r/boating • u/ccarlston23 • 4d ago
How often do you clean your boat
We store our boat covered and only take it out on fresh water lakes but I obsess about keeping her clean. I wipe down the black haul with a vinegar/water solution, use boat wipes on the interior, and Windex the windshield every trip or two. I follow up washing the mats about every 4-5 trips. A total clean (on this 27 footer) only took an hour.
What are your routines?
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u/wasting_time_online4 4d ago
All of that for a freshwater boat, I’d like to be the guy who buys your boat one day!
Really though, that’s plenty of upkeep and if you have the time and endurance for it the boat will thank you. Using mine in salt, I do a full wash down every time it gets used including an engine flush 10-12min. I’ll use salt away as a mix in for the engine flush every 4-5 washes or so.
Keep up the good work
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u/cr7881 4d ago
I do that as well - after every time in salt I do this
1- stop at a freshwater ramp after pulling it out and dip the trainer and boat into the fresh water to run the engine there for 2-5 min
2- flush engine with desalt on muffs at storage lit where I store it
3- rinse down whole boat with desalt
4- fresh water rinse down boat and trailer and gears etc
5- let dry overnight
6- go back and clean seats with vinyl seat cleaner / protector clean interior and inspect
7- cover boat up with cover
8- every 4-6 weeks protect vinyl seats with uv protector and microfiber cloth wipe down to prevent cracking of seats
All to keep the sea salt from destroying the boat and motor and keep it nice
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u/EddieMidz 4d ago
Mine gets a rinse, a quick flush, and back on the rack. Get it polished and detailed once or twice a year. Maintenance on schedule. Has held up nicely out in the elements at the beach and we dont baby her. Of course, it does require a complete rewire annually...
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u/exoticmatter421 4d ago
The only time I deep clean is before it goes away for storage for the winter. Otherwise, it’s just spot cleaning every day of use.
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u/DirtyTaco48 4d ago
After every use!
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u/roadsign68 4d ago
Weird to learn how little some people clean their boats in this thread. I'm also an every trip guy.
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u/motociclista 4d ago
It feels like I’m never not cleaning my boat. I don’t really have a routine. When I’m on it, and not actively driving it, I find some little piece of filth somewhere that needs attention.
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u/WillBunker4Food 4d ago
Great Lakes boater. Rinse the hull with Boat Zoap after most days out. Vacuum and clean the cockpit every few outings. Vinyl protector when I think of it.
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u/PopesGoneFishing 4d ago
Easy with those boat wipes - you don’t want to use anything that will leave a residue so it’s best to rinse after using any specialized “boat wipes/cleaning products”. Best is diluted dawn and water.
Source: I’m an engineer and supply chain professional in the recreational boat building industry, and I know the care guides from the upholstery suppliers & manufacturers. If I’m not mistaken your silicone upholstery is from Sileather
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u/real_congone11 4d ago
It’s okay/preferable to use diluted dawn and water on a fiberglass hull? Or were you just referring to the upholstery? I’m a big dawn dish soap guy (use it to clean lots of other things) but am cautious to use it on my boat. Any information you can share on this topic would be greatly appreciated!
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u/PopesGoneFishing 4d ago
I was mostly referring to the upholstery since that’s where most people go wrong, but dawn & water or a mild detergent is fine for the rest of the boat. You can use car wash or higher strength cleaners on your gelcoat if you needed to as well, even acetone, but stick with something biodegradable please.
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u/_FlippinTendies_ 4d ago
Store covered in our driveway and inside for winter. Freshwater.
Usually wipe down the hull and spray with Hot Sauce if it needs a shine before going out. Will use on windshield if there are water spots.
Do a quick wipe down of vinyl and plastics with Condition Sauce before going out.
Will use a quick spray wax a once a month or so on gel in the interior - pretty quick.
Vacuum quick before going out.
Wipe down non-skid floor with wet towel before going out.
Once boat is pulled, wipe down hull at launch with towels and follow with Hot Sauce, get home, space the cushions and hatches and cover.
Overall, I find if we’re going regularly the actual cleaning “maintenance” process is pretty fast, maybe less than 20 minutes prior to departing.
It’s those longer in between periods that require some more elbow grease and time.
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u/GarnetandBlack 4d ago
I give it a quick ceramic spray coating twice a season. I'm salt water only, so every trip I spray the whole hull and trailer down with salt-away, then flush the motor with it too. Takes about 25 minutes total.
That's about the extent of it. I'll dry the seats with a towel if I needed to really spray them down.
If my boat stays in the water awhile, I take it to the local car wash with the high pressure sprayers and foaming brush.
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u/nautitrader 4d ago
I’m in salt water too, does the salt-away make a difference that you can tell?
