Hull washing workflow for larger boats

[La Sirena]

What method(s) do you recommend for cleaning a 57 foot boat? At the dock I've been using the old hose, soapy bucket and brush method, then hose rinse and shammy dry. It's a real work out. On anchor I usually do a quick rinse with Salt Away using an Ortho sprayer and precious on board water, then pray for rain.

I need to make life easier and create more time for other maintenance tasks. I'm thinking about getting a small electric power washer for washing and rinsing, and deionizing system for final rinse to avoid spots, then air dry.

While sitting here at the comfort of my chair, this is the washing workflow I'm thinking of trying...

At the dock I would be a rinse with low pressure water, apply soap with foam cannon and pressure washer, scrub with brush, rinse with low pressure dock water, then final rinse with high pressure DI water.

At anchor I would apply Salt Away with high pressure washer, then rinse with high pressure DI water.

What are some of the secrets you use to quickly and effectively wash your boats?

 

[twistedtree]

Hopefully other can speak to this since I haven’t used a pressure washer in a boat….. but I understand they do an excellent job removing the wax from the gelcoat, which probably isn’t what you want to do. Unless of course you plan to wax right afterwards?

 

[rslifkin]

I'm no fan of pressure washers for anything above the waterline. Beyond wax stripping concerns, it's also easy to accidentally chew away the sealant under a fitting and create a leak. It's just too risky to avoid a little scrubbing. About the only exception would be for cleaning an extremely dirty non-skid deck, but you'd still have to be very careful not to get the spray close to any deck fittings.

 

[DDW]

I use a pressure washer all the time, like any tool it can be used incorrectly to do damage. I use a low pressure one (say 1300 - 1500 psi) and am mindful about the distance from nozzle to target. The advantage over a hose is far less water is needed. One I currently like is the cheap Ryobi from Home Depot, it is very small and light, easy to move around, and the high pressure hose is very flexible. You aren't going to strip paint or even wax with it but for washing it is pretty handy.

 

[La Sirena]

I agree about the high pressure applied to the deck. My thoughts were to use the pressure washer with a foam cannon to apply the soap (while at the dock) quickly and easily, then follow up with a soft brush scrub. Also, I've heard, that high pressure washers do a decent job of rinsing without using a lot of water. If I'm at anchor, I want to use as little water as possible to get the salt off. And if I'm rinsing with DI water, I'd want to use as little of that as possible too. I wouldn't necessarily be focusing high pressure water onto the deck if that makes sense.

Another side benefit may be to pressure wash the chain. In that case I would be focusing the high pressure on the target.

 

[lwarden]

I still do the bucket and brush but a friend does the soap canon with Salty Captain and it seems to work well. It makes a lot of suds in the marina so I’m not a fan but may succumb at some point to trying it.

 

[mvweebles]

There are a LOT of full time boat washers in Mexico. A decent percentage of nice boats have a full time person who does nothing but wash and polish the boat full time.

They universally use chamois mop head attachments for boat hook poles. I'll be buying one when I return to US. The brush head is a bit clunky.

https://www.westmarine.com/west-marine-ultra-chamois-mop-head-12830972.html

Peter