Deck Cleaning

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ChrisB177

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I have a Beneteau Antares 9. The side decks/cockpit are fibreglass with a moulded in anti slip type surface. No matter what I do I can not get them clean i.e scrubbing etc. Any suggestions please?
 
I would use spray nine and scrub it in leave it for 5 mins and scrub again and rinse, has worked for me on stains I couldn't remove with standard soap many times before. Hope it helps if you haven't tried that, the product is easily one of my best friends on a boat.
 
You need to find a brush with small diameter bristles....so you get deep into the moulding. Don't press hard and try a light circular motion. Combine this with starbright deck cleaner which foams slightly and yo get a fair clean deck for a lot bit of effort.
 
I use a pressure washer on my Bayliner non-slip. The result is amazing, like painting with a white brush. presumably because the surface is rough (it's useless on the gloss hull sides).
 
On your hands and knees with a scrubbing brush and some Jif/Cif/Asda equivalent. We found this the best way to clean the same areas on our Merry Fisher 805. We do this once a year and for the rest of the year, we give it a quick scrub over after trips with a long, stiff brush and some car wash and wax.

The wash and wax doesn't take any of the non slip away, but it does seem to stop the dirt sticking so easily.
 
Hi Paul

we used to use jiff/sif/asda type stuffs and mentioned it in the bar and was greeted with horror, but when i asked why no one could tell me what was wrong with it, just dont use it..
this year we are going to do the same as you unless anyone can tell us a good reason not to !!
it does get the winter stains off and the wax after protects for the year.
 
dabsolute470 said:
Hi Paul

we used to use jiff/sif/asda type stuffs and mentioned it in the bar and was greeted with horror, but when i asked why no one could tell me what was wrong with it, just dont use it..
this year we are going to do the same as you unless anyone can tell us a good reason not to !!
it does get the winter stains off and the wax after protects for the year.
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Funny how they can't say why you shouldn't use it.

We also use it occasionally on the rest of the boat too, as it isn't too abrasive. Like when we went to London last year and the boat came back with a nasty covering of traffic film, the Jif soon shifted that with a quick rub over on a damp cloth.
 
we use traffic film remover just spray it on rub lightly with brush rinse off comes clean as a whistle no effort at all ,have same boat it gets covered by soot off dfds ferry every week tfc is £17 for 25 litres lasts forever;););)
 
Always pre-soak the area to be cleaned a good half an hour before starting. You will be amazed how long green mould and bird poop takes to become soft. As Bobgoode suggests use a brush with smaller diameter bristles, I use a wooden nail brush, followed by the use of a melamine sponge ( magic sponge ) which removes any marks left behind by the brushing. I would not recommend the use of TFR ( traffic film remover ) as the name suggests it is used to remove oil, grease and general road muck from trucks. TFR can also leave streak marks on the gel coat. I am not a fan of pressure washing, only as a last resort but with care around chain plates, deck fittings, port lights and hatches.


drmvaletingservices@o2.co.uk
 
gsturgeon said:
I use a pressure washer on my Bayliner non-slip. The result is amazing, like painting with a white brush. presumably because the surface is rough (it's useless on the gloss hull sides).
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rafiki_ said:
The karcher works a treat for me.
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Third vote for the pressure washer.

At various times I've tried Cif/TFR/washing up liquid/Starbrite Deck Cleaner/etc., and I still can't find anything better than a nice steady, inch by inch up close and personal fettle with a Karcher.
 
You're not gonna believe this or take seriously either! but its not a wind up honest, many years ago, i saw a couple sprinkling Daz on thier catamaran decks, curiosity got me so i asked how effective this was and they said come back in half an hour see for your self. It really does work. i've been doing it ever since.
simply wet the decks, sprinkle on and spread evenly with a deck scrub. leave for about 30 mins to pickle, go back quick scrub and hose off. job done, it works a treat. not specifically daz, i use any cheap old washing powder i can get my hands on. Give it a try. pressuer wasshers do a great job too, but i'm slightly uneasy with high pressure, i think it drives water under deck fittings and over time weakens mastic joints, well thats my opinion anyway FWIW.
 
boatmaster said:
...but i'm slightly uneasy with high pressure, i think it drives water under deck fittings and over time weakens mastic joints, well thats my opinion anyway FWIW...
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Valid point. You just have to sensible enough to back away a bit around deck fittings. Good tip re. 'Daz'. Might try that next time I need to do the job but find I've left the P.W. at home.
 
boatmaster said:
You're not gonna believe this or take seriously either! but its not a wind up honest, many years ago, i saw a couple sprinkling Daz on thier catamaran decks, curiosity got me so i asked how effective this was and they said come back in half an hour see for your self. It really does work. i've been doing it ever since.
simply wet the decks, sprinkle on and spread evenly with a deck scrub. leave for about 30 mins to pickle, go back quick scrub and hose off. job done, it works a treat. not specifically daz, i use any cheap old washing powder i can get my hands on. Give it a try. pressure washers do a great job too, but i'm slightly uneasy with high pressure, i think it drives water under deck fittings and over time weakens mastic joints, well thats my opinion anyway FWIW.
Click to expand...


TFR works well for boats, at one time I could get hold of a specially strong solution, which I used to sell to the forum. But even that was not good at decks. For them powders work best, else the power washer as said above.

Basically anything that can get into the nooks and crannies where liquids cannot get. There used to be a powder sold in swindlers, that worked well.
 
boatmaster said:
You're not gonna believe this or take seriously either! but its not a wind up honest, many years ago, i saw a couple sprinkling Daz on thier catamaran decks

<snip>
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Yes, forgot about Daz. When we first bought our current boat it hadn't been used much for a few months and was pretty grubby, with a fair bit of green algae. Daz did shift a lot of it, used just as described.
 
hlb said:
TFR works well for boats, at one time I could get hold of a specially strong solution, which I used to sell to the forum. But even that was not good at decks. For them powders work best, else the power washer as said above.

Basically anything that can get into the nooks and crannies where liquids cannot get. There used to be a powder sold in swindlers, that worked well.
Click to expand...

I've got some TFR here, industrial strength, if you get it on your hands your skin goes very weird. Kind of like stretches so it's too big for your hands. It will clean hulls, but leaves them streaky, but as you said, not that good on decks.
 
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