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The following regimen is
the one to which I adhere for the boats I presently maintain for folks.
All products were tested and work as advertised – or better. General Boat Cleaning Every Two to Four Weeks (or after trips): Using a mild soap (Starbrite Boat Wash or biodegradable car wash soap [Meguiar’s] ) mixed with water, wash down and rinse entire boat (no boat soap on canvas - use Starbrite Canvas Cleaner or just rinse with water). Dry with an Absorber and/or towel. More on canvas later. See http://www.autobarn.net/absydrch27x1.html for more info on Absorber. They can be purchased at almost any automotive supply place or Wal-Mart, Target, etc. Clear plastic should be washed with mixture of Dawn or Joy and water. Rinse thoroughly and dry with a soft, terry cloth towel. Monthly, you should complete cleaning and conditioning the surfaces by using Plexus™ or, for a little more money, IMAR®. I prefer IMAR – easy to use, no streaks and looks fantastic. You can check them out at: http://www.autogeek.net/plexplasclea.html (Plexus) http://www.scalisemarine.com/IMAR.htm (IMAR) Plexus and IMAR can also be purchased at West Marine – but shop around the Internet for better deals. For stubborn scratches on your clear, try Meguiar’s PlastX (Advanced Auto). See info at: http://www.autogeek.net/meplclplclpo.html. PlastX is great for cleaning your car’s headlight covers too. I resurrected one person’s clear by using Soft Scrub and a wet sponge, then a PlastX treatment followed by an application of IMAR. Great results. If your canvas is ready for a good cleaning, I cover that a little further on in the document. Don’t forget the non-skid. West Marine and Starbrite both make excellent Non-Skid Deck Cleaners. Starbrite contains PTEF, which provides UV protection. Attwood is what I’m now using – it’s available at Wal-Mart and the price is great. Rust stains around your raw/gray water ports on the hull? I’ve found that Starbrite’s Rust Stain Remover works great. Good prices on Starbrite & other marine products at Defender: http://www.defender.com/ Once you at the site, just enter “Starbrite” in search keyword. Between Washings: For the very fussy (like me), I prefer to rinse the entire boat + Canvas & Plastic with fresh water the weeks in between washings. Dry with Absorber and/or soft towel. Mother Nature and gulls never sleep. Waxing Frequency: I use a standard, Drop-Dead minimum, of twice a year - Spring and Fall for my customers. It’s also advisable to get the topside surfaces waxed for a third time around July (early morning or late afternoon). There are several good cleaner-waxes and waxes that I’ve found that give the best results. I discuss which I use, and when, below. Don’t wax without first thoroughly washing the entire boat. Types of Wax to consider for your particular situation: No or very light oxidation - Pure wax (very little or no cleaning additives). I’ve had good luck with (in my order of preference) 3M Scotchgard Liquid Wax, Trewax and Heller Glanz Carnauba Wax. The only place I’ve found the Heller Glanz is at: http://www.hellerglanz.com/CarnubaCreamWax.htm. It’s a great, easy wax to apply and take off. I’m going to try their Cleaner Wax next (look around their web site for that one). Trewax may be found at West Marine, but Shipstore.Com has it (as well as other marine products) much cheaper. See: http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/MKT/MKT66.html. This is also easy to use. Mild Oxidation - Mild Cleaner/Wax such as Collinite 870, Meguiar’s Flagship Premium Wax and either Starbrite Premium Cleaner Wax or Premium Marine Polish will all do a very nice job. Heller Glanz Cleaner Wax should perform if it’s as good as their carnauba. Moderate Oxidation – A more aggressive Cleaner/Wax, such as 3M Marine Color/Gloss Restorer, 3M Cleaner and Wax or Meguiar’s #67 One-Step Compound all work well (these products are listed in the order of their aggressiveness - least abrasive to most). The Meguiar’s is my personal favorite. It did a great job for me recently when I was attempting to bring out the finish on a faded, dark blue hull – and it’s not too hard to use. When using any of these products, do not apply in a circular motion – always use a brisk, short, back and forth rubbing motion. When rubbing product into the surface, rub until it almost disappears, then buff with a soft, micro-fiber cloth. If these products don’t do the job, it’s time to bite the bullet and have the boat professionally machine compounded and