Lake scum buildup

[m casey stock]

Hey Guys,

This is a friend of mine's boat that I'm helping out with. He has fallen ill again and may not make it through this round of treatments (multiple melanoma) I'm trying to get it cleaned up for resale before the next boating season rolls around. You can see where I've cleaned some up front and it looks good, but let me tell you, the brown color is a build up that is almost like a layer of paint. The boat sat in a local lake for years on end and the lake is murky to put it nicely (man made a long time ago with a lot of older homes built around it with questionable septic systems, nuff said) Anyway, I used three different cleaners and a lot of elbow grease to just clean what I did. There has got to be something out there that will be strong enough to cut this stuff off (more of a stain than an actual build up). At this point it looks like I'm going to need to take the boat off the trailer, on land, in order to reach all the underside if I'm to continue cleaning with my same process (not really looking forward to that) Any help or advice (respectful) would be great. Thanks Guys

 

[Fastatv]

Re: Lake scum buildup

At a glance, looks like mineral/calcium build up from setting in the water. I used toilet bowl cleaner on mine....Sno Bowl. Its about $1.69 at the Dollar Store, spray it on, and it dissolves the build up...no scrubbing, no work. May require several applications, just rinse off with a water hose. One thing I will say here tho, be careful as not to breath the stuff.....its nasty. Rick

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Lake scum buildup

I've seen The Works cleaner used as well as those mentioned here:
Discolored white gelcoat

Bud (CC254) had great results w/ Easy Off & some film sandpaper he found online. It's all in his thread,
CC254 - 1990 254 Sea Hawk

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Lake scum buildup

This stuff is AMAZING....

 

[jc55]

Re: Lake scum buildup

We use "slimy grimy" with hot water in a weed sprayer(Ohio River). Bar Keeper's friend is a great supplement. I used toilet bowl cleaner on showers but it eats up the hardware so be cautious.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Re: Lake scum buildup

Have you tried Oxalic Acid? Watch this

Fiberglass boat hull cleaning with oxalic acid - YouTube

 

[m casey stock]

Re: Lake scum buildup

All great responses! Thanks so much. Looks like I have a lot of new choices to try and that was what I was hoping for. I'm all for not having to take the boat off the trailer, so any spray on rinse off product would be wonderful, but I did expect to do a little scrubbing no matter what, just not to the level I've had too so far. So you know, Super Clean, CLR, and Napa aluminum wheel brite, are what products I tried (even sprayed some on top of the other) and actually the aluminum cleaner did the best, I guess because of the chemical acid base it has. Thanks again guys, I'll be sure to post what I used and how well it did, with pictures of course.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Re: Lake scum buildup

Oxalic acid needs no scubbing at all. The stains will disapear by the acid application alone.

 

[m casey stock]

Re: Lake scum buildup

Oxalic acid needs no scubbing at all. The stains will disapear by the acid application alone.

I watched the video and saw that, wow, I'm guessing I can get this stuff at maybe a building supply store?

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Lake scum buildup

I got Oxalic acid online for cleaning teak. $5 for quite a bit @evil bay

 

[m casey stock]

Re: Lake scum buildup

I got Oxalic acid online for cleaning teak. $5 for quite a bit @evil bay

Thanks Bud! :rockon: