Acid Washing Bottom

[lawndoctor]

This is probably a stupid question; if so, sorry.

Acid washing is only done on BARE hulls, i.e., that are NOT painted with bottom paint, is that correct?

The reason I'm asking, is that my boat is slipped in fresh water for the entire 6-month season, bottom painted, and every fall when I have it hauled for the winter I have them power wash the bottom. Now they also offer acid washing, something I know nothing about, and none of the threads I saw on acid washing answered the question.

Thanks.

 

[Xplicitlnck]

I may b mistaking so don't quote me buy I think acid washing is a paint stripper that lets you peal the old botyom paint off so your back to a fresh bottom. How much are they charging and if I'm wrong let me know because iam curiose.. I need to scrape peel or blast my bottom paint off b4next season but 3k to soda blast is just killing me.

 

[douglee25]

Acid washing is using either a marine specific product or someboat yards use straight muriatic acid (10%-13%) for bottom cleaning. It helps remove slime, bottom growth, and water line staining/yellowing.

I just used it on my boat this past weekend in a pump sprayer. Wear old clothes, long sleeves, goggles, and gloves. Let it sit for a few minutes, then scrub with a brush, and finally hose off. I also used it on my outdrive and stainless trim tabs. Because muriatic is corrosive towards many metals, I diluted baking soda in a spray bottle and sprayed the entire outdrive and trailer before I did my final rinse. This way the acid is neutrailized.

In the past I used "LYSOL Brand Toilet Bowl Cleaner Complete Clean" (gel form) because it's about 6% Hydrochloric acid which is the same stuff as store bought muriatic acid just diluted to 6%.

Doug

 

[Bucit]

I use "The Works" which is a toilet bowl cleaner that you can get at Dollar General for a buck. I put it in my pressure sprayer, sprayed it on, let it sit a few miutes and rinse it off. Worked great. I learned this from somebody here on CSR.

 

[rondds]

I've used FSR (a brush-on gel available at West Marine, among other places) for yellowing at the water line. Makes your copper bottom paint get Statue-of-Liberty-colored streaks.

 

[sbw1]

We acid wash the water line which takes the scum line off down to bare gelcoat. Makes spring waxing go much faster. We power wash the bottom with a high pressure hose which cleans things well enough for re-coating with bottom paint should that be necessary. The only down side to using acid is it discolors the bottom paint turning it light blue. Following the final polishing in the spring, we repaint the water line for cosmetic purposes.

 

[MarkD]

I just used something new (to me) Thetford Hull Cleaner. $11 at West. Worked great at getting all the brown stains off the hull. I didnt need to mix anything into a bucket (like on/off) either since it was spray on. I'd use it again... and I will since I only used about 1/3 of the spray bottle!

 

[wyrman]

I just cleaned most of my hull yesterday and I got a bottle of the Thetford hull cleaner and two bottles of The Works.
I found out about The Works from searching here, but they both worked great . The Works seemed to be really toxic and Thetford wasn't. I think I'm going to pass on The Works in the future.

 

[Mike Blake]

I use "The Works" which is a toilet bowl cleaner that you can get at Dollar General for a buck. I put it in my pressure sprayer, sprayed it on, let it sit a few miutes and rinse it off. Worked great. I learned this from somebody here on CSR.

:thumbsup:
:thumbsup:

 

[rondds]

Marinas around here charge $2/ft extra for this at haulout ("Acid wash water line")

 

[sbw1]

There is no charge for acid washing the water line at North Shore Marina, at least that you can see. Published charges are set, and I spend a fair amount of time making sure that the boat is very clean. I'm present and do some of the work myself.

 

[dpvandy01]

For crying out loud!! Search my thread on "iron out" and ditch the gloves, coughs and nose bleeds. Watch the video. You will thank yourself.

 

[Pachanga Boy]

if you choose to go the Muriatic acid route, avoid hitting any aluminum. i.e. your outdrive and possibly trailer. I hit the Pachanga once a year with "the works" before it's spring wax. by far the easiest and cheapest way to make hull staining disappear.

 

[douglee25]

if you choose to go the Muriatic acid route, avoid hitting any aluminum. i.e. your outdrive and possibly trailer. I hit the Pachanga once a year with "the works" before it's spring wax. by far the easiest and cheapest way to make hull staining disappear.

FYI - 'the works' is still hydrochloric acid based. No different than muriatic acid except the strength with vary.

Doug

 

[Woody]

I tried the Iron Out, it works pretty good but I like muriatic acid better. When I pull my boat I pull over to the side in the marina parking lot and immediately clean the hull. This year I used a pressure washer to blow the slime off rather than scrub with a brush, all that remains is the stain. I mist on the acid with a garden sprayer and then rinse it off. The acid is applied one side at a time. As soon as I finish applying it I pick up the water hose and flush it off, it's probably not on more than a minute. I don't have bottom paint so I don't know if it is a good choice for that.

 

[Trucky]

For crying out loud!! Search my thread on "iron out" and ditch the gloves, coughs and nose bleeds. Watch the video. You will thank yourself.

I watched your video a while back and was impressed. I watched it again a few days ago and was equally impressed. So simple, so quick. The absence of caustic chemicals makes this route a winner with me.

I found a dollar off coupon here: http://www.superironout.com/

Plus, there are other household uses for the product. I used to use it in our water softener system when we lived in an area with a high iron content in the water.