waxed. Expect to pay about $30 a foot (hull and above water-line). Try Tidewater Marine. Don’t forget the stainless and chrome. For lightly oxidized surfaces, I first clean things up with NEVR-Dull®. Then I use Collinite #850 Metal Wax. Unless you get in real salty water, this will hold up quite a few months. If I’m having problems with heavy oxidation and stains in the metalwork, I go to a 3 step process: (1) Use NEVR-Dull to get as much as possible cleaned, (2) use Flitz Metal Polish (Liquid or Paste), then (3) the Collinite Metal Wax. This process will make the boat’s metal look near new. All of the metal cleaning/waxing products are at West Marine or Defender.Com. West Marine prices for the Flitz products are not too bad. Final detailing. When you’re done cleaning and waxing everything, don’t forget to apply Meguiar's #57 Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner Conditioner to all rubber, vinyl and plastic surfaces. This goes for the engine room also - all rubber hoses, etc. will last longer. Keep conditioner away from drive belts please. Gaskets around fridge/icemaker and all hatches should be treated as well. Meguiar's is a great detailing tool that will help your boat stand out at the marina (as an excellent alternative, Griot’s Vinyl and Rubber Dressing can be used- See below). I use the Meguiars on all vinyl surfaces and the Griot’s product on all rubber surfaces. If I had to have only one in the bag, it would be the Meguiars. Don’t forget your seats. Meguiar's #57 works great on these too. If your seats, or other vinyl, have mildewed, I recommend first using 3M Marine Mildew Stain Remover. Mildew in engine compartment and hard to reach areas – 3M Marine Mildew Stain Remover and 3M Marine Mildew Block work great to take it off and keep it off. Cleaning Canvas For cleaning your canvas (every 6 to 8 weeks recommended):
If stubborn stains persist, you can use a diluted chlorine bleach/soap mixture for spot cleaning of mildew, roof run-off and other similar stains. Prepare a special cleaning mixture for those stubborn stains/spots:
Some Additional Cleaning Products For your glass and mirrors (boat and home): Griot’s Garage Window Cleaner (don’t forget to order the microfiber cloth used for windows). If you have water spots or stains that you can’t get off, try Griot’s Glass Polish (heavy spots) or Fine Glass Polish (light cleaning). Stainless Steel appliances can be nicely cleaned with Griot’s Metal Cleaner (Sharon swears by it). GoHere If you’re a car nut, as I am, try Griot’s car care products. I use Best of Show Wax, Speed Shine, Hand Polish, Spray-On Wax and Vinyl and Rubber Dressing (Good for the boat too – makes hoses and weather-stripping look great). Adam’s polishes also make some great car-care products Go to: http://www.griotsgarage.com/index.jsp or http://www.adamspolishes.com/ Once you start getting the catalogs, you’ll go nuts deciding what to buy next. Some last thoughts on
where to buy boating supplies. Shopping around the Internet will
yield some good prices. However, once you’ve found the best deal, print
out the information on the PC Monitor screen and take it to West Marine.
They have a price matching program and will work with you to make their
prices more in line with their competitors – and you can get most things
the same day. Almost everything I buy for boat work is available at West
Marine. Talk to Keith, Ed or Bill. Some Thoughts on Trouble Free Running Monthly and before/after trips over an hour in duration
Spare Parts to Carry
How to keep your (boat’s) bottom clean. For the Neuse area I recommend using Interlux CSC Extra or Pettit Trinidad SR Bottom Paint Outdrives – have them scraped, sanded, primed and painted every year if boat stays in the water. Interlux Trilux Prop and Drive paint From June 1st to Oct 1st – Boat must be run every ten days or dived on every 2 – 3 weeks – or bottom and running gear will foul.
Note your max RPM and speed at WOT in early May (assuming your hull and running gear have been properly maintained). If at any time during the boating season you start falling short of these benchmarks, and you can’t get the numbers to come up after running at WOT for 10 minutes or so, it’s time to have a diver check the bottom. Barnacles will usually not come off the surfaces even when the boat is run hard. Any questions or comments? I’ll be glad to incorporate any additional information into this article for future distribution You can reach me by email at ewbusch@earthlink.net or call me. Ed Busch “Klean Freak” 252-259-2985 |