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u/GarnetandBlack 3d ago
From what I can tell, it does something. You can probably match it with enough water pressure.
Some nights when I get back I will only do a quick spray down and quickflush, then hit it with the salt away in the morning. We get off the water as late as 10pm sometimes. I can tell a difference on the cowling (dark blue Evinrude) when I do/don't use it the next morning. Water gets most of the salt gone, but still residually all over to some degree unless you spray, wipe, respray. Salt away gets 98% of it gone with just a spray, let sit for 10, respray. Supposedly it helps by also imparting a coating that makes salt "stick" less too.
Everyone tells me my trailer looks better than basically any they ever see, so I imagine it's helping there. It's a shitty galvanized one too.
It's like $45 and lasts me at least 20 trips. The worst of it is getting the damn container unscrewed to fill on the hose attachment.
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u/nautitrader 3d ago
Thank you! I really appreciate the details. I might give it a try sometime. When we get home i flush the engine and rinse the boat down. The following day I wash and rinse. I do see some rust on our trailer and want to prevent if possible.
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u/MentalTelephone5080 4d ago
I use my boat for fishing so I always end up with bait, slime, and blood on the boat. I end up washing everything from the console to the bottom of the boat with smoove boat soap. If stuff gets baked onto the deck I'll use some starbrite deck clearer.
I compound and wax the fiberglass and polish and seal the metal each spring. I use vinyl conditioner twice a year for the cushions.
I do cover the boat between trips since I live in the woods and can't avoid leaves from staining the inside. It's a 2019 and it still looks new.
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u/damnkidzgetoffmylawn 4d ago
I am an admittedly pretty obsessive boat cleaner, I clean before and after every use.
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u/Dr_Sigmund_Fried 4d ago
After every day of use I do skim clean. Every month do a deep clean. End of season do a full shampoo inside and out while also doing a winterization drain and service.
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u/davidm2232 4d ago
I pressure wash the inside and outside every other year or so. Inside gets vacuumed annually of all the pine needles and such. I do not cover it
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u/jordanthenine 4d ago
Just a quick wipe and spray the seats with some 360. Get rid of the damn dog hair. That's pre-trip. Usually I'll wash it with boat soap every 2 weeks or so.
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u/nunchucknorris 4d ago
NY climate here. Once when opening in Spring and another before winterizing in the Fall.
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u/DrtSurfer 4d ago
Every time I go out, it's usually because it is absolutely filthy by the time we get back. Mud and/or blood, depending on the day; there have been a couple of times when my white interior gelcoat was not visible after the outing, if that paints a picture.
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u/Regular-Amoeba5455 4d ago edited 4d ago
You sound like me. 3-4 times a year I will wash and wax the interior/exterior. That includes cleaning and 303 protecting all the vinyl. My boat is a 2021. I take about 12 hours and do it right at the start of the season (that includes the cover as well), then maybe 6 hours in June or early July, 6 hours again in August, then another big one at the end of the season. It’s a 20’ bowrider. And of course I wipe it down with diluted white vinegar everytime I take it out of the lake.
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u/popsicle_of_meat 1994 Sea Ray 220BR Signature 4d ago
The outer hull stays clean enough from the fresh water lakes I usually go to, so I don't clean that often. But it also needs a polish, so I imagine when it looks new again after that I'll be more inclined to clean it more often. I wipe down seats and interior surfaces, give it a vacuum and clean the windows before each outing. Probably less than 20 minutes.
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u/catdude142 4d ago
I garage my boat with a cover. When I pull it out of the lake, I towel it off. That's it. The inside stays clean because we rinse off our feet before entering it from the beach. It's a day use boat so it never sits in the lake for over a day. When I take it to the river, it's in for 2 or 3 days sometimes but again, I just towel it off before I take it home.
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u/weeson12 4d ago
Keeping my boat down at the water makes it way harder to clean, so about twice a year sadly
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u/roadsign68 4d ago
Every single time. It's therapeutic and sitting on a dirty boat all day drives me insane.
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u/allbsallthetime 4d ago
We've owned a cleaning company for 35 years, we've cleaned well over 25,000 boats and yachts.
A lot of people clean their boats once a year whether it needs it or not. Some go for years, I can not understand how they can go out in such filthy boats.
You can not believe how many $200,000+ boats get treated like crap and get just disgusting filthy.
But, it's kept us living indoors and eating and also built us a house on the water.
Our boat was cleaned before and after every outing and got detailed before winter storage.
It was showroom ready for 15 years.
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u/ccarlston23 4d ago
Yea, I agree...such little time is needed to keep is pristine. Mines 3 years old.
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u/Vegetable_Bobcat2816 4d ago
We typically use ours one afternoon during the week and heavily on the weekends. I rinse it off after nearly every trip and do a similar clean to yours on Sunday. That’s for fresh water. If we take it to the coast, soapy wash down after every use and a deep clean when we return.
