cleaning my alum. boat

[wahoohendoo]

is their any easy way of cleaning the outside of my boat from the years of stain build up. i briefly scrub it up each fall when i winterize but would like to give it a good scrub before the season. any products,tools(buffer?)rags etc.thank you

[Jim Almquist]

I used undiluted vinegar to clean the scum off the paint and then washed it with soap and it turned out pretty nice.

[Steve Bakken]

Depends on how carried away you want to get, but we've had great luck with customer's boats using rubbing compound with a wool pad on an electric buffer

[goose89]

Once you do get it clean, the best and easiest way to keep it clean is simply take 5 minutes each time you take it out and wipe it down with a chamois or a SHAMWOW!!! type cloth.

I used to do the once a year soap /chemical/ elbow grease scrub (burning eyes and arms) with mixed results and who knows what to the finish. I've been simply wiping it down after each use while still wet for 2 yrs now and it still looks like new. Good luck!

[Bottle Fish]

I use a pressure washer and it works great. It does take time but I think it is easier than scrubbing it off.

goose89 has some good advice as well. I will start to clean after every year after reading that post. Never did that.

[solbes]

There's a Starbrite polish that I use in the fall after washing that helps get rid of the chalking. It's got Kerosene in it and seems pretty effective. If you apply it twice within 30 days, it will help keep the scum from forming the next year.

[Genofish]

Vinegar works awesome and "The Works" dilluted for the stubborn

water spots on the lower unit. I wax my boat before i put it away and again around July

[NELS-BELLS]

CLR is the only thing that I have found to work with minimal elbow grease. I have a Crestliner and it works great on getting those stubborn hard water stains off the boat and motor. I do small areas at a time and rinse them off good before moving on to the next area. The stuff is very strong but I've never had a problem with it taking paint or decals off. Make sure you wear rubber gloves.

Nels

[Dale Rueber]

Prior to purchasing my boat it spent a summer in a slip. The buildup was really thick on the waterline and the only thing I found that worked really well was a product called Zing Hull Cleaner. I also used a sponge was covered with the plastic mesh (pot & pan scrubber) to apply the solution and with a little elbow grease it came off.

[norma]

Last year on my way to Leech I ran over some exterior latex paint. By the time I got to Leech it was baked on and hard as a rock. I am still trying to get some off. Anyone have am idea that would work and not damage the paint on an aluminum boat?

[Sutty]

I'll second the works. No elbow grease required. Spray it on the stuff just bubbles off. For the real thick stuff you might have to put it on a few times or scrub. Make sure you rinse it off good afterwords

Oh and it costs like a buck fifty a bottle to.

[WaveWacker]

Straight Vinegar. Works great on mine. May need a little elbow grease depending on how difficult/old the stains are.

[NELS-BELLS]

Well I did the vinegar vs CLR test and CLR won. I mixed the CLR at about 80% CLR to 20% water. The vinegar I did not dilute and it said 5% on the bottle. I will say that vinegar did work OK on the Mercurcy motor but hardly fased those stubborn water spots on the blue paint of my Crestliner. CLR was the only thing that took it off and it didn't require much elbow grease.

CLR is a strong chemical and so I only did small portions at a time and then rinsed the area off with water, imediately after. When I was done cleaning the whole boat, I waxed it with some Teflon boat polish and it looks like brand new.

Nels

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Last year on my way to Leech I ran over some exterior latex paint....

I'm always amazed how many bone-heads manage to drop cans of paint out of their truck. Close the tailgate morons!!!

[broken_line]

paint the boat camo and you will never see that build up lol! i like to use a hot pressure washer with works, pinesolve and dawn dish soap makes it clean enough to literly eat off of