Cleaning wet deck boat floors

[Line Dancin]

What is the easiest way to wash the textured fiberglass floors in a boat. Should i use a deck brush, they seems a little soft, scrub brush terry towel? What do you use for a cleaner. I have washed it but never really got it totally clean before. I bought some of the woodys floor wax and need to get it clean to apply this stuff.

[mattmishler]

The deck brush seemed to work well, the boat that I use to work for had Durabak product on the deck. It did collect dirt and blood very easy, the best product that he found was Purple Power, cheap and its not a marine product so the mark up on it was not so high but worked very well! Mean Green worked well to

[Pioneer]

soft scrub works good for me

[killerbe20]

Duck brush but try to find a more firm one for non slip surfaces. Soft Scrub gel works very well but seems to be a little more difficult to find than the regular Soft Scrub for some reason. Keep them both off of waxed surfaces if you want to retain the wax.

[Line Dancin]

Duck brush but try to find a more firm one for non slip surfaces. Soft Scrub gel works very well but seems to be a little more difficult to find than the regular Soft Scrub for some reason. Keep them both off of waxed surfaces if you want to retain the wax.

Thats funny you say the gel was hard to find as i sent my wife to the store last summer to get me some soft srcub to remove the lense coating on my new scuba mask. for doing that the gel doesnt work as well and now i have a bottle of both now as i had to go back and get the other stuff. Would a softer push broom work as all i can seem to find for brushes are pretty soft. Do you wet down the deck first and then spray the soft scrub on or use the soft scrub on a dry deck?

[Line Dancin]

The deck brush seemed to work well, the boat that I use to work for had Durabak product on the deck. It did collect dirt and blood very easy, the best product that he found was Purple Power, cheap and its not a marine product so the mark up on it was not so high but worked very well! Mean Green worked well to

Did you use a brush with the purple power or just spray on and wipe off

[fishy1]

Use a firm bristled deck brush and west marine deck cleaner works well. Put the deck cleaner on before you wet the deck scrub it and rinse. Alot of people use other cleaners but if you care about what you are putting in the lake I would make sure its biodegradable, also if you use soft scrub remember it is a mild abarasive so it will eventually remove gel coat.

[mattmishler]

Did you use a brush with the purple power or just spray on and wipe off

Wet it, rough scrub, put it on all over, wait a couple minutes then scrub good then wash.

[Paulywood]

I use the deck cleaner. Soft Scrub or anything else that is abrasive will leave tiny scratches in the finish that will actually collect and trap more dirt over time and remove your wax fast. My boat sits in my yard on a gravel road and I get dirt under the cover on the floor all the time so I have to clean it often. And while the Woody's wax might work good in a marine environment I hated it on my boat as it seemed to trap the dirt and make it difficult to clean. I just use a deck brush but you can buy different broom heads that will give you a little more scrubbing power. Look for a broom that is for rough or semi-rough surfaces as they will be stiffer.

[Plugs]

I would be careful using Softscrub all the time. I was using it and it does get the floor nice and clean, but after a while the floor seemed to get dirty faster. I did a fair amount of on-line research and read various places that the abrasives in the Soft Scrub can etch the gell coat allowing dirt to collect in the micro scratches faster.

I now use Star Bright Deck cleaner with a stiff deck brush - wet the deck down, pour it on, scrub it in, let it sit for 3-5 minutes, one more scrub and rinse off. The key is to let is sit after scrubbed the initial time. I do use Softscrub once and a while for bad stains - leaves in the fall, helicopters in the spring, etc... and used the kind with bleach in it. I have read about the Purple Power and heard a lot of good reviews, but have not tired it.

I use the Woodys Wax as well and like it. I cannot say it works quite as well as some of the reviews I have read by others, but it definately helps.

Note - When you by a deck brush, do not get one that screws in like the old brooms - it will constantly be turning on you. Make sure the brush is secured to the handle.

[Line Dancin]

thanks for the replies i went to my local hardware and they had a brush that is firmer than the deck brushes i have now and the lady says her husband uses it on thier fishing boat. I may use the softsrcub this time as the previous owners never cleaned the boat and has some stains then after will use the woodys wax and deck soap to keep it up once it is done.

