Star Brite Heavy Duty Boat Bottom Cleaner - Remove Deposits, Scum Lines & Rust Stains Quickly & Easily from Boat Hull - Safe for Fiberglass, Wood, Iron & Painted Surfaces

Product Information

When the vessel is in the water, there are specific boat bottom cleaning methods that will clean the hull of the boat while also protecting the environment. Use rubber gloves when removing barnacles to help prevent their sharp shells from cutting your skin and wear eye protection to prevent any small pieces of shell from scratching and damaging your eyes. Tie 3 feet of light line to each of the tools and the handle of the suction cup – you’ll tie the other end of each around your wrist before getting in the water with it. That way, when (not if) you drop it, you’ll be able to easily retrieve the item. While it’s a nuisance to retrieve a tool when you’re anchored in 10 feet of water over white sand with good visibility, it becomes nearly impossible if the water’s murky, deep or the bottom dark and soft.

I prefer to use bottom paints like this on my Jeanneau cabin cruiser, which I like to take for my longest cruises. Mostly, it’s because of the sheer longevity of this paint. The longest I’ve made it with a single hard coating is two and a half years on solely freshwater with a combination of dry and wet storage.A disadvantage of using cleaning pads to clean a boat hull in the water is it requires a lot of elbow grease and force to thoroughly clean the hull underwater.

For boat owners that do not want to clean the boat hull in the water themselves, there are a few alternative cleaning options available. No matter how careful you are in applying the primer, sanding will be necessary. You can sand with the same electric sander used to prepare the surface before priming, but wet sanding with silicone carbide paper is faster and more effective. You cannot, of course, wet sand with an electric sander.When using paint removers, you must mask off areas of the hull that are not to be treated. Splashing of the remover is inevitable, so take the extra time to mask off topsides and boottop with newspaper and masking tape. Use paint remover sparingly near masking tape, as it may dissolve. Once the barnacle shells have been removed, barnacles can leave behind a calcium-based residue known as a husk, to help you remove this you will need to use a chemical-based technique. Chemical barnacle removal Mild chemical barnacle removal However, for larger boats or ship hulls with extreme levels of dirt, using a motorized underwater rotary brush system may be needed for cleaning. As much as possible, I choose this over anything else, assuming it’s available. It’s far cheaper than a lot of reliable bottom-side boat paint products out there. And it’s mostly because I get the most value for money out of it.

For most recreational boats, cleaning the boat hull in the water with a motorized waterproof rotary brush system takes approximately 40 minutes to complete. Alternative Underwater Boat Hull Cleaning Options Using a boat hull scraper is a method of cleaning the boat bottom in an eco-friendly way that protects the environment as no toxic chemicals are used and the material The product to avoid when cleaning a boat hull in the water with a rotary brush is a rotary brush that is shorter than 12ft. as this will not be long enough to reach the boat bottom. I’ve tried it on both wood and fiberglass surfaces. I can safely say that it works best for the latter because my 16’ runabout has kept most barnacles, corrosion, and most marine growths at bay since I applied it.

Ensure there is a second person with you when cleaning the hull: Ensure there is a second person with you when cleaning the hull underwater as the second person can alert you to any potential issues when you are in If you are free diving, using a few dive weights – enough to make you less buoyant but not sinking – will make the job easier as you won’t use so much of your energy (and air) just to stay under. You also won’t be as likely to scrape your head and shoulders on the hull and accumulated barnacles. Priming and Fairing Before priming, any obvious gouges in the surface of the hull should be faired out with an epoxy-based fairing putty. The dings must be thoroughly clean and dry before applying compound. A portable hair dryer can be used to remove all traces of moisture from gouges. You can use a premade fairing compound, such as Interlux 4496A/4497B, or you can make up your own from epoxy resin and microballoons or microspheres.