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Best cleaner for river slime

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:10:25 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:52:10 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

I use a brush with a liquid oxalic acid solution. Removes those stains
for me. The most annoying stains I seem to encounter on the hull are
those left behind by the tannin in the water.

I've always used Soft Scrub - non bleach, non scented.

Works and not a lot of "elbow grease".

On and Off is quicker and requires almost no rubbing. It is much
easier on fiberglass than Soft Scrub. Wear eye protection and old
clothes.

I've never had a problem with Soft Scrub - ever.

And the finish on my boat is damn near perfect.

Best cleaner for river slime

John H. wrote:
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 14:39:12 GMT, "Canuck57"
wrote:

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 00:44:21 -0500, sherwindu penned the following
well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

After pulling my boat from the Root River in Racine Wisconsin, I noticed
that
there
was an ugly band of black gunk at the waterline, especially at the
upstream side
of
the boat when it was in the slip. A power wash got the mud off, but this
band
of
gunk stayed on. I had the same problem last year, and had to rub like
hell with

all kinds of cleaners to get it off. Someone recommended using Tidy Bowl
as a
cleaner, possibly because it contains Muratic Acid. I know that Muratic
Acid is

used to clean and etch concrete, so I was wary to use it on my fiberglass
hull.
Was I correct about this? Is there a better way to clean off this river
junk?
I
have used Zud and other similar products, but they don't get everything
off and
require a lot of elbow grease. Some of this gunk is on the bottom paint,
as
well,
so I have to be careful not to dissolve that.

Sherwin
We have the same problem here in the rivers and the AICW.... I have
constantly fought this battle and won.

First of all, I would caution against using any powdered cleaners.
They are all abrasive, to some extent, and I suspect do more harm than
good.

Gelcoat is porous. Sorry, but that is just the way it is. Your cleaner
is going to have to go where the stain is and chemically remove it.
The only way to actually do this is acid.... and it might be
hydrochloric (muriatic), oxalic, phosphoric, oxalic, sulfuric or a
mixture, including detergents or surfactants. Read that, "I gotta wear
eye and skin protection!" Thus, also, you have the reason the toilet
bowl cleaners can be used.... they are acid. They can be bought
cheaper that the boutique cleaner blends offered in most chandleries.

This is one easily obtainable boat product with which I have had good
results:
http://tinyurl.com/24gcep

NOTICE: that any acid based cleaner is NOT good for your trailer.....
especially if it is aluminum. It will stain and etch the metal.

ALSO NOTICE: (at least in my experience) any acid cleaner is going to
screw up your bottom paint. I use a black ablative paint and it
doesn't really stain, so I use tape and plastic to mask off my bottom
paint. If your paint cannot be washed clean.... I think you are in for
scrubbing and a touch-up.

What about waxing it before going out? Any thoughts on this? Is there a
easy treatment that makes it come off easy?

I know it doesn't get it off once on, but maybe an ounce of prevention is
better than the cure.

You can buy oxalic acid powder at hardware stores. $5 will get about a half
pound which will make enough solution for several years. I use about two
tablespoons per gallon of water, put it in a spray bottle, mist it on the
brown stain, wipe with a sponge, and then rinse. The stain is gone.

This is much cheaper than Off and On, it is worth a try, even if I lose
the rest before i need to use it again. Maybe we can just buy a half
pound for the whole dock.

Best cleaner for river slime

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 18:56:12 -0400, " JimH" ask wrote:

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 22:09:30 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 17:49:02 -0400, "Bill Kearney"
wkearney-99@hot-mail-com wrote:

I've always used Soft Scrub - non bleach, non scented.
Works and not a lot of "elbow grease".

Which is still an abrasive and will not help your gelcoat.

Really?

Hmmmm - well, no.

Here's a image of the interior of the boat which gets all kinds of
crud, blood and stains - see any deterioration of the gel coat?

http://www.swsports.org/images/Ranger/Ranger06.JPG

Here's an image of the side of the boat.

http://www.swsports.org/images/Ranger/Ranger03.JPG

See any deterioration of the gel coat?

We have a fiberglass bath/shower and it's cleaned with Soft Scrub all
the time - no scratches there either.

It does work and work well.

I was a little harsh on that reply - my apology. A little tired
today.

I've used it for a long time and never had a problem. I'll admit it
did hit the boat with Finesse-it II three years ago, but I still use
Soft Scrub with no swirls or fine little scratches.

I have used Soft Scrub when cleaning the anti slip areas on my boats. It
cleans on the surface only.

When trying to clean set in stains like the original poster has oxalic acid
(Bar Keepers Friend) is a far better solution. ;-)

Could be I've never had that kind of stain.

I do fish in a lot of areas that are tannin stained though and that
can be a pain.

I tried Never-Dull once on a stain on a fiberglass boat- that worked
really well, but it strips off the wax.

Best cleaner for river slime

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:59:57 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

This is much cheaper than Off and On

Sno Bowl is cheaper also, same stuff.

