Fall cleanup

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Fall cleanup

Postby kokko » Mon Oct 14, 2013 9:29 am

On both my DS1 and Catalina 22, there is a lot of hull cleaning necessary before winter storage.

Normally I pressure wash, then use polishing compound. Fresh wax is applied in the Spring. The problem with the polishing compound is getting it all off. I am often left with dirty swirls that are very difficult to polish off, even with a power buffer/polisher. THe dirty swirls seem to be a composite of the polishing compound, dirt, old wax and oily residue. It is particularly bad at the water line. I think oil from other boats deposits at my waterline.

I found it helpful to take a damp cloth and wipe down the hull after polishing. It removes all the residue. I just wipe down a section, rinse out the cloth and continue. After the hull hass been wiped down, I go over the hull again with a clean bonnet on my polisher.

I've tried the same thing using mineral spirits to wipe down the hull, but I think the damp cloth is equally effective and there is no VOCs.
DS1 Truelove
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Re: Fall cleanup

Postby GreenLake » Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:11 pm

Using a polishing compound every season seems a bit aggressive to me. Water is a great solvent, except where you need to remove grease or wax. If your compound doesn't have wax or oils in it, water should be fine.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Fall cleanup

Postby kokko » Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:22 pm

The polishing compound has no solvent to waxes. It is basically a dispersion of a fine abrasive in water. It is about as abrasive as toothpaste, so I don't worry about using it yearly.
DS1 Truelove
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Re: Fall cleanup

Postby GreenLake » Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:44 pm

No wax, that's why your damp cloth was fine and mineral spirits didn't add anything.
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Re: Fall cleanup

Postby jeadstx » Tue Oct 15, 2013 12:36 pm

Can your recommend something to take the residue from the Laguna Madre off my hull. I have a film of brown stuff from sailing the Tx200 on my hull. The Laguna Madre has a very high salt content (sharks can't survive in the Laguna Madre) and seems to leave a bit of a film on the hull that is hard to get off.

John
1976 Day Sailer II, #8075 - Completed the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Texas 200
1952 Beetle Boat Swan Catboat
Early Rhodes 19
1973 Mariner 2+2, #2607 - Completed 2014, 2015 and 2016 Texas 200
1969 Day Sailer I, #3229
Fleet 135; Canyon Lake, Texas
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