Cleaning your boats

[ragingrhino]

So I just got my first boat Yamaha SX250 and pick it up from the dealer on 7/16. What is everyones cleaning methods?

I’ll be trailering it everywhere so do i wash it after every trip out? Whats the best cleaner for the hull? Interior?

Also there may be a couple trips a year where I’ll put it on salt water so whats the cleaning process after that?

Any help is appreciated

 

[Babin Farms]

In fresh water we loaded it on trailer and pulled to a spot out of the way at the marina, used a spray wax & towels to wipe it down each time after an outing. In salt water I trailer it home, flush engines with salt away, wash with soap, rinse with clear water then use salt away, rinse and use spray wax/towel wipe down before covering. A LOT more time involved when boating in salt water.

 

[ragingrhino]

In fresh water we loaded it on trailer and pulled to a spot out of the way at the marina, used a spray wax & towels to wipe it down each time after an outing. In salt water I trailer it home, flush engines with salt away, wash with soap, rinse with clear water then use salt away, rinse and use spray wax/towel wipe down before covering. A LOT more time involved when boating in salt water.

Awesome thanks for the tips. What brand soap/spray wax do you prefer?

 

[Acard7]

Buy some magic erasers for hard stains. Use 303UV to protect the seats after cleaning them. I honestly use pledge spray to clean different parts of the interior if there is mud or something.

I use boat/car wash soap for the hull itself, then spray with the turtle wax that you put on while it’s still wet and just wipe off with a shammy. At the end of the season I do use starbrite hull cleaner for the bottom if it gets pretty bad due to lake water staining, then wash it off with soap and water and re-wax it, due to the starbrite stripping any wax off the hull.

I will say, you could spend a lot of time wiping the boat down and cleaning/vacuuming after every trip on the water.. I don’t do that, and I sleep just fine at night. Now I don’t have a super new boat like you, so maybe I would if I did! Just remember there will always be time to clean it, so make more memories on the water than stressing about cleaning it frequently! Unless you’re on salt water, then clean and flush after every use!

 

[Coult45]

I can't speak to salt water usage, other than to say - listen to these guys or suffer the consequences.

Regarding fresh water usage, I'll bet you get a few answers on here that make your head spin. Many of our members are...thorough. Obsessed. Committed. I'll admit to being a little less so. We're on a lift all summer with no access to fresh water for cleaning. And our lake is "nutrient rich" which means mostly cloudy most of the time. Cleaning the boat with lake water doesn't really accomplish much. So, my boat gets REALLY clean in the fall and again in the spring, then gathers some signs of use through the summer. Luckily, it's just me, my wife, and our dog. Boat stays pretty clean. And I find that Simple Green is a pretty solid all-around cleaner. Worked magic on my marine mat last fall.

If I was trailering regularly, I'd probably rinse every time. F'ing spiders.

 

[drewkaree]

Firstly, go update your location in your profile.

No matter how fine of an abrasive it is, make no mistake, Magic Erasers ARE abrasive. It may be perfectly fine for the area you use it on, or it may be in a spot that doesn't show (which begs the question of why use it there?)

Decide what your attitude will be towards the boat. It may change after your first cleaning, more, or less. Search around here, there's a wealth of info.

My preferences now:
303 is great for the interior

Boat Juice (green) is great for quick cleaning right after pulling it out

Hot Sauce used to be my preference before boat juice, but I don't like smelling like a douche, even if I am one

CRC6-56 gets sprayed on the pumps and anywhere I want to limit corrosion

Simple green for the rear swim platform, any "purple" degreaser if Simple Green isn't enough

Find the toilet bowl cleaner recipe around the forums here for cleaning the Hull below the water line, may have been posted by @MrBubbaGump, can't recall

Aquapel or Rain-X for the glass (I like Aquapel for my cars, using up my Rain-X on the boat, and may have found another cheaper solution vs Aquapel)

303 Fabric Guard for the mooring cover

303 Graphene for the exterior "wax" (used to be Rejex, still like it, but prefer the 303)

You will have to figure out what products you like best, so look for smaller sizes of things, and spend the extra for those sizes while you "sample" things. It's worth the higher cost for smaller sizes so you don't feel "stuck" with a product just because you spent a lot for the better deal

No product is perfect, someone will have issues with it, so play with all the suggestions you'll get, and see, around here, and decide what you like. Go try to find these suggestions, smell them, look for smaller sizes, etc.