Best cleaner for river slime

On Oct 27, 10:44?pm, sherwindu wrote:
After pulling my boat from the Root River in Racine Wisconsin, I noticed that
there
was an ugly band of black gunk at the waterline, especially at the upstream side
of
the boat when it was in the slip. A power wash got the mud off, but this band
of
gunk stayed on. I had the same problem last year, and had to rub like hell with

all kinds of cleaners to get it off. Someone recommended using Tidy Bowl as a
cleaner, possibly because it contains Muratic Acid. I know that Muratic Acid is

used to clean and etch concrete, so I was wary to use it on my fiberglass hull.
Was I correct about this? Is there a better way to clean off this river junk?
I
have used Zud and other similar products, but they don't get everything off and
require a lot of elbow grease. Some of this gunk is on the bottom paint, as
well,
so I have to be careful not to dissolve that.

Sherwin

You might try this stuff:

http://lat43.com/marine.html

Absolutely non-abrasive, and cleans far better than any thing else I
have ever used.

Best cleaner for river slime

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 14:39:12 GMT, "Canuck57"
wrote:

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 00:44:21 -0500, sherwindu penned the following
well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

After pulling my boat from the Root River in Racine Wisconsin, I noticed
that
there
was an ugly band of black gunk at the waterline, especially at the
upstream side
of
the boat when it was in the slip. A power wash got the mud off, but this
band
of
gunk stayed on. I had the same problem last year, and had to rub like
hell with

all kinds of cleaners to get it off. Someone recommended using Tidy Bowl
as a
cleaner, possibly because it contains Muratic Acid. I know that Muratic
Acid is

used to clean and etch concrete, so I was wary to use it on my fiberglass
hull.
Was I correct about this? Is there a better way to clean off this river
junk?
I
have used Zud and other similar products, but they don't get everything
off and
require a lot of elbow grease. Some of this gunk is on the bottom paint,
as
well,
so I have to be careful not to dissolve that.

Sherwin

We have the same problem here in the rivers and the AICW.... I have
constantly fought this battle and won.

First of all, I would caution against using any powdered cleaners.
They are all abrasive, to some extent, and I suspect do more harm than
good.

Gelcoat is porous. Sorry, but that is just the way it is. Your cleaner
is going to have to go where the stain is and chemically remove it.
The only way to actually do this is acid.... and it might be
hydrochloric (muriatic), oxalic, phosphoric, oxalic, sulfuric or a
mixture, including detergents or surfactants. Read that, "I gotta wear
eye and skin protection!" Thus, also, you have the reason the toilet
bowl cleaners can be used.... they are acid. They can be bought
cheaper that the boutique cleaner blends offered in most chandleries.

This is one easily obtainable boat product with which I have had good
results:
http://tinyurl.com/24gcep

NOTICE: that any acid based cleaner is NOT good for your trailer.....
especially if it is aluminum. It will stain and etch the metal.

ALSO NOTICE: (at least in my experience) any acid cleaner is going to
screw up your bottom paint. I use a black ablative paint and it
doesn't really stain, so I use tape and plastic to mask off my bottom
paint. If your paint cannot be washed clean.... I think you are in for
scrubbing and a touch-up.

What about waxing it before going out? Any thoughts on this? Is there a
easy treatment that makes it come off easy?

I know it doesn't get it off once on, but maybe an ounce of prevention is
better than the cure.

You can buy oxalic acid powder at hardware stores. $5 will get about a half
pound which will make enough solution for several years. I use about two
tablespoons per gallon of water, put it in a spray bottle, mist it on the
brown stain, wipe with a sponge, and then rinse. The stain is gone.

Best cleaner for river slime

Chuck Gould wrote:
On Oct 27, 10:44?pm, sherwindu wrote:
After pulling my boat from the Root River in Racine Wisconsin, I noticed that
there
was an ugly band of black gunk at the waterline, especially at the upstream side
of
the boat when it was in the slip. A power wash got the mud off, but this band
of
gunk stayed on. I had the same problem last year, and had to rub like hell with

all kinds of cleaners to get it off. Someone recommended using Tidy Bowl as a
cleaner, possibly because it contains Muratic Acid. I know that Muratic Acid is

used to clean and etch concrete, so I was wary to use it on my fiberglass hull.
Was I correct about this? Is there a better way to clean off this river junk?
I
have used Zud and other similar products, but they don't get everything off and
require a lot of elbow grease. Some of this gunk is on the bottom paint, as
well,
so I have to be careful not to dissolve that.

Sherwin

You might try this stuff:

http://lat43.com/marine.html

Absolutely non-abrasive, and cleans far better than any thing else I
have ever used.

Chuck, have you used this stuff on water line gunk?

Best cleaner for river slime

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:39:16 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

Absolutely non-abrasive, and cleans far better than any thing else I
have ever used.

Chuck, have you used this stuff on water line gunk?

Or brown mustache?

Best cleaner for river slime

Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:39:16 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

Absolutely non-abrasive, and cleans far better than any thing else I
have ever used.

Chuck, have you used this stuff on water line gunk?

Or brown mustache?

I don't want to know what you are talking about. ;)