BOAT CLEANING AND CARE

Clean up your boat! Here's how to clean a variety of surfaces found on a modern boat. A clean boat sells for a better price! And extends its life. No more smelly toilets!

Boat hull waxing

After washing, and rinsing, boat hulls should be re-waxed. This gives added protection to the hull gel coat to the anti - fouling layer If the hull is not completely cleaned, then use a cutting fluid like "T-Cut" to finally clean before waxing. Do not wax over dirt and do not expect cutting fluid to clean as a detergent will. When waxing use a good quality carnauba wax and apply several coats. This should cover all the minor surface pitting.
Anti-fouling, which can be a self - cleaning coating, can be washed down without damage to the coating, but obviously this coating doesn't need waxing. One good cleaning before the start of the season should ensure that your boat will stay that way throughout the season. And it looks good for far longer.

Gel coat cleaning and GRP cleaning

Gel coat is found on boats, planes, trucks, and even the nose of some of the more modern designed trains is gel coat. It may be seen as signage, and is used much more extensively in the construction industry, than would first appear. Gel coat is the surface you clean; the material is GRP, which is lined to the outside with the gel coat. So when the GRP is constructed, the gel coat is the first surface laid down and it acts as a protector for the GRP fibres (fibres mixed with epoxy resin) It needs cleaning.
Take a look at a boat hull after it has just been lifted out of the water. This is more obviousbecause it is usually white, but gel coat will get as soiled on trucks and planes. It needs cleaning before it is waxed. You cannot repair it unless it has been cleaned and it should be regularly inspected for damage - cracks and holes will lead to more substantial damage in the lower layers of the GRP. So in your GRP care and repair program, cleaning has to be done first.
Here's how.

Use a mix of 2-5% caustic soda detergent and about the same of citrus (d-limonene) degreaser in welldiluted solution of water. You should be able to buy this combination of detergent from a janitorial supply.
Leave the gel coat in soak for up to half an hour and rinse off. The detergent should be applied with a soft brush, and you use the brush to wash down as you rinse off. You should be careful of pressure washing gel coat if it has cracks and holes in it. A soak and a gentle rinse is enough to restore the surface colour for all applications. Remember that every time you wash the gel coat you also remove the wax protection.
If the gel coat is coated with a polyester coating, then leave out the caustic soda. Or use a non-caustic detergent. You will need a strong-ish alkaline to be effective, but caustic soda acts as a paint stripper in concentratedsolutions (over 10%) What you use depends on the level of soiling on the gel coat.
Heavy traffic film will need the caustic based detergent to be effective. Do not use bleach to clean gel coat.

Carbon Fibre cleaning

Carbon fibre is found in many applications including bicycles, boats and motorbikes as well as in the construction industry. It is cleaned by using a very mild detergent and can be restored by using T-Cut or similar polishing compound, although any excess rubbing will damage the coating. It should not be cleaned by solvents, which will also damage the coating. For expert advice on carbon fibre see fibre-lyte.

Paint removal for gelcoat

Do not use ordinary paint stripper to remove paint from gelcoat or wooden hulls as it contains a harsh solvent -Methylene Chloride. Choose a specific marine paint remover as it is a lot safer to you and your boat, application is usually just a case of brushing it on to the surface and leaving until the paint softens.

Rust removal

Is done using oxalic or phosphoric acid as sold as proprietary rust removers. Remove rust after initial cleaning; do not remove rust until the surface itself is clean. These rust removers will restore metal surfaces for further treatment, you can remove rust off gel coat in relative safety with these acids, and these acids will also remove water staining. Rinse off acids well before drying the surface. On a steel - hulled boat you may find it necessary to wash the whole of the hull with acid, after the first clean. Only you can determine this and you do this by looking at the surface.
On carpet and materials, do not use phosphoric acid, use a more dilute oxalic acid proprietary rust remover for carpets. Again, only remove rust stains after cleaning.

Ferro-concrete cleaning

Still plenty of Ferro - concrete hulls around. You get a whole lot of boat for your money but is going out of fashion. Ferro - concrete is concrete built around a framework of steel just as bridges are built. The only difference is - yours floats. The concrete will be impregnated and sealed and requires the caustic - citrus detergent to clean it. This type of hull can also have an acid treatment for the inevitable rust staining. First wash it thoroughly with the detergent solution, and then treat the rust.