need to get all of the brown stuff off
 

my boat stays in the marina all year, last year my left sprang a leak and the boat spent a good amount of time sitting in the river water. long story short i now have a bunch of brown algae marks on it. what is the best solution for removing thses?

your left .. what? I think you missed a word there.

sorry, my lift

So you're looking for a good cleaner for the outside of the hull?

yea something that will really get it off. i have tried sulferic acid and sno-bowl a few times but there is still stains on the bottom. im considering wet sanding with some super fine sand paper then buff it all out again.

I have had good luck with Star Brite Hull Cleaner many Wal-Marts have it.
http://www.starbrite.com/productdeta...ull%20Cleaners

Long ago, before buying a lift, my parents left their boat in a lake that had terrible algea growth. I was the one in charge of cleaning the bottom every month or two. It was a nasty experience, but I've never seen Muratic Acid unable to take that stuff off. Sometimes it required a good scrubbing, but that stuff ate anything... including skin!

maybe thats the stuff i used, i get the two mixed up lol

I believe the marina where my boat is stored, they use the same muratic acid to clean the bottom of my boat off. It went in dirty and came out sparkling... LOL.

Cost me $50, but it was worth the cash.

I personally would not touch the stuff. I hate handling hazardous chemicals. So thats why I leave that up to them. They know what they are doing...lol.

my problem is most of it is on the underside so in order to get down there to clean it i am very likely to get it on me and that stuff burns! not to mention breathing it is even worse. i have some super fine sandpaper discs that i have used for body work that i am considering trying. i may just try rubbing compound and the high speed polisher first.

Hmm, well not to mention you would also harm your trailer if you used that stuff on the bottom of your boat. I believe the marina uses a special trailer for that acid wash each time. Unless they mean its just an old trailer they dont care about anymore or something.

From the end of May till September, my boat sits in the water all summer long and gets used every weekend OR the weekend after that.

Let us know if you are succesful :)

I would stay with something that was specifically for hull cleaning. I have used the starbrite brand with a scotchbrite pad. Using 2 products with the word "brite" in them will work for sure!

scotch brite pads will scuff the finish up, i just tried one of those on a rusty wheel. didnt work out too well! thanks for the ideas guys, i am almost done with new carpet be i will be doing the cleaning and polishing next.

Most all of the better hull cleaners use either Oxalic or Muratic acid mixed in a ratio of about 1:4 with water or the like. I have used a product called Zing for years and have also mixed my own as Muratic acid is very cheap. I have to admit, my home brew just didn't do the job that Zing did. I have tried several other brands as well but I'm a believer in Zing.

My boat stays on a lift down at LOTO on my dock and about every other season right before waxing I apply it. I have an old Hudson/pump sprayer that I use to apply it with. I spray down the bunks and lift (same procedure on a trailer) with water then I spray the hull with Zing. Let it sit for about 5 minutes then rinse off and repeat the process once more. Scrubbing isn't necessary but on occassion I will use a brush on a pole to make sure everything has been adequately covered. The brown literally just melts away. Now it's time to re-apply a coat of wax as everything will be stripped off. I also have problems in our dirty lake with trails at the water line so a couple times during the season I simply wipe those areas down with a rag and Zing, rinse, wax and all is well.

When I bought my Z302, it had lived its entire life sitting in a slip at a marina and the bottom was stained beyond belief. I honestly thought it would never come clean but after my two apps of Zing, it's as white as the rest of the boat.

Just make sure to hose down in metal objects within dripping or spraying distance and rinse it off thoroughly. I've heard that people doing it on the trailer should back the boat on the trailer into the water afterwards to make sure all the acid is thoroughly rinsed from the trailer itself. With a lift, it's easy, just drop it down.

Dave

this type of acid mainly reacts to mineral and metals. Concrete for example is made with lime. if you leave it set over nite you will have holes in your drive. If your trailer is aluminium don't use the acid. If its painted it will be fine. Actually if you spray muriatic acid on rust it will convert the rust so you can paint over it after cleaning.

i ended up using "the works" toilet bowl cleaner and a scrubber pad and it worked great! i use to use sno-bowl toilet cleaner but i cant find it anywhere! it is looking great now!