Spray your trailer with Bifenthrin if you hate spiders like @Coult45 , it can be found for $20, and use 1oz per gallon of water, in a sprayer.

 

[Babin Farms]

Awesome thanks for the tips. What brand soap/spray wax do you prefer?

For soap I just use whatever we use tor the cars which is usually a turtle wax soap and as far as spray wax I use whatever was on sale when we needed some. As you can tell I’m not too particular as long as it gets the job done. The 303 protectant is a must for the Upholstry no matter where you live or what water you boat in.

 

[ragingrhino]

Thanks for all the tips. Looks like i have some shopping to do and now you all have given me a starting point. Appreciate it.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I boat in fresh water and there is a lot of minerals in the water. I use vinegar and water at 1:1 in a spray bottle and a soft brush to remove hard water spots, then rinse and dry. My boat has a raw water wash down system on it, so I usually wash down the deck and such while I’m still on the water.

I do not wash the rest of the boat after every outing, maybe every 10 outings or so when the hard water spots start to pile up, then the boat gets a field day.

Im fond of the Star Brite products;
Boat wash Boat Wash I use this with the soft brush on a pole a couple of times on the outside of the hull until the water spots don’t come off.
Deck cleaner Non-Skid Deck Cleaner I do not have marine mat in my boat just gel coat with non skid, this stuff works great with the stiff brush on a pole to get the deck clean. I will also use Dawn dish soap to wash the deck most of the time on dry land and use the deck cleaner for a deeper cleaning.
Vinyl polish Vinyl Cleaner & Polish This stuff is the bomb to get vinyl clean, takes some elbow grease but you’ll be amazed at what comes off. This is occasional use, when regular soap and water won’t get the vinyl clean.
Vinyl guard. Ultimate Vinyl Guard I use on my truck interior as well, smells good and lasts a long time.
Extending handle with soft brush 3'-6' Standard Extending Handle With 8' Soft Deluxe Brush
Deck Brush Scrub Brush (White)

Eraser pads; better boat makes some as well as the Mr. Clean ones, as mentioned above, these are abrasive, so use a light touch, just enough to remove that stubborn spot.

Soft Scrub; I’ll use this occasionally to remove stubborn spots or stains from the gel coat deck or from my white vinyl, be smart about using this product.

Boat drying towel Amazon.com

I finish by waxing the vertical surfaces only with this spray on wax. Don’t wax any horizontal area where you could step or you’ll end up on your ass! This product was recommended to me by Advantage the ceramic coating company that I had put on my boat when new.

Amazon.com

Get a can of silicone spray and spray down your engines, engine bay, wiring connectors, and inside the aft bilge area to put a corrosion inhibiting layer on everything.

When you boat in salt water you’ll need to flush your engines with salt away, it’s also a great product to wash the salt off your boat with. When you go boating in salt water, take along a Hudson sprayer with a salt away solution in it and spritz off your trailer brakes and springs then the rest of the trailer when you park after launching. Take enough to be able to do the same after retrieving your boat, this will greatly extend the life of your trailer components.

 

[TommyMcK]

I may be the odd man out on this one. Regular old water from a hose and a nice brush on a pole is all that's regularly needed on the hull for me.. Same water, brush and poll for the interior and deck for the most part. While I'll use a spray bottle of whatever vinyl cleaner I happen to have on the vinyl, I don't think it does much more than a sponge and water.

Regarding salt water, I've kept a boat on a lift on the southern Chesapeake (Crisfield) for decades, which is not quite open ocean salt, but it's way on the salt side of brackish. I was religious about flushing after operating. And I also use ACF50 on anything I don't want to corrode once a season....

I've always been on the water and had a lift, but I pull the boat at the end of the season and give it a full detail (lately including ceramic). That has always kept me ahead of any real staining of fading. I'm also down in SW Florida now, so we'll see how much my routine will need to change (if at all).

 

[Babin Farms]

The reason for using the 303 on the Upholstry is mainly due to keeping it protected from the UV rays. It helps slightly with keeping mildew from setting into the vinyl also making removal a little easier.

