Cleaning supplies are in

LtDan · **Posted:** Tue Mar 19, 2013 3:00 pm

I've never set foot on my "new" boat yet, but $560 on winter storage, $1800 for this coming seasons slip, transfer registration, trailer plates..... This is an expensive hobby.

Today my box of cleaning supplies ($339) came from Premium Boat Care. I spent a bunch of time researching posts, back to 2010. A few were very helpful and led to:
Porter Cable buffer with yellow, white, gray and red pads
3M Marine rubbing compound
3M Finesse-It Glaze
Meguiars Flagship Premium Marine Wax
303 Protectant

The boat sat out last year and is in need of a good polish and wax. As soon as Lake Erie permits, the previous owner is going with me when they put it in and spend the day showing me how things work (I've been boating, never been a boat owner). My master plan at this point is to then put it on the trailer in Port Clinton and haul it east to Geneva On The Lake to a friends house. Spend a couple days buffing, cleaning, and getting to know all the mechanicals, then to its home at a slip in the Geneva State Park Marina.

Picking up a big box of Magic Erasers for the seats and trim, have the 303 for post cleaning. A question on the final wax removal, should I do it by hand or will a pad on the buffer give me great results? Also any suggestions on cleaning the chrome or any other tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm anxious for summer!

schoolsOut · **Posted:** Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:06 pm

Ltdan51@gmail.com wrote:

Picking up a big box of Magic Erasers for the seats and trim

Congrats on the "new to you" boat! I'm sure you will love it! I have never heard of using magic erasers on vinyl. Anyone ever else ever try it?

acguy · **Posted:** Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:29 pm

schoolsOut wrote:

Ltdan51@gmail.com wrote:

Picking up a big box of Magic Erasers for the seats and trim

Congrats on the "new to you" boat! I'm sure you will love it! I have never heard of using magic erasers on vinyl. Anyone ever else ever try it?

My wife had used the magic eraser on our vinyl. We only use it on spots that seem to be impossible to get clean with cleaner. No effects to date but woldn't clean an entire boat with it. I've read some where they are full of cancer causing agents but really what isn't these days!

LtDan · **Posted:** Wed Mar 20, 2013 6:42 am

I hadn't heard the cancer part, actually got the tip about using them on the vinyl and interior portions of the boat from a thread in the forum.

JeffLW · **Posted:** Wed Mar 20, 2013 7:04 am

Haha, you sound a lot like me last spring Ltdan.

Yes I think the price of the boat is the least expensive part of owning one. The guys at two different West Marine stores knew me by name and i got gold status because I spent so much there.

Have fun getting her cleaned up.

I heard about the magic eraser on seats trick but never tried it. I did have someone on the boat last summer wearing cheap blue kmart flip-flops and left blue streaks all over the place. Soap and water wasn't working but the magic eraser took it right off.

LtDan · **Posted:** Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:18 am

Yeah, I thought my Harley was an expensive hobby, it's got nothing on the boat. Oh well, I anticipate this summer will make it all worth while! Anyone that lives up north, take a minute and throw a couple buckets of hot water into Lake Erie for me...

ric · **Posted:** Wed Mar 20, 2013 10:08 am

Magic erasers are abrasive so don't use them on anything shiny. My favorite cleaning product is Lysol mold and mildew. Cleans anything. Has some bleach so rise good with another soap cause some 90s boats still used cotton thread. Newer boats do not. Cleans a dirty deck to spot less white with very little scrubbing. Makes vinyl seats look like the day they were made.

Kvou812 · **Posted:** Wed Mar 20, 2013 11:58 am

I use the erasers all the time.... they get spots and scuff marks off of vinyl and fiberglass when other stuff won't, cheap, quick and easy to use as well. They work well on getting non-skid nice and clean also.

weather · **Posted:** Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:50 am

You sound like me last spring! Crazy how many things you need to clean a boat properly. Very satisfying work however.
I didn't use a buffer to remove the wax, came off easily with micro fiber cloths, just have several handy so you can switch them out. Also don't forget to clean the buffer pads often, I found when the compound felt like it wasn't working as well anymore, it was because the pad needed to be cleaned. Cleaning buffer pads in the field was simple with a 5 gallon bucket and a bit of water, takes all of 2 minutes and makes them work like new. I've posted it several times, but here it is again (http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/52772-tips-compound-polish-wax.html) I printed this out and took it with me for reference since it was my first time doing any fiberglass cleaning.

TX H210SS · **Joined:** Thu May 27, 2010 9:10 am **Posts:** 1488

Once you get the vinyl clean its a matter of easy maintenance...I give all vinyl a wipe down with 3m vinyl cleaner/conditioner after every trip. Takes 5 minutes and things that stained before wipe right off. No mildew ever....I used this for ten years on prior boat and still looked new.

LtDan · **Posted:** Mon Mar 25, 2013 2:19 pm

weather wrote:

You sound like me last spring! Crazy how many things you need to clean a boat properly. Very satisfying work however.
I didn't use a buffer to remove the wax, came off easily with micro fiber cloths, just have several handy so you can switch them out. Also don't forget to clean the buffer pads often, I found when the compound felt like it wasn't working as well anymore, it was because the pad needed to be cleaned. Cleaning buffer pads in the field was simple with a 5 gallon bucket and a bit of water, takes all of 2 minutes and makes them work like new. I've posted it several times, but here it is again (http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/52772-tips-compound-polish-wax.html) I printed this out and took it with me for reference since it was my first time doing any fiberglass cleaning.

Great info on that, I read it prior to buying the items. I have the foam pads (yellow, white, grey, red) but none of the wool ones. A good DVD came with the Porter Cable, I should be good to go. Picked up a great big pack of micro fiber towels from Costco and have been recruiting wax removal helpers.

Just left Lake Erie, it's cold, snowy and ice drifting about. Very depressing!

john55c · **Posted:** Sun Mar 31, 2013 5:52 am

Kvou812 wrote:

I use the erasers all the time.... they get spots and scuff marks off of vinyl and fiberglass when other stuff won't, cheap, quick and easy to use as well. They work well on getting non-skid nice and clean also.

Just bought some Magic Erasers yesterday and used them on the vinyl to clean up spots the 3M Vinyl Cleaner & Conditioner wouldn't. Now that the trim all looks like new, I am going to use that product to maintain the clean! I was really impressed with how easy they were to use and what an awesome job they did. One thing I noticed was that the Magic Erasers left a film, so you need to wash off any areas immediately after doing them to get the film off. These also get used up quickly and fall apart easily when doing tough job. I went through 4 on the side panel trim, front to back on both sides. I need to buy more for the back seats, engine cover, etc. BUt well worth the money for any really dirty parts.

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