bowl cleaner has muriatic acid in it. If you go to TSC a bottle of acid is about 2 bucks. Get a spray bottle and mix it with water. You can clean you shower with it for years. Also you don't have to scrub with the acid let it set for 10-20 min and spray it off. if it's not 100 clean wait another 30 min it will be gone. I tried a test spot on mine scrubbed it and sprayed it off rite away. I could see that it would work but it was going to be a lot of work and decided to do it later. about a half hour later I walked past a very clean white shiny patch.

i have used that too, the bowl cleaner has always seemed to work better. allot of people in my marina uses the bowl cleaner......

star brite
 

i just left my boat out for the 2 weeks i was not able to get back to the river. needless to say i have bird c___ and stuff all over the boat. i used the star brite from walmart for the hull and it is now spotless. what i need is something to clean the seats with (any ideas?) PLEASE HELP!!! IT LOOKS REALLY BAD.

Mr Clean Magic Erasers are great for the upholstery. Once done, treat it with a proper vinyl protectorant.

Re: need to get all of the brown stuff off
 

A product called Slimy Grimy is the best stuff I have used, by far. Buy it in the powder form and mix it up with hot water in a garden sprayer. I find that very little scrubbing is necessary.

Re: need to get all of the brown stuff off
 

I use a product called Iron Out which is diluted with water and appliued with a sprayer. Let it set for awhile and then use some elbow grease or a power washer spray.

Re: need to get all of the brown stuff off
 

I've heard muriatic acid works to clean hulls from other sources too. My question is, is it safe for the environment? Maybe it's best left to the professionals if not. If that's the case, I will have the dealership do it .

Thanks :)

Re: need to get all of the brown stuff off
 

Re: need to get all of the brown stuff off
 

Muratic acid is what my marina, and I suspect most marinas use.
It works well, but the trick is to dealing with it is to take the boat and clean it ASAP after the acid bath to get the extra stuff off.
Then, give it a coat of wax if you can. Then, in the spring, clean it and wax it again, and as the boat sits in the water, you can more easily just take a good scrub brush and just scrub it off.
I try to do it weekly....takes about 10 minutes to just swim around the boat and wipe the crud off.

We've done that for many years and it seems to do the trick.

Re: need to get all of the brown stuff off
 

I believe most commercial hull cleaners are a solution of Oxalic acid. Not nearly as nasty as muriatic.

Re: need to get all of the brown stuff off
 

Z202's right. I use the "Star Brite" brand hull cleaners. They have 3 currently.

"Hull Cleaner" - Oxalic Acid MSDS
"Sea Safe Hull Cleaner" - Enviornmentally Friendly Oxalic Acid MSDS
"EZ On EZ Off Bottom Cleaner" - Hydrochloric Acid MSDS

I've had great luck with the Hull Cleaner for years, and this year I plan to try the Sea Safe Hull Cleaner. The nice thing about Star Brite brand is, you can get it pretty much anywhere, from West Marine to Wal Mart.

Re: need to get all of the brown stuff off
 

Yeah, I used the Star-Brite hull cleaner last fall. It did a greate job with minimal effort. I still wore gloves and goggles, as it's still pretty corrosive stuff. Make sure you rinse the boat and trailer with liberal amounts of water afterwards.

Re: need to get all of the brown stuff off
 

I've been wondering about leaving the boat in all season and what would happen.

We paint the bottom of our sailboat with VC-17. When fall comes around and the boat is hauled, we just give the hull a good wash with a power-washer, perhaps hit some of the more stubborn spots lightly with a Scotch-Brite pad, and the crud is gone. No muss, no fuss, no acids. When spring comes around we give her hull a fresh coat of VC-17 and plop her in the water. It's all relatively painless. (Except for the $60/qt. VC-17 is up to, these days :eek:)

Only thing is, anti-fouling bottom paint doesn't look as pretty as an unpainted, shiny white hull. ;)

One thing I do wonder about: Acid-wash, or whatever, or bottom-paint: How do you get under the skids on the trailer the boat's sitting on?

Jim

Re: need to get all of the brown stuff off
 

That's what my buddy, where our boat will be slipped, says the owner of another boat in one of his slips does. They just go out to a shallow, sandy spot on the lake, throw the hook out, and give the bottom a good brushing several times a season, and that's all that's required.

Of course: Near the end of the season, when the water starts to cool down, I imagine that could become a chilly task :p

Jim

Re: need to get all of the brown stuff off
 

I went to my local marina to look for zing and they told me it is now called ZAPP. I don't know if it's the same or not but it works good. It took all the brown junk off my boat with some minor scrubbing.