Powerwashing - DOs and DON'Ts?

[bertboyer]

I'm reading this thread now as a new boat owner and recently hired a professional boat cleaner to do a deep clean of our new boat. We live in the PNW, and our boat cleaner was planning to pressure wash. However, I heard from a couple other boat owners at the yacht club who said that I should avoid pressure washing. Reading the above thread, I am convinced that it could do more damage than it's worth. I will also avoid bleach.

Should I just head to the local chandlery and ask for cleaning, polishing and wax recommendations or do any of you care to share environmentally safe products. I see @Frank Langer had a product recommendation, but I can't find what that recommendation was. @Bolo mentioned that his professional boat cleaners never used a pressure washer, and I'm wondering what they did use so I can tell my cleaner to use something similar.

Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[Loren Beach]

Yup. Pressure washing can be hazardous. That said, we have used this for decades, tho. With some caveats.....
Do not use too much pressure, like the more powerful models that put out over 2K psi. This is an application where the less expensive 1300psi one is just fine.

Back off that nozzle a ways from around hatches, ports, and deck hardware. This watery assault may be a 'test' that 30 year old sealant cannot pass.
While more physical work, I have found that the best/safest method is to put on those knee pads, get out the bristle brushes, and use a good cleanser like "soft scrub" and go over large areas first, and then use the lower-output pressure to rinse off (or just rinse with the hose nozzle).

If doing this once by April or May, things should look good until next year. Well, along with some vigorous rinsing every month.

As for cleanser, note that if you remove the visible parts of the mold, this is like harvesting dandelions from your lawn... they come right back from roots. That's where the cleaners incorporating bleach are helpful. We are trying to kill the mold/mildew, and not just mow it. Aging gelcoat is porous, and those teeny "plants" will put down roots, as it were.

Just remember, if yacht ownership were easy, they'd let just anyone own one!
Happy Cleaning! Be a tough (Ericson) Viking and show those armies of mold no mercy!

 

[toddster]

Yes, one needs to be judicious with the power washer. Last summer, I had Wild hauled out for dry storage during hurricane season in Sonora. For some reason, the boat yard's regular pressure washer wasn't available, so they brought in "some guy" as a backup. He took a very long time to clear off the fouling on the hull. Which seemed strange, because I had mostly done it by SCUBA only a couple of weeks previously. The problem was that he insisted on doing it ALL with the pressure washer. When he came to a tough barnacle, instead of bumping it off with a scraper, he just worked and worked at it with the PW, and ended up making big gouges in the gel coat.

 

[Drewm3i]

Do: get an electric one with a max psi of 1750-2500.

Don't: go crazy with it.

They work super well though!

 

[Pete the Cat]

I am very much against pressure washers for topsides as I am not sure where the exact pressure is that does not embed the grit in gelcoat (which is much softer than you might think) yet remove the dirt you can't get with a soft brush and soap.. I have been maintaining my boats for 50 years and never found any reason that a soft siding brush with some surfactant soap would not remove. As an addendum: I visited a local inflatable repair place last summer and they had a stack of boats in the corner destined for the dump. The guy there said that most were damaged when folks tried to clean the bottoms with pressure washers--they were left with general fabric leaks that could not be located or repaired. FWIW.

 

[Dave G.]

I have to say I am a bucket and brush guy. I have only used a power washer below the water line. A 5 gallon bucket with Dawn dish soap(sometimes a little vinegar for slimy areas), extendable handle brush and swab the decks ! Smaller brush is handy for getting under tracks and nooks and crannies.

 

[gabriel]

Use environmentally friendly bleach. They sell it at Trader Joe’s.