Deck cleaner?

Indiana

Indiana

Member
Apr 12, 2018
44
Boat Info
Sundancer 290 1992
Engines
Twin 170HP Mercruser Inboard Engines
Hi,

The deck of my Sundancer 29 (1992) has not been properly cleaned for years (I gave it a wee scrub when I brought it a few months back), but it has some stubborn ingrained grime and dirt spots that need removing.

Does anyone know of a good cleaner/shampoo that I can use to remove the built-in grime and black spots.
Or could I just use warm water, a detergent (which one?) and bleach???

Feel like working on my boat now spring/summer is here :O)

Indy
 
We power wash nonskid if it’s in good structural shape. We also use Starbrite Non-skid Deck Cleaner, which works great for removing many stains and stubborn grime. We use Shurhold brushes, and the brush you should use on your non-skid is the white brush with stiff bristles. I would not use bleach on your non-skid or gelcoat.
Tim
 
JustRight said:
We power wash nonskid if it’s in good structural shape. We also use Starbrite Non-skid Deck Cleaner, which works great for removing many stains and stubborn grime. We use Shurhold brushes, and the brush you should use on your non-skid is the white brush with stiff bristles. I would not use bleach on your non-skid or gelcoat.
Tim
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FABULOUS... just the kind of reply I was hoping for, but would a £50ish high street retail pressure washer work well enough 120 Bar, or should I hire one and if so how much (I can actually check the cost myself lol)
 
+2 in the Stabrite. Use full strength. Be careful if you power wash I dont know the configuration of your boat and if your talking about the forecheck but be mindful of the portholes. You dont want to force any water intrusion
 
MiLoII said:
+2 in the Stabrite. Use full strength. Be careful if you power wash I dont know the configuration of your boat and if your talking about the forecheck but be mindful of the portholes. You dont want to force any water intrusion
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Yes I may not use a pressure washer, and do it by hand instead, anyway I think a hand-held scrubbing brush will get into the non-slip better.

It's only a Sundancer 29 so not to much work!!! ... and I can always stop for the occasional beer lol
 
Indiana said:
FABULOUS... just the kind of reply I was hoping for, but would a £50ish high street retail pressure washer work well enough 120 Bar, or should I hire one and if so how much (I can actually check the cost myself lol)
Click to expand...
Not sure how that equates to pressure in US terms - but if anything you probably want less pressure than more. Very high pressure could do some damage especially if you usede the narrow nozzle.

I also highly recommend the Starbrite non skid deck cleaner. Used full strength you may find that with a hand brush may get through all of the grime without the need for a pressure washer.
 
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There was a Sea Ray that sat unattended for two months south of here and was loaded with sea gulls, fish remains from the gull feedings and lot of spiders. I helped the owner clean it up from its deplorable condition and it looked great when we finished. We used lots of Dawn detergent, Soft n' Scrub containing bleach, and for the really stubborn stains, poured bleach on the deck right out of a bottle. We even let that sit in full sun for a while to work on the greasy stains the gulls left behind. We scrubbed it with firm brushes on sticks. Once we hosed it down and dried it, it looked great. Then it was polished and waxed, and looked like a new boat. But then it was only a little over a year old, but badly neglected due to the health problem of the owner. Fiberglass is a wonderful material for boats, and if it is not damaged, can almost always be brought back to a high gloss by people familiar with the best practices for doing so. You don't need to buy a bunch of expensive "boat soaps" and "hull cleaners" to get a boat clean. Once it's clean, it is important to use the proper soaps to keep a detailed boat looking good. Many folks get a boat nicely detailed and then ruin the wax job by using "boat soap" defeating the work of the detailer.
 
I have used McGuires boat soap for years and it has not degraded my polish/ wax on my boat. Can you give some additional insight about your comment about using boat soap.
 
The black dots are mold growing in the UV damaged gelcoat (rough, allows dirt/organic material to accumulate) of the non-skid from not being regularly waxed. I'm not putting you down for that - just explaining facts. I have an old Grady that I run into the same issues with as it's primarily a work boat - not so much a 'pretty' boat. Solid, though.

Bleach will not harm your gelcoat in any way, shape or form and it will take care of the black dots quickly and easily. No reason to be wasteful and use it full strength, though. 5:1 ratio (just guestimate it) is fine. Put it into a garden sprayer and have at it. Give it 5 to 10 minutes to do it's magic and then you can finish up with whatever soap you want and a medium stiff brush.

Waxing it afterwards (and keeping up with it) will help to keep the issue from returning.
 