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

Depends on how dirty and what the surface of the deck is composed of imho. If you have a non-slip deck, which most of us do, I use soft scrub with bleach. If there is a mark or spot that is more difficult after two applications, try straight bleach. Decks that get scrubbed often clean up easier than decks that have been just hosed down for months too. A clean boat is a happy boat, and safer too imho. And never use any wax on the deck, it makes it slippery and dangerous.

[Hotdog71]

powerwasher

[Building C's]

I use Greased Lightning. You can get it at any store. Home Depot, Menards, Lowes.

[MY2SONS]

soft scrub works good for me

I was told not to use Soft Scrub, because the abrasive, however mild, will put microscratches in the gelcoat that dirt/grime builds up in. I've used it in the past myself, but just sayin. Personally I like Comet with bleach.

[MY2SONS]

thanks for the replies i went to my local hardware and they had a brush that is firmer than the deck brushes i have now and the lady says her husband uses it on thier fishing boat. I may use the softsrcub this time as the previous owners never cleaned the boat and has some stains then after will use the woodys wax and deck soap to keep it up once it is done.

Watch the Woody Wax. Very good stuff, but I used some on my boat (very sparingly, and I followed the directions) deck, and when I went fishing a couple days later the deck was a little wet. A fish hit, and when I went for the rod I slipped, and almost went in the drink.

[Just Hook'n]

I'm 100% on board with Pluggs, we used to use soft scrub and it worked, but tore up the wax and we had to rewax often. We use the same stuff Shane mentioned and it works great and doesn't hurt the wax as much....also, we use a very stuff brush and get down on the hands and knees and put some elbow grease on it.

[Reel Screwd]

I have some stuff called All Clean its basically a degreaser, i just used it on the wellcraft just sprayed it on heavy and waited a miniute or two than pressure washed it and it came out great

[Reel Screwd]

I've also used stuff called Awesome, you can pick it up at a dollar store and the stuff works really well

[Paulywood]

I was told not to use Soft Scrub, because the abrasive, however mild, will put microscratches in the gelcoat that dirt/grime builds up in. I've used it in the past myself, but just sayin. Personally I like Comet with bleach.

Just an FYI, Comet also has abrasives in it. That's why it works so well.

[Casey II]

I use Star Brite with PTEF as others above. Works very well and seems to lift grime and minor stains. Wet the deck, apply Wash, work in with deck brush. Then let it set a bit and finally wash off.

I resort to soft scrub w/bleach on tough stains like baked on fish blood.

I've been hesistant to apply any wax to the deck since I want as much traction as possible.

As a side note my boat has bad hard water spots at the end of the season that I always struggle to get off. A detailer told me to try small amounts of Sno Bowl gel(toilet cleaner). Soft brush on and wash thoroughly. Worked great and gave a fresh surface to apply new wax.

Hope this helps.

[N II Deep]

Aaron,

to just get the grime up out of the texture, try dish soap, ammonia, and hot water with a stiff brush.

it will break down the grease and wax.

I use it in the spring to clean the deck of the boat. we also used this to clean up old furniture for my dad's antique biz when he was still alive.

[BILLY JOE]

purple power or one step better super clean both found in auto parts stores also like to pour a little in my bilge area to keep it cleaner

[Leafybug]

"Nautical Ease" makes by far some of the best cleaners I've ever used. We used to keep our boat accross from a coal power plant in Bay City on the Saginaw river. Needless to say that boat got dirty all the time. Black streaks, lyme dust (from the cement plant up river), worm guts, fish blood, spilled adult beverages, carpet growing on the bottom from "naturally occurring wastewater dumps", bird poop, and scale buildup from running the AC or heat all the time. Nautical Ease makes minimal effort of all those cleaning messes. I used to use soft scrub on one my previous boats and found it does more harm than good. Another good cleaner to try is called "Amazing Roll Off". It can be a bit tougher to find but works exceptionally well for removing really stubborn stains like the sun baked on barn swallow fecal matter.

[Line Dancin]

well since i had all the stuff John mentioned here at home i mixed up the dish soap and ammonia and water. I picked up whatis called an acid brish for washing driveways. It is a natural bristle brush stiffer than a deck brush butsofter than a broom. Scrubbed away from 1 to 6 today. Man what a difference. i used soft scrub on two rust stains and it looks like new again. It hasnt been that clean since i have owned it. I applied the woody wax and will now use regular deck soap while in the marina. Thanks everyone for all the great info.