Best Cleaner or Wax

[fitz73222]

Thanks for all the information guys. If I decided to sand it like fitz suggested, is that all by hand? i have a dewalt orbital sander but I have a feeling it would be easy with that thing to sand to deep. I would say the exterior of the hull is mildly chalked. Also if I sand, what about the Aquaport decals and the 250 CCP and line decals? Can I sand over those? I have washed and waxed boats before but I saw where Uncle Bob on the rebuild forum cleaned up a Proline that had been sitting for a while. That thing turned out fine. I need to read his threat on THT.

Hi Evan,

Its actually very easy and less risky doing it by hand. It only lakes about an hour a side for a 22-2. The key is keeping the sandpaper flooded while you do it so the paper dosen't clog up instantly. If you are doing this in the driveway, be prepared for a nice white river of gelcoat going down the driveway which I had to pressure clean to get rid of. Just remember, let the paper do the work. No brute force needed. Your just cutting the haze, not prepping her for paint!

[c master]

Not disagreeing with wet-sanding, but I'd sure try some fiberglass cleaner for "heavy oxidation" first.   If you do wet-sand, the answer (at least from me) is "Yes, you have to do it by hand."  The boat needs to stay really wet...and you need to be able to feel the paper cutting the gel-coat.  But again, that wouldn't be my first choice.  Hey!  You'll be like the Karate Kid!  Wax on...wax off.  

Depending on how much money & time you have to do this, you might consider buying the correct cleaner and wax, and taking the boat to a local hand car wash...I got a boat cleaned and waxed a couple years ago for about $80.  Hull, console, etc.  

I always end up asking myself, "Self?  What's the highest and best use of your time this weekend?".   Sometimes it's waxing...sometimes it's the 'Bama vs. LSU game.  Or the equivalent.

[Pirate0408]

There are a million fiberglas de-oxidizers...I have a buffer but I find that there's a lot of places where you'll have to just do it by hand.  The cleaning is important...the waxing is easier.

If you have the "tannin" stain (brownish stain at waterline), the first step is Oxalic Acid.  (NOT Muriatic Acid).  Sorta hard to find...comes as a powder.  I get it at a small hardware store here in Houston...couldn't find it a Lowe's or HD.  It's amazing at easily removing the stain but it will also remove any wax.  Keep it off your aluminum trailer...discolors it a bit.

Older teak with 'black' areas:  That's just dirt and mildew.  Tri-sodium Phosphate (TSP) is a good product to clean teak with, and it's not expensive.  Just takes a lot of scrubbing with a stiff brush, and rinsing.   There are teak brighteners also, but with the TSP you probably won't need to buy that.

It helps to sand your teak back to a smoother finish...that usually means removing it from the hull, but once you get it sanded down, oiling it is more successful.  (Oiling old rough teak doesn't work very well...dirt/mildew gets back into the little cracks pretty fast).  I don't recommend varnishing teak, especially 'new' wood.  It has too much natural oil in it and the varnish will flake off.  If you want the varnished look, copying your teak parts over to new mahogany is better.  

I like the look of teak better than Starboard but it's more maintenance...that's for sure.

I was introduced to On-Off a few years ago for the tough stains.  It works great, and its fast. It's some serious stuff. Need to protect the trailer and wear eye protection at a minimum. Comes in liquid form and you brush it right on. Used it today, and followed up with a good soapy wash afterwards. Planning to wax tomorrow.