I am attempting to fix/clean-up a 24ft pontoon boat. I would like to
start out by cleaning up and polishing the aluminum. It has not been
cared for in quite a while. Is there any particular chemicals and
techniques that I should follow?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

God Bless!

Ken..

Aluminum oxidizes and scratches easily, so polishing is a constant and
labor-intensive approach. And do you really want all that reflected
glare? Those with the "bristol" approach to aluminum care, clean it
well; then apply an appropriate dilute acid etch for the recommended
short timespan; followed by the recommended base stopper solution.
Follow directions and you'll have an easy care, uniform dull oxide-white
finish that wonderfully masks mineral deposit, scratches and dings. If
you're in salt water, use bottom paint below the waterline to fight off
the algae, etc. If you can't live without shine, paint the topsides
too. Good luck.
Boat_dreams

Ken wrote:
I am attempting to fix/clean-up a 24ft pontoon boat. I would like to
start out by cleaning up and polishing the aluminum. It has not been
cared for in quite a while. Is there any particular chemicals and
techniques that I should follow?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

God Bless!

Ken..

Ken,
I've cleaned a lot of pontoon boats for customers where the boat remains in
the lake all season and goes into winter storage. The boats have about 1/2"
of algae growth and they are a real mess appearance wise. Many are from
lakes that have a 9.9 hp limit and the algae really slows them down.
I put on a yellow plastic rain jacket, pants,cap, gloves, and a respirator.
Then using a hand pump common garden sprayer I apply a solution of muratic
acid diluted 50%.

If I'm fortunate enough to have the boat brought to me directly from the
lake if it doesn't have time to dry, the growth comes off a bit easier. If
it is still soft I can get a lot of it off with a pressure washer. More
often however it is brought to me completely dry and takes multiple
applications of the diluted acid.

Next I completely pressure wash the pontoons to remove all the acid and let
it dry so the water won't dilute the next step.

Next I apply a product from ZEP Cleaning Chemical Company known as
Alum-I-Bright. The most common use of this product is to brighten aluminum
18 wheeler trailers. This will remove the dark dull/black colors on the
pontoons and leave them a bright and uniform aluminum color. From here is
you want a high gloss silver looking pontoon use a fine grade buffing
compound and a medium speed lambs wool buffing wheel. Unfortunately, it
won't last.

Don Dando



"boatdreams" wrote in message
...
Aluminum oxidizes and scratches easily, so polishing is a constant and
labor-intensive approach. And do you really want all that reflected
glare? Those with the "bristol" approach to aluminum care, clean it
well; then apply an appropriate dilute acid etch for the recommended
short timespan; followed by the recommended base stopper solution.
Follow directions and you'll have an easy care, uniform dull oxide-white
finish that wonderfully masks mineral deposit, scratches and dings. If
you're in salt water, use bottom paint below the waterline to fight off
the algae, etc. If you can't live without shine, paint the topsides
too. Good luck.
Boat_dreams

Ken wrote:
I am attempting to fix/clean-up a 24ft pontoon boat. I would like to
start out by cleaning up and polishing the aluminum. It has not been
cared for in quite a while. Is there any particular chemicals and
techniques that I should follow?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

God Bless!

Ken..

On Mon, 06 Oct 2003 14:09:46 GMT, "Don Dando"
sent into the ether:

Ken,
I've cleaned a lot of pontoon boats for customers where the boat remains in
the lake all season and goes into winter storage. The boats have about 1/2"
of algae growth and they are a real mess appearance wise. Many are from
lakes that have a 9.9 hp limit and the algae really slows them down.
I put on a yellow plastic rain jacket, pants,cap, gloves, and a respirator.
Then using a hand pump common garden sprayer I apply a solution of muratic
acid diluted 50%.

If I'm fortunate enough to have the boat brought to me directly from the
lake if it doesn't have time to dry, the growth comes off a bit easier. If
it is still soft I can get a lot of it off with a pressure washer. More
often however it is brought to me completely dry and takes multiple
applications of the diluted acid.

Next I completely pressure wash the pontoons to remove all the acid and let
it dry so the water won't dilute the next step.

Next I apply a product from ZEP Cleaning Chemical Company known as
Alum-I-Bright. The most common use of this product is to brighten aluminum
18 wheeler trailers. This will remove the dark dull/black colors on the
pontoons and leave them a bright and uniform aluminum color. From here is
you want a high gloss silver looking pontoon use a fine grade buffing
compound and a medium speed lambs wool buffing wheel. Unfortunately, it
won't last.

Don Dando

Don,
Where are you located, I have some buddies with pontoons that would
love to have them cleaned. e-mail me the particulars and I will
forward them. They are not all in my area, but I have no idea where
you are or the name of your company.

Dan
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