing is safe there without ruining the bottom paint or anything else. I have some Woody Wax for the floors and Collinite paste wax for the hull and gunwales which was recommended but I figure it better be really clean before applying that. I'm hoping that once I get it clean it will be easier to keep it that way.

Thanks in advance and here's hoping for a short winter
Tom

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Please be VERY careful with a pressure washer.

The wrong tip will damage the gelcoat, rip a cushion or force water into places it should not be. The washer will remove dirt but not the dullness. The lack of shine is from the top layer of gelcoat having oxidized.

You need to kill the spores of the mold. Bleach.

Remember to thoroughly rise off any cleaner that has an acid ingredient.

To remove the oxidation you need to detail the boat.It is a labor intensive process that can be made easier with some tools. A good random speed polisher/buffer and a cordless drill.

My personal choices:

Polisher:https://www.amazon.com/PORTER-CABLE-7...e+polisher

Brush head: https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys-...MFPJ1BKQNK

I have a new-to-me 1992 Outrage that needs to be cleaned up. I will start by inspecting the boat carefully and sealing any holes. Old holes covered with a screw will get reinstalled with sealant just in case.

I will start with a bucket of water and Simple Green, a good biodegradable cleaning product. For the non-skid I a brush attachment.

After a good rinse, I will buff out the hull starting with a mid-cut restorer using a wool bonnet on a polisher. If you have a chalky film, start with a heavy duty compound. Follow that with a finishing product then boat wax.

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I agree with Phil. Cleaning the surface is pretty much better served using Simple Green and a Hose with a decent nozzle. My experience with pressure washing bottom paint usually means you will blow off some of the paint no matter how careful you are and end up touching up or re bottom painting entirely. If you use a medium bristle scrub brush or boat brush lightly on the bottom paint followed by a spray with the hose, you will get nice results. After all, that is why almost all bottom paints are ablative, meaning they should wear away evenly kind of like a bar of soap. As for the topsides, no amount of pressure washing or hand waxing will shine up a chalky oxidized boat like a good buffing as Phil suggests. The key is having a good machine such as a Milwaukee or Makita with a higher RPM and a wool bonnet and some good 3M Cleaner Wax for Heavier Oxidation. If you search on youtube you will find many how too videos on the subject. This is a skill you will have to master if you stay in boating and want your vessels to stand tall as I have been buffing boats for almost my entire 30 year boating "career". You can also go to Harbor Freight and they have a Knock off copy of a buffer based on the Makita Model for around $60 bucks or so, it would make a great starter tool and you can graduate to something better later, but make sure to get ear protection as the cheaper motor really, "screams" at higher RPM's. I buff my 15 foot Dauntless and 36 foot Silverton Sedan Bridge at the beginning of every season and give them a heavy coat of West Marine wax and by the end of a 4-5 month season of being in the water with just seat cushion covers and the boats again gets chalky and needs to be buffed again before the following season. Your first time it may seem like a lot of work and it kind of is, or if you have more money than time you could pay the marina $500 or so and they would take care of it for you.

Jim G.

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Re the scum line- I use Lysol toilet bowl cleaner for iron and lime in the black accented bottle. Works almost as well as Marykate On-Off but doesn't strip the bottom paint nearly as aggressively as the on-off. A lot cheaper too.

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Thanks for the tips. I figured a pressure washer could get me into trouble.I'll start with the mild cleaners and work my way up to On-Off if I have to. Just reading the label scared me

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I use the spray-on hull cleaner from Academy Sports(Texas). You spray it on and then wash it down with water. I've never seen anything else work as fast. I don't use it every time I clean the boat, only when it gets really bad. I also wax the hull a couple times a year to keep it looking good.

As for the harbor freight buffer, I agree that it is a screamer!! I"ve never heard a buffer sound that bad. I'd pay the extra $50 and go with a Makita before I bought another one from Harbor Freight.

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Sorry to pile on...but having ruined many valuable things from telescopes and cameras to cars and ignition systems because of overzealous cleaning I would take Phil's caution on pressure cleaning seriously.

In my experience using the mildest methods....physically and chemically speaking will yield superior results. Subsequently my aim is to avoid serious soiling in the first place to the extent possible.