Home
>
Small Business
>
Boat Hull Cleaning Procedures for Owners and Detailers

Boat Hull Cleaning Procedures for Owners and Detailers

For really tough boat hull cleaning you will need to break out the acid. Muratic acid is the best for this. You'll want to have a 50/50 mix of muratic acid of 6-8% concentrated (12% is the highest concentration you can legally buy over the counter), water and a good strong sprayer. You can purchase muratic acid at Wal*Mart, K-Mart, Pool Supply Stores, Home Depot, Lowe's, Van Waters and Rogers Chemicals. Sears Craftsman makes a nice strong sprayer or try a local store for another brand of commercial pump-up sprayer.

Spray onto the boat directly after doing a presoak with a good strong blast of water. Let it sit for approximately 2 minutes. Just let the acid do its work breaking up and removing the algae. If it is still there try it again for longer and longer periods of time, but not more than 10-15 minuites. You'll be amazed how nice it looks even by the time you come back to rinse it off. Usually you can remove all this excess with a good strong brush after the acid shock treatment.

You may have to get with a smaller scrubbie into some areas around the drive system and other nooks and crannies underneath. If it's on a trailer and the bunks are on it, that's just the way it goes, you can't get around those - you can't move that boat on the trailer. On a hoist, you'll have full access to the boat.

Once you've scrubbed off one side of the boat, rinse, and repeat the procedure on the opposite side. Give it a very strong thorough rinse getting all the residual acid off the trailer as it can sometimes cause rust spots and corrode. Only use this muratic acid mix for boats that are extremely algae covered, heavy in barnacles, and other growth associated with long-term in-water moorage. Often times you can use Slimy grimy and hot water or Starbrite's buffered acid will work just fine for cleaning a mildly dirty boat bottom. For cleaning diesel soot found around the transom, aft deck ceiling and along the water line around exhausts, but not bottom paint, you can use Meguiar's #50 first, then proceed with compound Monster Agua-Blue 200, Maguire's #44 or #49 if this doesn't work.

If you are cleaning along the waterline and boat bottom that is not painted, you will want to reach for the bottle of On/Off by Maritime Products Company. You will remove all barnacles, moss growth and browning incredibly fast. Don't get this stuff on your hands or on any bottom paint as it will streak the paint and will burn your hands. This is corrosive, but will not harm gel coat and neutralizes with water. Don't get it on the trailer, it will streak and etch it. It is an oxcillic acid mix and is available at West Marine stores. If you are a contractor and doing this for a living the pricing usually goes from $3.00 to $4.50 a foot. Again, market conditions in your area may be a little more or a little less. You can adjust to fit those market conditions.

The Marina-Tec boat wash system is great. If you are contractor and have lots of work you may want to consider leasing a location to wash boat bottoms. GMBH & Co. has a hull-leaning machine that uses two brushes that rotate horizontally along the hull and two brushes that rotate vertically at the heel. It is an automated system and does not use toxic chemicals. It is similar to an automatic car wash only for boats in the water.

Do it right the first time, do it efficiently and think about it.

"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.worldthinktank.net/wttbbs

disinfecting cleaning services Winnetka ..

In The News:

Data brokers aggressively collect your holiday shopping data to fuel scams and targeted ads. Learn how to delete your digital profile before 2025 starts.

Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

Boat Hull Cleaning Procedures for Owners and Detailers

Small Business