Boat washing
 

Wondering what mariners around the lake are charging to wash the bottom of your boat at the end of the season. Ours is $9.00 per lineal ft.

$9.00 a foot for me too (MVYC). Last year it was year, $7.00. The answer was this is done with cleaning compounds, etc, as opposed to just a pressure wash, and it takes a couple of hours. I would be happy with a 10-15 minute pressure wash, no chemicals.

If you don't mind paying for a pressure wash and still seeing the dirty ring at the water line just tell them. As far as I know you can't get that ring off without the chemicals.

I tend to think of water slime (and all the junk in it) on the bottom of a boat like salt on a car. Over time it will damage the finish and possible work its way into the fiberglas. I think the only way to remove the water slime thoroughly is to use the right cleaning chemicals. I'm sure that they make $$$money$$$ on this process but in my mind the alternative is to do it myself or pay thousands down the road to have the fiberglass refinished.

I have the hull cleaned and waxed every year. I do the top myself. The boat is 23 years old and I get lots of comments on how great it looks so I guess I'm doing something right.

BTW, even worse is sun damage. When I got my boat, my first, no one mentioned getting a mooring cover. I used a bow and cockpit cover. After about 8 years the top edges not protected by the covers started to chalk. I had to get it refinished. I immediately bought a mooring cover to take the pounding of the daily sun. It's a lot cheaper and easier to replace the cover instead of having the boat refinished. Live and learn.

I echo Jeff's comments. Mine is 20 years old and looks like it just left the show room. I pull mine frequently and wash the underside so that crud doesnt stain the hull. The sun is brutal and I wax mine every year but last year took it to Diamond Shine for a detail (ishoot's recommend) . Came out very nice.

A lot of people (and marinas) use Slimy Grimy. Spray it on, let it soak, and power wash it off. The slime comes right off. It contains no phosphates so it is better for the environment than that bottled acid hull cleaner.

If you are looking to save a few dollars, buy this stuff and do it yourself.

When living on Cape Cod years ago I took to brushing the hull when we were at the beach. Came off easily. The bottom was painted with anti-fouling of course. Then I skipped painting the bottom one year with no adverse effects. I actually stopped painting the anti-fouling after that. Maybe some was embedded in the gel coat, enough to be effective.

I am a retired workaholic and continuing aquaholic.

The OP asked "What's the price and where?" Not should I do it ?

Who has a price?

I understand that the OP asked what marinas were charging but many of us prefer to do our own work and save a considerable amount of money.

If you have the opportunity and the place to clean your boat after it comes out of the water the sooner it is done the easier the job is. Slimy Grimy was recommended above and that product does work well. I have put it in a small pesticide pump can with hot water and by the time you walk around the boat spraying the hull, the stain is already running off where you started.

What I can do in an hour will save $250 - $300. That is an hourly rate that I am happy to work for!

It is available at Amazon for $24.95 and one container will last you more than one season (unless you are cleaning the Mount Washington) :)

https://www.amazon.com/Slimy-Grimy-G...y+boat+cleaner

How do you clean the stained area where the boat sits on the bunk rails?

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Slimy Grimy is "okay" ..... and not as harsh to the environment and people using it ..................

BUT

From my personal experience "On & Off" is the best and I have used both.

On & Off is an "acid" so precautions MUST be taken -- I use kitchen rubber gloves and make damn sure that I stay up-wind of it (the outgassing is horrible) --- but it is as simple as spray it on- wait a few minutes - and use a soft car brush on a pole to rub off, rinse with hose - done !

I also rarely dilute it to the labels recommendations -- thus leaving it a little more "potent"

https://www.amazon.com/Star-EZ-OFF-B...f+boat+cleaner

As for cleaning where the bunk rails are (or rollers) I would relaunch and deliberately take the boat out on the trailer askew of normal position. I recognize that this requires having a ramp handy as you certainly do not want to travel any distance with the boat on angle in the trailer--- I happen to be one of those lucky ones

.

So do you just let this acid leach into the ground??

If that's an environmental challenge -- the answer is YES I DO

and amazingly the runoff from my driveway does not harm the lawn one bit. I am of the belief that the wash down after dilutes it significantly.

There are a number of Marina's that use On & Off ... so I am not alone !

P.S. -- I am nowhere near the Big Lake when bottom washing!

