DaySailer.org Forum

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.

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.

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.

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

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