Spring Cleaning

[Leedo Lanes]

So Now that it is nice out, we all need to share some cleaning tips. Like what type of waxes to use on different finishes etc...

Anyone have any tricks for metalflake?

[JW]

For wax I stick to using products that are MADE for boats. 3M products, Starbright products, etc. There was a guy that used to be here hawking Race Glaze, but that turned out to be no good for boats after an independant test. I am currently using a Starbright wax/polish that contains Teflon and UV inhibitors. GREAT wax.
-Starbright Premium Marine Polish with Teflon-Specially formulated for use on fiberglass, metal, plexiglass and painted surfaces - Special UV inhibitors guard against fading and chalking - Retards marine growth on boat bottoms - Can be applied over old wax or polish..........

[175checkmate]

If you are coating the gel coat go with the stuff JW listed you can't go wrong.
If you have a painted hull then go with zaino brothers. This stuff is killer. Remember don't wax the bottom where the running surface is, it will slow you down.

[vinny p.]

I have great success with this wax called Garys' Marine Wax. Been using it for years..

[Chris]

I use Starbrite too.

Mainly because my buddy at the little marina at my cottage, sells it. And it works great! He cleans and waxes the hull at the end of the season for me, and I usually wax from the rub strip up, myself.

I only get to use the boat on weekends, so quite honestly, I really don't want to mess around waxing it all weekend.

With respect to Race Glaze....according to a newsletter that was sent out by the webmaster of Speedwake, the manufacturer of Raceglaze when contacted, basically advised Speedwake that Race Glaze wasn't the best product suited for waxing boats. They actually recommended another product that they manufacture.

For me personally, I'm not really interested in a buying a bunch of different bottles of stuff I have to apply on a daily basis to make my boat look good. Which is what Race Glaze seems to involve. Levelling agents, waxes, gloss highlighters, maintenance sprays as so on, and so on. If anyone spends that much time waxing their boat, isn't it bound to look good? If not..... http://checkmate-boats.com/groupee/forums/ws/,s,8626072361/Graemlins/yell.gif

So to me, a good wax is one that holds up for most of the summer. Because I have little if no interest at all, in spending half my summer sitting in the garage with my Mate and my 20 bottles of wax products that are not even recommended by the manufacturer as the best product they have for boats. http://checkmate-boats.com/6/ws/,s,8626072361/Graemlins/brickwall.gif

Bring on the Starbrite with Teflon I say! http://checkmate-boats.com/6/ws/,s,8626072361/Graemlins/thumb.gif

[fastskipper]

The guys over at OSO seem to be real keen on a product called Frenzy. I purchased a bottle yesterday. I'll let you know what I think of it.

[Chris]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by fastskipper:
The guys over at OSO seem to be real keen on a product called Frenzy. I purchased a bottle yesterday. I'll let you know what I think of it. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Frenzy seems to be advertising everywhere. People seem to like the products though, I always read great reviews from people who try their products. Let us know how you make out fastskipper! http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Leedo Lanes]

I hear you Chris, who has time for all that stuff! I want my boat to sparkle, but I don't want to be messing around with it constantly. There are some good tips here. I actually read that post on Race Glaze and how great it was and was considering getting some. Now, I am glad that I didn't. Do you guys use anything in particular on the vinyl and rugs?

[cooperider]

There is always good old fasioned "Tub and Tile" cleaner. And then a fresh coat of wax.

[Chris E]

Hey Leedo:

Going to try starbrites vinyl shampoo on the seats of my dad's boat. For the carpets, rent a carpet cleaner from a rent-all (not the grocery store ones). My dad bought a used Sea Ray that sunk (bellows) anyway there was an oil stain in the carpet - lifted right out. You would not believe how gross the water was from that job!
But, it brought the carpet back to new and removed every stain i could see - best part, done in less than an hour!

By the way, Gary's marine wax is by far the best product i have ever used on boats - can go every other year for waxing - great product! Collinte is another excellent product but is more expensive. Gary's is available in Ontario (for all us Ont. boaters) and I can put you in touch with the marina that carry's it if you like.