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WV 320 Dancer said:
I have used McGuires boat soap for years and it has not degraded my polish/ wax on my boat. Can you give some additional insight about your comment about using boat soap.
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Sure. Many boat soaps are nothing more than cross sold products made by regular soap companies. Many are very harsh and strip wax off just as effectively as a good dishwasher detergent or laundry detergent strips grease and other heavy stains including wax. Really good soaps don't strip wax and actually have wax in them. They clean, add back wax and make a detailed boat sparkle. I was talking with a captain in Harbor Springs last summer as he was watching his staff wash a custom yacht. It was a white hull and the boat was maybe 110 feet overall. It sparkled as they wiped it down, and was so impressive looking I asked him what they used to wash it. His response was an "inexpensive mild soap with lots of liquid detailing wax" poured into the bucket. He buys the cheapest soap (not detergent) he can find and then adds the wax to it. He said the wax is more important than the soap. Your boat soap may be very good and may not strip wax. I've not used your product before. If, however, you are finding the need to re wax your topsides mid way through the summer in a northern climate, I suspect you are using the lousy type of boat soap I was thinking about in the earlier post. A good boat soap leaves your boat looking almost as good when you put it away in the fall as when you launch it on n the spring.
 
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Lazy Daze said:
Bleach will not harm your gelcoat in any way, shape or form and it will take care of the black dots quickly and easily. No reason to be wasteful and use it full strength, though. 5:1 ratio (just guestimate it) is fine. Put it into a garden sprayer and have at it. Give it 5 to 10 minutes to do it's magic and then you can finish up with whatever soap you want and a medium stiff brush.
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I pretty much agree with not wasting product. When we poured bleach out of a bottle we were dealing with a boat that birds had moved onto. You could almost trip over the the bird dirt. It was thick, black and greasy from the high protein diet sea gulls eat. We were hosing, scrubbing, scrapping and brushing to get through layers of crap. A little spilled bleach was not a concern. I have never used any bleach on my boat as we don't ever have the extreme condition mentioned earlier. It is too much work to wax them.
 
For 26 years I have struggled to maintain the decks of my previous 5 boats. I struggled with the black mold that accumulated and looked like hell. I did find the Starbrite non skid deck cleaner worked great. The problem is it strips off everything down to the bear deck and them, mold would appear.

For my 400 DA, I broke down and paid, who I refer to as a "freak" in terms of compounding and waxing. I paid for topside which included everything above the rub rail. Which includes the non skid. I no longer have to worry about mold. The deck looks like a sheet of glass and crap easily comes off with water. I will take a picture once the wrap is off and I do spring clean. It is a bit slippery, but not drastically bad.

My advice, get a pro if you can to compound and wax the non skid and you no longer have to worry about the dull non skid and black mold spots. Otherwise, use the Starbrite and give a good wax. Non pro job is better than nothing at all.
 
sbw1 said:
I pretty much agree with not wasting product. When we poured bleach out of a bottle we were dealing with a boat that birds had moved onto. You could almost trip over the the bird dirt. It was thick, black and greasy from the high protein diet sea gulls eat. We were hosing, scrubbing, scrapping and brushing to get through layers of crap. A little spilled bleach was not a concern. I have never used any bleach on my boat as we don't ever have the extreme condition mentioned earlier. It is too much work to wax them.
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Oh, you might have thought my 'wasteful' comment was in response to you mentioning 'pouring it straight out of the bottle'. It was not. I only meant to tell the OP what mixing ratio would do the job. Actually, the ratio can be even much leaner. Actually, I didn't even read all of the posts before I wrote what I did! :)

Interesting idea on the cheap soap and liquid wax... Hmmm...
 
I have a question about wax on your non skid surfaces......I've read about Woody's wax for non skid but I am concerned about making it slippery to walk on???? Am I missing something here?
 
Woody wax works great but the application of it is a pain. You have to spray it on when the boat is clean and wet. Then come back and wipe it after it almost drys a couple of hours later. I won’t say it doesn’t add some slickness but it is well worth it in my opinion as it makes the cleaning much easier.
 
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NotHerDecision said:
Woody wax works great but the application of it is a pain. You have to spray it on when the boat is clean and wet. Then come back and wipe it after it almost drys a couple of hours later. I won’t say it doesn’t add some slickness but it is well worth it in my opinion as it makes the cleaning much easier.
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I don't follow the instructions about buffing it after it is dry. I just spray it on my wet brush when we are done washing the boat and hit the non skid on the swim platform, roof, walk arounds and foredeck with the brush. It dries quickly and works as advertised. Dirt just hoses offf. The slickness goes away after the initial application. We apply it about once a month.
 
NotHerDecision said:
Woody wax works great but the application of it is a pain. You have to spray it on when the boat is clean and wet. Then come back and wipe it after it almost drys a couple of hours later. I won’t say it doesn’t add some slickness but it is well worth it in my opinion as it makes the cleaning much easier.
Click to expand...


I agree, I use the deck/non skid cleaner then woodys, works great and makes cleaning a lot easier

https://www.ebay.com/i/271904156334...9%26rvr_ts%3Dcee65d851690aa479e14fe5bfffdee2b
 
I bought a 1998 290 sundancer that sat fir 7 years under a tarp and was a mess. I used awesome stuff called onoff. I sprayed ut on and used a green scrub pad then power washed compounded and waxed. Looks brand new. Just use gloves and a mask when you use it and be carefull getting it on some gauges a d switches cause it will faid them if it sits too long
 
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