RiverDave
In it to win it
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2007
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Well you guys asked for it, so this is the new "Detail" section where people can post pics of what they use, ask questions, see what other people are using to clean, and what works best etc..
So this is cleaning the boat to get it at least "presentable." And is kinda "part 1" of what will end up being a full detail in my garage.
The last time I took the boat out I just pulled it out of the water, and stuck it in the garage and left it for a month. I hate doing that, but I have had so much shit going on I just haven't had time to clean it at all. So that being said the waterspots have had plenty of time to really "set in."
There's lots of different water spot removers out there by all sorts of different companies.. The two that Advertise with RDP are Boat Bling, and Ducky products. For this time around I used Hotsauce. For an off the shelf "spray cleaner" or what they call a "spray wax" It is one of the more acidic, or aggressive cleaners when it comes to water spots.
Now before we get too heavy into this, I want to point out the obvious. If you are spraying something on a boat, and it is using an acid to remove water spots, then it's taking wax off with it. In short the better it removes water spots, the less UV protection you are going to have (if any) when you are done.
The reality of it is with all of these spray waxes, cleaners etc.. Is some offer more protection and less acidic power, and others offer more water spot removal and less protection. We can go back and forth on that until the cows come home, but I seriously doubt you are going to find anybody versed in that industry that will debate any of that.
In my opinion it's finding what blend works best for what purpose, and then using them for that purpose.. Or finding which blend works best for you and YOUR boat. Dark colors, light colors, age of boat, everything will play a role in that when you end up settling in on products. Me personally I tend to use a little of everything depending on the job.
The Process :
I think it's important to address the order of which you clean the boat.. If you keep an order then things get done faster. Personally I drop the tongue jack down pretty low on this Schiada because then I can reach across the deck easier. Then I will start at the bow, and do the edge and gunnels / top all the way to the transom. Then I do the other side, then switching to the sides of the boat. Then I do the deck in the middle of the bow. Then I will do the transom.. And when I'm done with all of that I will do the bottom of the boat as far back as I can reach under the trailer. After that I do the trailer, fenders, tires, etc..
By breaking it into sections, and following the same routine over and over my whole life, it makes things go faster, and you don't miss any spots because you have broken it into a bunch of small jobs instead of one large job.
I had just cleaned my non skid with a scrub brush and degreaser a few trips back so it still looks pretty good. What I use to just kind of maintain that is to use pretty much any spray wax, in this case Hot Sauce. I spray it in 1 - 2' sections and then take a microfiber and fold it a few times and just go over that section, in both directions and then in circular motions real quick. It actually works better then you would think.
Now my boat splatters water up on the transom and a little ways up the sides. Those water spots are baked in by the sun when we are out running around for the day. Under the garage lights, even though the boat looks "clean" you can still see the outlines of the spots.. If you run your hand over the fiberglass it wont' feel smooth to the touch.
For this area of the boat, in my experience, none of the off the shelf "spray waxes" are going to take these off.. Ducky makes some pretty aggressive water spot removers that probably would, but I don't have any of them here at the moment. So I just use my old "go to" which is lime away. I have used it for years, and it has never hurt anything, so those that would tell you it does are more interested in selling you something then reality if I had to guess. It's cheap and readily available and it works kick ass. Spray it on a rag and get it damp, and then just gently wipe back and forth.. You will feel the rag kind of drag across the water spots on the first pass, and then it will become smooth and slippery in the next couple of passes.
* Tip, if you want to detail your vents, hinges, grab handles etc.. just wipe this damp rag over them and they will look new again. You can use a toothbrush with Lime Away on it to get into small areas like the vents themselves.
Now the entire boat and trailer are wiped down, and free of water spots, free of most the wax, and "presentable." So Stacy jumped in and vacuumed the boat, and wiped the entire interior down with Vinyl sauce. I'm not one to state the obvious but you need to pull the cushions and wipe down all the contact areas to do it correctly, or your just being a lazy ass..
Please note, we had already done our once a year "Scrubbing Bubbles" clean on the interior to make it look new, so from here on out it's just wipe down products.. (You can use scrubbing bubbles as much as you want so long as you follow it up with a protectant.. I just do it once a year though in my crazy annual detail)
Now if I was going to go out for a quick day trip or something this is good enough to run it.. If I'm going to Parker or something for the weekend, then I would wax it first.
At some point in the near future I'll be waxing the boat.. For this I have lots of waxes that I use including my trusty old "Gel Gloss." The last time I waxed it though I used Ducky's "Super Wet" and really liked how it went on, and how the boat looked when I was done, so I'll be using that again.