.

follow up --

Looks like they changed the formula since I last used On & off ---- now the label says "Water based"

Relax will ya and chill!...It was no "challenge", just an honest question. However after reading about it, I don't think I would want it leaching into my yard where my dog does her business or anywhere near my well not to mention nearby brooks and streams. It's not exactly the most environmentally friendly stuff... http://docs.crcindustries.com/msds/620128.pdf

I was hoping you would say it was somewhat safe like simple green or similar but a google search on the stuff basically says its hydrocloric and Phosphoric acid which I am quite familiar with...very potent and nasty nasty stuff to say the least! I bet it works great!

I'm not an environmental nut, just someone who likes to know what I am putting into the ground where me and my pets live...

Dan

There you go! Definitely a change for the better environmentally but bet it does not work nearly as good! A safer trade off however!!!

Thanks for the updated info!!

Dan

You would be surprised to visit marinas in the fall and see them spraying chemicals on boats to clean them only to wash it off and see it running right into the lake. Seen it more times than I want to recall.

I've used On/Off for years and it does work great. With that said, the trailer I had with the old boat seemed to take a pretty good beating as far as rust, etc. and I want to believe the On/Off may have had something to do with it. With that said, new boat this year and very nice Four Winns trailer that I'm not looking to ruin when I clean the boat. Is On/Off the problem?

ishoot --

All good !

And yes it looks like the product has changed it's base formula and probably not as effective as years past.

Full disclosure is that I haven't used it for 3 years now since moving up to our 26' boat that we now leave at Winni and let the Marina deal with it.

Saving money or not -- this boy is just too old to be crawling under a boat to bottom wash :D

.

And then in the Spring when the boats get launched guess what happens with all the fogging oil they used in the fall? And guess what happens with all of the antifreeze that has been put into the boat engine(s) in the fall?

Well before everyone goes getting their collective panties in a bunch... most of these bottom cleaners use Oxalic acid as the active ingredient for doing the actual cleaning part. This is an all natural, non gmo, free range, 100% organic, fat free, cage free, naturally occurring.... even in whole foods.... compound. Certified gluten free. It is not a harsh synthetic "world as we know it" ending chemical. It's not even outlawed in the people's republic of California.

I prefer myself to buy it in concentrated crystal form, mix with hot water and spray on, let sit, scrub the bad spots, rinse and repeat. Works awesome.

Now clearly it's not a good idea to eat or drink this stuff but nobody is suggesting that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalic_acid

The product in your post is not the On & Off that I have used for years. I use this with amazing results.

http://www.marine-products.com/maryk...z-mk-7320.html

This stuff is awesome - been using it for years, 20oz makes 6 gallons if you don't mind mixing it with warm water yourself.

Shreddy - Yes...On & Off is pretty potent stuff and it will mess up your trailer. I believe the older (stronger) formulas actually say to not get on trailers pretty hard to do when cleaning a boat.

I use a toilet bowl cleaner called "the works", and it works awesome!! You can buy it at any local hardware or grocery store. If your boat just has a little discoloration, you don't even have to use any "elbow grease" at all, just spray it on and watch the discoloration fade away right before your eyes... If the hull is brown as dirt, it still works awesome, but takes a little effort ( and I mean little) with a scrub brush of some sort. Worked great!!!

I pulled up the SDS (safety data sheet) for “The Works”. It contains 9.5% hydrochloric acid. Be careful how/where you use it.


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I would expect some significant difference between a porcelain toilet bowl and gel coat. Is there likely to be damage after repeated use? What about Awlgrip and other "painted" surfaces?

I only used it once, strictly on the hull from the water line and below after keeping my boat in the water for the entire season one year, so I'm not sure what long term effects it would have on the gel coat, but I'm sure like anything else, you can always "google" it. Other than that one season I had a slip, I have always trailered my boat, (and will continue to do so) because I can't stand seeing my nice clean white hull look like it's been bottom painted with the ugliest shade of brown you have ever seen, and I don't want to be pressure washing my hull every Oct/Nov freezing my a** off!! I realize that trailering and/or keeping your boat in the water is a whole other debate... pros and cons to everything.

boat washing
 

Do it yourself with Off-ON. Works great, no scrubbing squirt it on and rinse it off---just don't breathe the fumes.