WASHING AND WAXING YOUR BOAT
As if owning your own boat wasn’t enough trouble, sometimes it gets dirty too. It’s kind of counterintuitive when you think about it, I mean, they’re in the water, shouldn’t they be self-cleaning? Since this is not the case, boat owners have to either clean their own boats or hire someone to do it for them. Fortunately, it’s not too difficult.
The first thing you will want to do is hose off any loose dirt that has collected on the boat. Once this is done, you can clean it with soap and water. It is best to do this from the top down, otherwise dirty water will drip on the parts you have just cleaned. Use a soft sponge or soft brush on the fiber glass parts and then you can go with a harder bristle on the tread parts.
Even if you live in a dry place like Las Vegas, it is best to towel dry the boat afterward to prevent dirt streaks. If it has windows, you can dry those with a squeegee, and then give them a coat of rainex. Simple green, or any other safe-for-vinyl cleaner will work on the seats, you don’t need a special marine cleaner for them.
If your boat is starting to look less-than-shiney, you may need to wax it as well. This isn’t as simple as waxing a car, as the boat is made of fiberglass, not metal, and will be in contact with much more water than your average vehicle. With rubber gloves on, use a towel and clean the boat with acetone. Make sure you use a different, clean part of the towel each time you add more acetone.
Next you will use a dewaxing solvent (available in marine stores), to help remove the old wax before applying the new. Make sure that you apply it from bow to stern, and don’t rub it back and forth. When the solvent is rubbed, it reapplies the wax you just took off, and in the long run, you’ll do a lot more work.
Use a rubbing compound with an electric buffer until you get a glassy look. Don’t think by using extra pressure you’ll get it done more quickly, you just want to use a light touch to get the remainder of the wax off.
On a clean buffer, add paste wax until you get a white haze over the entire boat. Then, using a clean buffer, buff off the haze, and you’re done. Though you will need to buy the paste wax, dewaxing solvent, and rubbing compound at the marine store, all your other supplies can be bought anywhere. Save money on the cleaning as it will be well spent investing in the wax.
Now go out, have fun and get it dirty. It’s a lot of fun to start the process all over again.
Insurance Specialists can cover that boat you just washed! Call us at 702-307-3398 for a quote today.