 

[Acard7]

The reason for using the 303 on the Upholstry is mainly due to keeping it protected from the UV rays. It helps slightly with keeping mildew from setting into the vinyl also making removal a little easier.

I’ve used 303 religiously since ownership (thanks to the forum for recommending) and can’t recommend it enough, going on our 4th season. I’ve never used any sort of damp-rid while it’s covered outside or in storage. The interior is still like-new from when we bought the boat. The stuff works for sure!

Also an observation, I use a shammy to apply it. The other day I tried to use the same shammy to suck up excess water out of the front bow cooler. The 303 waterproofed the shammy, it just floated, wouldn’t absorb any water!

 

[Cambo]

Over 25 years on salt water I have it figured out to the best possible out come in the quickest time. Using a big kahuna home made copy that runs on a 20v drill battery with the 4.7 gallon size container, after launching I take the shower out of the truck and rinse the salt water off the leaf springs breaks. Then when the boat is pulled out for the day the balance of the water is used to rinse the hull and trailer again. Grab the 12" hand squeegee clearing 90% of the water off then towel dry. This eliminates any salt residue that leaves abrasive salt deposit by the time you drive home that take time to remove. Two to three times a year 303 uv protection occasionally a brush is needed to get the scum line . I try not to use soap I feel that it washes off the 303 protection .

 

[Cambo]

For UV protection this is my new solution to repurpose the winter shrink wrap. I have the boat wrap guy use the large wrap that costs a little more this covers 90% of the sun exposure areas . In the spring I cut off the tie down areas cut the wrap in the back so it can be slipped off. This wrap keeps the boat bone dry as well and my black boat cover that's used for road trips will last triple it's life expectancy, no matter what I try the black cover let's rain water inn all of you that use them know that. It takes a little longer than doing the factory cover but it's the best protection for somone with no garage that will fit a boat.

 

[TommyMcK]

Mildew that builds up when stored is certainly a thing, so maybe I'll give that stuff a try. Once it sets in, scrubbing with a bit of bleach in water in direct sunlight works miracles though....but over my many years of boating, upholstery has always been white with dark accents. My 255XD has that tan chil-cool stuff for upholstery. As "cool" as that looks, I'm a bit skeptical as to how that will hold up over time. We'll see.

 

[Babin Farms]

I’ve never used any sort of damp-rid while it’s covered outside or in storage.

I never had an issue with mildew until I moved out of the Midwest. Let it sit for a few weeks and no problem, even if it’s humid and rains occasionally Down here the dew points are rarely under 70* and the constant moisture can create mildew issues if the boat sits for a month or more.

 

[Acard7]

I never had an issue with mildew until I moved out of the Midwest. Let it sit for a few weeks and no problem, even if it’s humid and rains occasionally Down here the dew points are rarely under 70* and the constant moisture can create mildew issues if the boat sits for a month or more.

I’d take the trade off of no snow and year round boating weather ?

 

[Babin Farms]

I’d take the trade off of no snow and year round boating weather ?

It is nice. Took me just over 4 months from the time I started interviews to the time I moved so I should see you down here around November. Plenty of housing to choose from so no excuses. ?

 

[drewkaree]

I’d take the trade off of no snow and year round boating weather ?

 

[WiskyDan]

Here’s what we do in-season:

• The marina that I store my boat at has a pressure washer next to the boat ramp so I use it to clean the hull/trailer every time we pull out.
• Clean the exterior with Hot Sauce after every outing.
• Clean the vinyl with Vinyl Sauce as needed.
• Clean windshield as needed.
• Use hand vac to remove debris in crooks/crannies and around Maine Mat.
• Clean flooring as needed - I have snap-in Marine Mat in the tub so I remove it and take it home for cleaning If necessary.

I used 303 protectant religiously on my vinyl during my first few years but I wanted a cleaner so I switched to Vinyl Sauce. I recently discovered that Vinyl Sauce doesn’t provide any UV protection so I either have to grab some 303 or find something that cleans and offers UV protection in the same step.

EDIT: Anyone have experience with Meguiar’s Extreme Marine Vinyl and Rubber Protectant? It’s a cleaner that also provides UV protection all in one step which is what I’m looking for.