[fastskipper]

This may sound funny but for cleaning vinyl you might want to try one of those cleaning sponges from Mr Clean. You can buy them anywhere. Just wet the sponge with water and scrub. For me they worked better than the Starbrite shampoo.

[fastskipper]

Here is the a link to Mr clean

http://www.homemadesimple.com/mrclean/products.shtml

Like I said.....the darn things work!!

[fastskipper]

I thought I would try the Frenzy on the truck first. The truck is a Ford F250 SD 4X4. The thing is a real pain to wax, as I have to use a ladder to do the roof and hood. I did the whole truck in three beers (45 minutes). That is considerably less time than it normally takes me. The stuff is real easy to use. I put the wax on the whole truck at once then went back to remove it. Here is the real advantage for me. It comes off very easy and it all comes off. I have a dark blue truck; most people think it is black. With most other waxes I have to go back with a water spray bottle to get the rest of the wax off. Not with this. It comes off clean, no streaks. I even used on the glass. This stuff is great if your going to do something big like a truck or boat. It kind a reminds me of Zemol. I really can’t say there was a big improvement on the overall shine. I take very good care of my stuff so it would be hard to notice a difference. Going to try it on the WRX next. After that test I will do the Convincor. I would recommend it to anyone. The only downside is that it is expensive.

[Leedo Lanes]

Yeah, I went on the site and it is expensive. They don't offer much of a package deal either. I will probably buy some though if it is as good as you say it is. At least the packaging is cool!

[92Enticer]

When i bought my Mate it had one flaw, very stained Vinyl seats. The boat barely had a scratch and looked almost new, with regards to all but seats and the vinyl covering for the side walls of the consoles.

I tried more products then i can count, vinyl cleaners of every make type and manufactur some over $20cdn for a small spray bottle, but guess what? In the end none worked well.

What did was a $4 a large bottle of cleaner from Giant Tiger called Mean Green. It has a picture of a pair of eyes on the label. This stuff made my vinyl shine, the white went from dull to blinding with almost no scrubbing or recleans. A few hard to remove stains required extra muscle and soak time, but in a matter of an hour I had acheived what I could not in my first two years of ownership.

Also cleans the hull pretty good, but starbrite makes a much better product for removing that ugly yellow stain.

[Big \"Z\"]

Hi guys.. Bought an older Eluder that is in great shape but needed/needs some detailing. One thing that I found that works real well is Kaboom. It is a cleaner kind of like CLR but works much better. I sprayed the lower unit where all of the calcium and lime had built up and it looks much better. I will now be able to rub it out the rest of the way. I tried it on the hull a little, and it works great for taking out the scum. Give it shot and let me know what you think.

[Top Gun]

- for wax use Malco rejuvenator (purple wax)
- on seats use Malco leather and plastic cleaner
All Malco seem to work the best, we have found these products work great on the boats at work.

[BOB'S 283]

i'm also using the frenzy this year. yep its eazy on /off . i am buffing it with a white tufted foam pad from lake country . gelcoat has been buffed a couple times first with 3m finessit(compound) /wool pad. shine is great , but i think finessit deserves lots of the credit. shine is good as anything i've seen ,and you guys that trailer will probably be happy. the jury is still out on how long it lasts on a boat that is moored like mine. i have a 34 ft cruiser next to mine (that i also did) . the upper deck is not holding up very well (can't be buffed because of the rails) but it comes back easily by hand. the whole process is expensive . frenzy ,$42.00 a quart ,finesseit $32.00 a quart ,foam pad $16.00,wool pad $9.00.dewalt buffer $200.00+ and then there's your time !!!!!! i will continue using it for the summer ,stay tuned....

[Ckmate229]

Yeah, but what about clearcoat fade on the upper deck. My mate has a real bad case of it. I even think about having the rig re-clear at the factory ?

[mate229]

I used the Starbright Premium Marine Polish with Teflon this past week-end, and it worked great. Shine looks good.

[Chris]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mate229:
I used the Starbright Premium Marine Polish with Teflon this past week-end, and it worked great. Shine looks good. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>That's what I've used and had good luck with too. http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif