Vinegar is the best

bcpnick

Nick
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I finally brought the boat back home from storage after my trip last week. Having it stored 400 miles away has made keeping it clean a challenge, so we spent the entire day today cleaning every little nook and cranny. Every single thing came off the boat. My wife did the inside and I did the outside. The best part by far was finally using a vinegar solution to clean the exterior. Someone mentioned in another thread that they used diluted vinegar to keep their boat clean but I'd never done it. I'm not sure why as we use it to clean things in other aspects of life. Anyway, it blew me away how well it worked. I used to get out the hose and the mitt and wash the whole thing down just to be annoyed that the haze and water spots were still all over the place, especially on the metal parts and the motor. But today I cleaned the entire boat exterior with just diluted vinegar and it looks better than ever. I did finish off the panels with some Mothers Marine Spray Wax, but the photo below is purely thanks to vinegar. I swear my boat is cleaner right now than the day I bought it. 

IMG_1932.JPG


On the inside, we had so much sand in the carpet that it took my wife a good 4+ hours to vacuum it all out. First the shop vac, then the Dyson, then the Bissell. I emptied the Dyson for her once and I swear there was at least a few pounds of sand in there! I really wish I could rip that all out and put full seagrass in! 

Towing 400 miles to Lake Powell sucks, but it feels great to have the boat back home in the back yard and all cleaned up. :)
 
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I finally brought the boat back home from storage after my trip last week. Having it stored 400 miles away has made keeping it clean a challenge, so we spent the entire day today cleaning every little nook and cranny. Every single thing came off the boat. My wife did the inside and I did the outside. The best part by far was finally using a vinegar solution to clean the exterior. Someone mentioned in another thread that they used diluted vinegar to keep their boat clean but I'd never done it. I'm not sure why as we use it to clean things in other aspects of life. Anyway, it blew me away how well it worked. I used to get out the hose and the mitt and wash the whole thing down just to be annoyed that the haze and water spots were still all over the place, especially on the metal parts and the motor. But today I cleaned the entire boat exterior with just diluted vinegar and it looks better than ever. I did finish off the panels with some Mothers Marine Spray Wax, but the photo below is purely thanks to vinegar. I swear my boat is cleaner right now than the day I bought it. 

IMG_1932.JPG


On the inside, we had so much sand in the carpet that it took my wife a good 4+ hours to vacuum it all out. First the shop vac, then the Dyson, then the Bissell. I emptied the Dyson for her once and I swear there was at least a few pounds of sand in there! I really wish I could rip that all out and put full seagrass in! 

Towing 400 miles to Lake Powell sucks, but it feels great to have the boat back home in the back yard and all cleaned up. :)
Wow, what vinegar mix ratio did you use? Makes me wonder now why I just ordered SharkHide on my new boat being built next month!
 
I keep a spray bottle of vinegar and water in the boat. Works a charm on those pesky water spots!
 
Wow, what vinegar mix ratio did you use? Makes me wonder now why I just ordered SharkHide on my new boat being built next month!
You still want the Sharkhide! You can't clean oxidization. The tubes in that photo are still silver only because of Sharkhide, otherwise they'd be a dark grey/black color. 

I keep a spray bottle of vinegar and water in the boat. Works a charm on those pesky water spots!
I think it was you who mentioned it and gave me the idea. I'm taking it on every trip from now on. Thanks! 
 
Yes have used vinegar and water for years. Not only on our boat but also our hardwood floors......
 
Is there any concern about vinegar attacking the anodizing finish on aluminum?
 
Hot Sauce is a commercial product that somehow mixes vinegar, water and some finishing products and carnuba wax in one spray bottle. I swear by the stuff. A gallon is about $45 and lasts me a year of daily wipedowns.
 
Sounds like a job for a leaf blower, not a vacuum.
 
Sounds like a job for a leaf blower, not a vacuum.
Funny you say that, we actually did start out with the leaf blower. Seriously. I forgot to mention it. After that I was pretty surprised the shop vac couldn't pull it out better. Afterward you could still see piles of sand down in the carpet. I see how it works for people who use docks and what not, but I really hate having carpet on my boat... Trying to think of ways to avoid this without having to tear my boat to pieces to rip it all out. Lots of rugs maybe?
 
50/50 vinegar works like a dream. Takes those water spots off my black panels. As for the floor... Sounds like an onset of pads.
 
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Is this acidic solution ok for the shakehided logs?
I emailed Sharkhide and asked about using a vinegar solution and got this back:

Hi Nick,

To be honest with you, I’ve never used that on Sharkhide before. When it’s dirty, I’ve always used just plain hot, soapy water.

Sorry I couldn’t help.

 

So then I mentioned that soapy water kinda sucks at getting out water spots and asked if they'd by chance heard of anyone using Boat Bling Hot Sauce or anything else to remove spots...

 

Hey Nick,

I’d try the vinegar thing before I’d use anything else. We have no idea as to the reaction you may get from these other chemicals.

Clint

 

JeffS - you have Sharkhide on your boat, right? Any effect using Hot Sauce on your tubes? I bought a gallon of it and I'm excited to start using it, but that would suck if it hurts the Sharkhide. 
 
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I do have Sharkhide - yes. And I use Hot Sauce - yes. I use Hot Sauce every time we go out on the whole boat including the tubes. I don't have any corrosion forming on the tubes anywhere at all.  I can't say for sure that it doesn't remove the Sharkhide, but I think there would be evidence that it does by now. Hot Sauce is such a staple in my world, I never even thought about it. I just did what I always do without ever considering it would remove the sharkhide. We took delivery on the boat last year on July 29th. But we put 100 hours on it.

I think that the Sharkhide people are just intentionally avoiding answering the question because they just don't know. I'd do the same thing. From my experience, there's nothing better than Hot Sauce and I use it with abandon.

One thought for anyone who's going to buy Hot Sauce and use it - I bought a bottle of the stuff before I bought the gallons. And the pump on the bottle is a very fine mist. You don't have to use much for it to do its thing. My bottle is years old now - I was using it long before I had the Benny. If you buy a spray bottle from the hardware store, make sure it's a fine-mist sprayer. 

When you use the Hot Sauce, your nose will tell you without question that there's vinegar in there. When you wipe it away though, you'll scratch your head trying to figure out what else is in there to leave it like you just waxed it. I don't even ever wash my boat with a hose. I just wipe it down.

So - I can't say whether it removes Sharkhide or not. But after 100 hours last year, and at least 30 wipe-downs last year using Hot Sauce, my pontoons look as good today as they did the day I brought the boat home.
 
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Sounds good enough for me. I bought a 3-pack of spray bottles so I could pass them out and get the job done extra quick when I'm rushing to start the 5-hour drive home. Hopefully they have a fine enough mist. Excited to try it out. 
 
I use vinegar on my shark hide. No problem so far. They warn against petroleum based products. I'm good with the vinegar up to 50/50 in a spray bottle.
 
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