cleaning the hull

I just bought a boat, and the hull is pretty dirty. Anyone have any suggestions for cleaning the bottom? I was thinking toilet bowl cleaner...

...........get starbrite or any of the other hull cleaners, they are acidic and will just melt the stains away and eat into harder dirt. I dont know how effective the toilet bowl cleaner would be.

Noooooooo! don't do that. It depends on how dirty the boat is. If it has really bad oxidation then you can find a few companies that make an oxidation remover that work ok then you will need to wash and wax that baby. If the boat is really bad then you could use muratic acid mixed with water. That is what we use here at the shop when someone brings in a boat that looks like it should be sunk. You have to be very carefull when using this method though because it can ruin your gel coat. You need to mix the acid about 50/50 with water in a bucket. Then you will want to use a long brush to scrub the boat in no more than 5ft sections before you wash off the area very thoroughly and make sure to rinse off all the run off from the trailer aswell. After you have finished you will need to wash the whole boat to ensure removal off all the acid then wax. I wouldn't go above the rub rail, but if you have to make sure that you use a small sponge and make sure that you don't get it on the interior or the carpet. I would also recommend to use those long dishwashing gloves, and do not do this over your lawn. Make sure the runoff will have a good place to settle.

i second the starbrite hull cleaner

starbrite hull cleaner will melt off any brown stains. It is premixed and is sold at Walmart and every other boat place. Just remember it also takes your wax off. It is also acidic and will take your breath away. Wear gloves and work small sections at a time and rinse everything good.

kaboom, purple bottle from walmart for 3 bucks. freakin awesome!!!!!!!!

FSR works really well. You can get it at most dealerships. It is a blue gel that you just rub and and rinse off. It will bring things back to bright white.

Depends on what what kind of dirt you are trying to get rid of.

Stains - use any acid containing product. Several have already been mentioned, but toilet bowl cleaner works too. Make sure you rinse thoroughly and wax afterwards.

General boat crud like algae - I have found Collinite hull cleaner to be the best.

DANGER Avoid hydrofluoric acid at all costs

Not to be confused with hydrochloric acid which is the technical grade of muratic acid and is a good cleaner

Unfortunally I have seen several marinas carry cleaners with hydrofloric acid where cleaning aluminum pontoons. Even worse they will sell it to the public. }

This stuff is real real bad

Symptoms of skin exposure to dilute HF are not felt immediately, but can be fatal. Highly concentrated solutions may lead to acute hypocalcemia, followed by cardiac arrest and death. This will usually be fatal in as little as 2% body exposure (about the size of the sole of the foot). This substance should be handled with extreme care, beyond that accorded to hydrochloric, sulfuric, or other mineral acids.

Due to low dissociation constant, HF can penetrate tissues quickly. Hydrofluoric acid which comes into direct contact with the fingers can severely damage or destroy the tissue underneath the nail without causing any damage to the nail itself. It is this ability to cause little harm to outer tissues but considerable harm to inner tissues which can produce dangerous delays in treatment of hydrofluoric acid exposure. Once the pain starts, it is out of proportion to the burns produced. Patients often describe the feeling as if they have struck their fingers with a hammer. HF that penetrates under the skin causes later development

I washed 18 wheeler trailers for years using hydroflouric acid.

It never burned me too badly, and all I have is a slight tick.

Seriously it burns. Any cuts or exposed nails will burn, eyes burn, and it eats through plastic sprayers and o-rings. If the sprayer leaks and it leaks down your arm, the armpit is the worst place....ouch....I hated that.

It's a great cleaner though; just don't leave it on metal too long as it will begin to oxidize, and it will eat the platic coating off wheels. Be sure your wheels are not coated.

(Message edited by olSkoolTige on November 02, 2007)

I have had great success with 50% lysol toilet bowl cleaner mixed with hydrogen peroxide. Definitely wear gloves, and safetey goggles. Spray it on, leave for 15 minutes gentle wipe away the grime. I left my boat in the water for weeks and this did the trick. Seriously, no effort to get it clean.

Thanks guys. I'll let you know how this goes

I've heard good things on here about a cleaner sold by westmarine called on/off. I think I'm going to give that a try this spring when I try to get some brown stains off my hull.

star brite,,,or if some spots or areas jsut are not getting clean-muric acid which is the same as hydrochloric...just wear gloves and don't go near any of the metal areas...trailers ec...simply dilute into a bottle pour onto a sponge and apply to the hard to clean areas....it's a pain when you are lying underneath the boat trying to get the hull clean..this stuff will do it...just don't get anything on ya!!!