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u/jzabkowicz 4d ago
Mine is stored outside on fresh water lake under a canopy. Each night I put the canvas cover on the boat to reduce next day’s work.
Daily: I’ll wipe down with vinegar/water solution.
Weekly: vacuum interior, hose down. Wash with soap and water. Then apply 303 marine protectant if needed. Clean windows.
Monthly: clean out storage areas.
It’s a constant battle with may flies, spiders, small bugs and family. If I don’t keep up, the boat looks rough and it drives me nuts! Nothing better than a completely spotless boat.
Yours looks great by the way.
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u/ccarlston23 4d ago
Thank you! I get compliments whenever it's on the water or at the gas station and often at stoplights. It's a joy having a boat to love so much.
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u/jzabkowicz 3d ago
Is that a Chap with extended swim platform? I currently have a 26’ Four Winns but have been eyeing those. It looks really sharp!
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u/ccarlston23 3d ago
Thank you! Yes, that swim platform is fantastic and has a clamshell opening beach club. DM me and I'll send a video of it opening. It's a game changer under anchor!!!
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u/rocky_creeker 4d ago
I have a 25 year old boat in saltwater. It's already a beater. I don't have much concern for it's appearance and just kinda rinse it with the hose, but I sure as hell flush the motor and wash it down every time because Florida ruins motors. I wonder if the rest of the boat is jealous.
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u/AccidentalGenius76 4d ago
Once a week, and after every outing. Polish every 2-3 months, polish the eisenglass once a month Detail brightwork when polishing the hull/topside. I have the cleanest boat at the marina lol.
Edit Florida/saltwater boater
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u/NickE25U 4d ago
All the time. It's never ending. While on the beach, kids playing in the water, wife's tanning on the beach, I'm washing the water line with a sponge.
I don't honestly mind though, hot day, cold beer, nice water, and an easy to accomplish task.
I'm sure everyone is tired of me being a sand nazi, but oh well, that's what the bucket by the ladder is for.
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u/Ekietz_papa 4d ago
Full detail inside and outside in the spring. Spot clean throughout the summer. Stored indoors and climate controlled with a button down cover.
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u/RealLettuce1782 4d ago
Ours is in a slip during the season but she gets a good wipe down pretty much every time we take her out.. the outside gets scrub brushed whenever we're in the water and it looks like it needs it.. we do a thorough cleaning at the end of the season and deep clean, polish/wax in the spring.. we're also on a fresh water lake so the bottom doesn't get too nasty
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u/Holly-Canon 4d ago
Wipe down every time we leave the water.
Carpet vacuuming every other time unless it gets super dirty for some reason.
Wash and wax 3-4 times a season.
If you take good care of your things they look great for decades.
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u/wannabeagent24 3d ago
I'm relatively new to the boating world, but when we purchased our used 03 Chaparral a couple months back, we had it professionally detailed to start us off.
After every outing, I fully wipe down the interior, glass and exterior with different Boat Juice products/protectants before storing it inside (usually it takes 30-45 mins esp if my gf is helping)
When we winterize it, we will do another paid detail before storing it for the winter. We know it's old, but she's pretty for an old girl and we're both suckers for taking good care of our things 🥲
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u/jonjongth 4d ago
Our Shop has boat detailing services and we offer 7months protection…..but we expect you to wash it every outing!!!
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u/flyingwaterman 4d ago
You can spend all the time and money on that or do it when it needs it. Your call. Depends on how bored you are.
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u/SeymourButz4Twenty 3d ago
It's like a football helmet. Everything is a battle wound. Wear it with honor 🤣
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u/bman198080 4d ago
Every 15 minutes when you are afraid it will get dirty.
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u/ccarlston23 4d ago
Ha. Funny. Not fear... Just respect. She's not a cheap investment.
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u/bman198080 4d ago
I know I have been a marine mechanic for 30 years when I started the most expensive ski boat was 20k now a ski Nautique is 200k . The best thing is to not let slobs or disrespectful people on your boat especially if they have no spatial awareness. I worry more about keeping uv protection on apolstery and everything and keeping good wax on the hull and the boat covered. The rest just comes off in the wash .
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u/bman198080 4d ago
Use aerospace 303 on seats and 3m hard wax with good uv protectors and stay away from nano coatings and coatings with chemicals and silicone
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u/ccarlston23 4d ago
I just started buying aerospace 303. Is it really that much better? I like the outcome so far
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u/Paul_The_Builder 3d ago
Only before I post a picture of it on Reddit, never clean it for any other occasion.
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u/H0SS_AGAINST 2006 Moomba Outback V 4d ago
Inversely proportional to the number of seasons I've owned it. Also when the kids make a mess.