Help in keeping your boat clean

Dave LeGear

Contributing Member
Lifetime Member
Premium Member
City
What's left of Pine Island
State
Florida
My buddy Capt Blair, has some great tips in this short video with products to use to help keep your boat clean ;)


Now as I have posted in the past, I have always been a big fan of their Mildew cleaner! Great stuff, just be careful if it lands on your skin :oops:

Their non skid cleaner though I will be testing here soon (just got it) now that we have a Fiberglass Skiff.

The Non Skid has some stains on it from a combo of my dirty hands working on things, as well as past cleaners simply not doing their job. Combined with some rust stains that I have already removed.

I will grab some before and after photos after my "deck hand" has scrubbed it all down :cool: I even got her a special soft brush just for that action item on her list... Anybody taking any bets that Dave will wind up having to do it? LOL

Enjoy!
 
Well my "deck hand" got me a new Shurhold bucket system today (strange how it arrived on the day I planned to clean the non-skid?) and I loved it so much I let her slide and did it all myself ;) You can find out more about their bucket system here: https://shurhold.com/marine/buckets


1st So, I got to test several products today including the bucket which worked great! Nice to know that sand and crud will fall to the bottom of the bucket, and not get picked back up on my brush or washing mitt :D Love this thing no matter if it is the Skiff or the Xterra I am cleaning...

2nd one was Armashield that I had already put on the Outboard a few days ago prior to deep cleaning the hull.
https://cleverinnovations.net/details/category/3/prodid/149/

Happy to report, that the water ran right off the Outboard cover like water off a ducks back. No water beading as wax does which in the Florida Sun, can lead to ring marks that are very hard to remove. Yamaha Outboards are dark enough in color, those Black Mercs and Zukes must really be a pain to get and keep from having salt water spots for sure.

3rd was what I denoted above with the Starbrite Non-Skid cleaner http://www.starbrite.com/item/mildew-stain-remover And I manged to grab some before and after shots. And like Brother Blair denotes in the video above, this is not a product that you just apply, scrub, and then wash right back off like you do regular Boat Soap.

So by Dave doing the non Alpha Male thing and actually reading the directions on the bottle, it worked very well! And I do agree, that getting that soft brush so it can really get into the valleys of the Non Skid helps a lot! So wet it down, pour some on the area, scrub it around (and I did the entire upper surface of the Skiff in sections) and then... Letting it set for a while, before scrubbing some more and rinsing back off. It returned some lovely results to 5 year old Non Skid

Before...

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And After :cool:

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And my last step was to re-wash the entire Skiff with Shurhold Brite Wash that came with the Bucket System and towel dry.

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I am very pleased with the results!

Next to is apply some Armashield on the hull and then (finally) fuel her up and go get her dirty. At least now, what gets dirty will be so much easier and shorter time wise, to get and keep clean :D

Tight Lines!
Dave
 
I am very impressed with the results from the Armashield that I tested 1st on the Outboard cover, and was happy to see the water run off of it like a ducks back ;)

Here is a direct link to the product: http://www.dynovatech.com/products/armashield/ and yes, it can be used on other Polymer products like Triumph Boat Hulls and Yeti coolers :cool:

So now I have done the entire hull or least as much of it as I can reach... And the Non-Slid, and it put a nice satin like finish on those sections also. And so far, it does not appear as if it has made it any more slick that it already was (just in case you were wondering...).

So here is an updated shot and hopefully, you can see how it help returned some shine to the hull by seeing the trailer reflection on it :)

IMG_0243.jpg

My recommendation, if you are going to use it on Triumph hull or something of the same construction like a Cooler or Kayak, would be to first hit it with Star Brite Mildew remover with a soft brush (not forgetting to let it sit and eat for 5 to 8 minutes) and then rinse it off and towel dry. Then follow up with an application of the Armashield.

The product will help prevent mildew from growing back (you know those black stains and little black dots) and can be used on your other interior items like seat covers, etc.

Hope this helps?
Dave
 
Well another test ran today and discovered that the Skiff has water getting into the hull from a broken LED light that is located on the stern and below the water line. (Even more below the water line when my large rear is sitting behind the helm) :rolleyes: Be that as it may, the bilge pump is cycling quite often (watched her like a Hawk last night) so I rushed her back to the ramp this morning, and pulled her back out of the water for repairs.

The good news! The Armashield worked quite well with clean up and I was able to soft brush clean the scum line right off with just a little boat soap in my high tech Shurhold bucket system (love that that puppy).

What I found even more interesting, is that the water really ran off the hull in a sheet and I did not need to towel dry the sides of the hull as a result. ;)

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Very impressed and looking forward to working with this product in other applications in the future!

Any questions on how to work with it, please ask and I will get back to you just as soon as possible ;)

Tight Lines!
Dave
 
Here is another video clip on Armashield and their other family of products you may be interested in trying as I have with Armashield ;)


So with the formulation of this product being water based, it should work very well for your needs on a Roplene or Fiberglass hull, not to mention other surfaces.

I have also heard, though I have not had a chance to test it yet, that it works well on your Truck / SUV and will help keep that scourge of Love Bugs :mad: a much simpler problem to deal with, when splattered all over the front of your prized chariot. :)

Hope this helps!
Dave
 
Great information Dave. Thanks for the writeup and sharing your results. :cool:
 
Quick update,
Got the Skiff back from needed repairs and before putting her on the lift, took the time to clean, and add another coat of Armashield which this time I use my buffer with a lambs wool pad, to wipe / buff off the haze. She really shines now ;)

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And the Shurhold Bucket made for a nice seat as I was running the buffer down the sides of the hull :)

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Considering how dirty she was with bugs on her from the 2 hour highway drive home. I was happy to see how easy it was to clean again, and how it all turned out :D
 
Thanks Dave for the great write-up. I'll add a couple things that might be helpful.

ArmaShield and BTS can make surfaces very slick especially if they get wet. This includes some non-skid surfaces. Be careful with surfaces that you will be stepping on. If there is any doubt, we recommend trying a small area that is out of the way and seeing how it will act when treated.

We tend to find that 2-3 coats are optimal protection upon initial use of BTS or ArmaShield. After that a maintenance application 2-3 times per season is sufficient depending on the climate in your location.
 
Quick update on the protection level of the Armashield product...

The Skiff is on the lift (in the rain at the moment) and yesterday "something" had landed on my polling platform and ejected a big load of dookie on my nice Outboard :mad:

So as as quick test, I hit the Outboard with the garden hose on the jet spray setting, and it all went flying off thus "No more dookie on my Yamie" :D And I did not even need to go grab my boat brush to remove all of it either :cool:

Great Stuff!

Now I just need to shore up my "Air Defense Systems" so the enemy cannot land on my Surface Warfare Craft :p
 
Months later... And the Hull still has a nice shine from the Armashield I applied back in April ;)

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Now I just ordered some BTS (Bow to Stern) to try out, and looking forward to working with it on the Skiff and see how well it does in concert with the present Armashield applications :)

More information on the BTS product can be found here http://www.btsproducts.com/ with a more in depth write up on it can be found here http://www.btsproducts.com/about/btsdifference/

I think you will be pleased with the products from the Dynovatech line of products and remember! For our Premium Members we have some great offers and savings from them found on this link on the third thread down: https://www.performanceoutdoors.net...er-discounts-from-dynovatech.9375/#post-51864

All My Best,
Dave
Associate Administrator
 
Wow! Still looking good after 3 months! The BTS should work just fine in concert with the ArmaShield as the chemistry is very similar. You should have no issues. Keep us posted!

Isaac
Dynovatech, LLC
 
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