Water line on boat

[87rocket455]

I recently pruchased a 19' centra cuddy. The boat has a brown stains from the water line down from sitting in the water. What can be done to get ride of this besides sanding and buffing the gelcoat?

Thanks,
Darrell

 

[salty87]

Re: Water line on boat

toilet bowl cleaner has a mild acid in it. that's what i've used with a long handled brush for scrubbing. rinse the trailer and anything that needs protecting often, try not to get on yourself. spray, scrub, wait, scrub a little more, then rinse. repeat if necessary.

 

[Five O'Clock]

Re: Water line on boat

there's an actual cleaner called "hull cleaner." like the toilet bowl scrub, it's acid based, wear gloves when cleaning

 

[87rocket455]

Re: Water line on boat

there's an actual cleaner called "hull cleaner." like the toilet bowl scrub, it's acid based, wear gloves when cleaning

Do you have experience using this product? What brand did u use?
Thanks,
Darrell

 

[gcboat]

Re: Water line on boat

Hey Darrell,

Here's the stuff you need :http://www.jamestowndistributors.co...339&familyName=On-Off+Hull+and+Bottom+Cleaner

 

[Dave K.]

Re: Water line on boat

i've used it & works great! can't remember the name but got it from a marina on the river. yes, wear gloves & cover the trailer w/ plastic if the boat stays on while cleaning. you brush it on & spray it off w/ a hose. the mildew/scum stain literally melts off. in fact, the bottom of my boat was cleaner than the aging on top when i did this a couple of years ago. it is acid base so be careful!

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Water line on boat

Walmart sells the Starbrite hull cleaner that works pretty well also. Its the same type of acid based cleaner as the ON and Off stuff.

 

[61fish]

Re: Water line on boat

I second the toilet bowl cleaner...for under 2 bucks it does a terrific job. Again protection is needed on the hands and over gravel works the best to avoid concrete stains.

 

[87rocket455]

Re: Water line on boat

Looked for Starbrite @ Walmart and couldn't find any so i settled for some toilet bowl cleaner. When i got home i tried it on the boat with no success.
How does that On / Off stuff work? I was thinking about buying that to try.

 

[gcboat]

Re: Water line on boat

It works great. Go to Home Cheapo - or wherever - and buy an acid brush with a 4 or 5 foot wooden handle. Pour some in a plastic bucket and then on the hull. Let it sit a bit, agitate some and rinse off. Keep your trailer either covered with plastic or soaked good with water.
Stay upwind !

 

[pine island fred]

Re: Water line on boat

MURATIC acid will surely work. Be careful and stay up wind, have the hose standing by. If you have an old bug sprayer you can sacrifice, plastic, consider using that. Pretty cheap stuff, ask for it at the local hardware store as sometimes it is not sitting right on the shelf but tucked away. FRED

 

[Five O'Clock]

Re: Water line on boat

i heard the acidic based products will strip some of the paint off, any truth to this?

 

[nlain]

Re: Water line on boat

Anything that will remove that brown stain is acid based, I am not sure where you are but here in S Ga in the salt marshes you can put your boat in Saturday morning and take it out on Monday and you have a very dark brown stain that does not come off easily, it will come off, I use either CLR or Whink, multiple aplications, rubber gloves, rag, soak rag in cleaner, apply, let sit, mist with hose after a couple minutes to keep moist, then rinse real good with hose and repeat process until it is all gone. My boat was in and out as mentioned above this past weekend and I spent about 2 hours removing the brown stain, I washed the boat time I pulled it out of the water and started the cleaning process. The acid has not hurt the gelcoat yet.

 

[katohutt]

Re: Water line on boat

I use Purple Power. Spray on and spray off. It costs about 5 bucks at the grocery or hardware store. It took all the brown off my boat and has no acid.

 

[87rocket455]

Re: Water line on boat

I am going to give the On / Off a shot. I hope this will take care if it, but i have my doubts. I also heard that a 50/50 mix oh hydrogen peroxide and lysol toilet bowl cleaner works too.
If all else fails i will get some meriatic acid and use that

 

[87rocket455]

Re: Water line on boat

UPDATE: Got a clean bottom now
Since i am impatient i didn't wait to get the On/Off in the mail, i went ahead and tried the 50/50mix of hydrogen peroxide and tysol toiltet bowl cleaner (more acidic). It worked great Had to strub a little but pretty much 99% of it came off.

 

[arboldt]

Re: Water line on boat

Glad to hear you could clean your bottom

There've been many threads on this topic, so there isn't much new here. Generally, it takes an acid to remove the water stains. We've been told the Starbrite Hull Cleaner (and others like it) is oxalic acid, and we've also been told you could buy it much cheaper as oxalic acid at a paint store.

Other acids work well, too, although I don't have experience with them.

Some toilet bowl cleaners are not acid-based, and some are. You might check the active ingredients of the first one you tried. Adding Hydrogen Peroxide will do 3 things: 1) Increase acidity a bit 2) Introduce an oxygen-bleaching function, and 3) substantially increase the price. I'd not heard of that approach before, so glad to know it works.