To wax or not to wax that is the question !

[FrankfromCrete]

Hi,
I have just spent 9hrs on my back under the trailer cleaning the hull with a slightly abrasive cloth and a bottle of jif, i left the boat in the water (sea) for 3 weeks and a slight green film appeared and the hull had a rough feel, all looks good and clean and smooth now, is it worth spending another hour or so putting on some sort of diamond car polish on so that it stays cleaner for longer and is easier to clean next time hopefully just with a hose or will the sea just wash this away in the first 100m or so? I don't plan to keep it in the water anymore when not in use, maybe just the odd night ready for a early morning fishing trip !

[willk]

Interesting post. Few thoughts.

1. Doesn't matter - you're not going back in the water to any duration

2. The cleaning technique you used will have created micro-scratches that marine growth will use as a foothold next time (if there is a next time). I've seen this myself having done what you did.

3. Unless you compound, polish and wax, there's probably not much point in doing more than you have.

4. In any case, if you leave it in the water again for that sort of time frame - the same growth will occur.

5. After a (very) sort time afloat - use a pressure washer, not abrasive cloths.

[treerat]

when mine comes out she gets a garage hot foam brush, pressure wash then a layer of wax sprayed on.

Seems to work and doesn't leave scratches.

[Andy_Rs600]

Originally Posted by willk

3. Unless you compound, polish and wax, there's probably not much point in doing more than you have.

This... Once you have used an abrasive then not much point in trying too much more unless you plan to compound back to a really high gloss.

Like treerat I've always used a jet wash to get off a few days worth of green growth. Never needed to scrub with anything other than a car wash brush. All the commercial boats I've used we've tended to just take through a carwash jetwash and spray a coat of whatever cheap car wax comes out of the jetwash on the bottom of the hull. I'm not sure whether there is a reason this is a good or bad idea, but I've not seen any problems and it appears to help get grime off next time around.

[longjohn]

Oxalic acid is a cheap and effective hull cleaner - sprayed on with a garden pump sprayer, left for a while then nosed off with clean water.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PURE-oxalic...c+acid+cleaner

[FrankfromCrete]

When say abrasive, I used a brush that was designed to clean alloy wheels its a bit stiffer than a cloth but I don't think it would have scratched the surface.
I have a industrial sized Karcher steam cleaner, but it would be a bit of a fuss putting it into the back of my truck taking ( it weights about 250KG ) down to the marina and hooking up the electric.
They don't have wash and wax car washes here like in the uk if you want to wax its on your hands and knees.
The water pressure at the marina is high so with a good hose and nozzle you get quite a bit of force, I guess it will be a trial and error thing !
Thanks for all the replies its good to find out what others do.