So this is cleaning the boat to get it at least "presentable." And is kinda "part 1" of what will end up being a full detail in my garage.
The last time I took the boat out I just pulled it out of the water, and stuck it in the garage and left it for a month. I hate doing that, but I have had so much shit going on I just haven't had time to clean it at all. So that being said the waterspots have had plenty of time to really "set in."
There's lots of different water spot removers out there by all sorts of different companies.. The two that Advertise with RDP are Boat Bling, and Ducky products. For this time around I used Hotsauce. For an off the shelf "spray cleaner" or what they call a "spray wax" It is one of the more acidic, or aggressive cleaners when it comes to water spots.
Now before we get too heavy into this, I want to point out the obvious. If you are spraying something on a boat, and it is using an acid to remove water spots, then it's taking wax off with it. In short the better it removes water spots, the less UV protection you are going to have (if any) when you are done.
The reality of it is with all of these spray waxes, cleaners etc.. Is some offer more protection and less acidic power, and others offer more water spot removal and less protection. We can go back and forth on that until the cows come home, but I seriously doubt you are going to find anybody versed in that industry that will debate any of that.
In my opinion it's finding what blend works best for what purpose, and then using them for that purpose.. Or finding which blend works best for you and YOUR boat. Dark colors, light colors, age of boat, everything will play a role in that when you end up settling in on products. Me personally I tend to use a little of everything depending on the job.
The Process :
I think it's important to address the order of which you clean the boat.. If you keep an order then things get done faster. Personally I drop the tongue jack down pretty low on this Schiada because then I can reach across the deck easier. Then I will start at the bow, and do the edge and gunnels / top all the way to the transom. Then I do the other side, then switching to the sides of the boat. Then I do the deck in the middle of the bow. Then I will do the transom.. And when I'm done with all of that I will do the bottom of the boat as far back as I can reach under the trailer. After that I do the trailer, fenders, tires, etc..
By breaking it into sections, and following the same routine over and over my whole life, it makes things go faster, and you don't miss any spots because you have broken it into a bunch of small jobs instead of one large job.
I had just cleaned my non skid with a scrub brush and degreaser a few trips back so it still looks pretty good. What I use to just kind of maintain that is to use pretty much any spray wax, in this case Hot Sauce. I spray it in 1 - 2' sections and then take a microfiber and fold it a few times and just go over that section, in both directions and then in circular motions real quick. It actually works better then you would think.
Now my boat splatters water up on the transom and a little ways up the sides. Those water spots are baked in by the sun when we are out running around for the day. Under the garage lights, even though the boat looks "clean" you can still see the outlines of the spots.. If you run your hand over the fiberglass it wont' feel smooth to the touch.
For this area of the boat, in my experience, none of the off the shelf "spray waxes" are going to take these off.. Ducky makes some pretty aggressive water spot removers that probably would, but I don't have any of them here at the moment. So I just use my old "go to" which is lime away. I have used it for years, and it has never hurt anything, so those that would tell you it does are more interested in selling you something then reality if I had to guess. It's cheap and readily available and it works kick ass. Spray it on a rag and get it damp, and then just gently wipe back and forth.. You will feel the rag kind of drag across the water spots on the first pass, and then it will become smooth and slippery in the next couple of passes.
* Tip, if you want to detail your vents, hinges, grab handles etc.. just wipe this damp rag over them and they will look new again. You can use a toothbrush with Lime Away on it to get into small areas like the vents themselves.
Now the entire boat and trailer are wiped down, and free of water spots, free of most the wax, and "presentable." So Stacy jumped in and vacuumed the boat, and wiped the entire interior down with Vinyl sauce. I'm not one to state the obvious but you need to pull the cushions and wipe down all the contact areas to do it correctly, or your just being a lazy ass..
Please note, we had already done our once a year "Scrubbing Bubbles" clean on the interior to make it look new, so from here on out it's just wipe down products.. (You can use scrubbing bubbles as much as you want so long as you follow it up with a protectant.. I just do it once a year though in my crazy annual detail)
Now if I was going to go out for a quick day trip or something this is good enough to run it.. If I'm going to Parker or something for the weekend, then I would wax it first.
At some point in the near future I'll be waxing the boat.. For this I have lots of waxes that I use including my trusty old "Gel Gloss." The last time I waxed it though I used Ducky's "Super Wet" and really liked how it went on, and how the boat looked when I was done, so I'll be using that again.
