Eco-conscious boat cleaning products

[wombat88]

Simple question

My boat is afloat in the marina. By this time of year it is quite mouldy and green, particularly on the North facing bits. Over the years I have nipped into the supermarket and bought floor cleaner, cream cleaner, washing up liquid and anything that might take my fancy. They all work perfectly well.

However, surely these things are not good for marine life...what should I be using?

(No electricity and no access to a pressure washer)

 

[Refueler]

Have to say - I've never had to 'clean' a Boar !! Must be bl**** dangerous ??

OK .. seriously - yes of course most cleaning products are not kind to marine life. But what can you do ?? Most 'environmentally friendly' products are not very good at their respective jobs ...

 

[Sandy]

Have a look at Grunt I like it and it says it is environmentally friendly and biodegradable, What ever environmentally friendly means.

 

[PCUK]

Marine 16 do eco-friendly cleaners and even the containers are green as they have the return address and second class postage on the container. When empty, just rinse out and put in the post box. Best of all worlds!

 

[stranded]

Simple question

My boat is afloat in the marina. By this time of year it is quite mouldy and green, particularly on the North facing bits. Over the years I have nipped into the supermarket and bought floor cleaner, cream cleaner, washing up liquid and anything that might take my fancy. They all work perfectly well.

However, surely these things are not good for marine life...what should I be using?

(No electricity and no access to a pressure washer)

I have been very pleased with TDS Eco 100 teak deck cleaner - claims eco credentials as per the label. Not as spectacular as something like Wessex but then it doesn’t trash the sea, or your boat if you’re not careful.

 

[RJJ]

White vinegar kills and inhibits mould and green stuff and is dirt cheap. It won't shift stains or mould residue.

Citrus cleaner is good for shifting grease and many stains.

Cream cleaner....not sure that's too bad as-is, you can use small amounts and wipe it off after .

For routine wash down, this stuff is pretty good.

Dirtbusters Premium Boat Wash And Wax With Carnauba Wax Shampoo Cleaner For Professional Boat Cleaning 5 Litres (1) https://amzn.eu/d/4L70t0S

On the occasions I have left a boat in the water over winter, a regular dousing of salt water helps keen the green at bay.

 

[wombat88]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll attack the mouldy thing with one of the suggestions when the weather warms!

 

[LittleSister]

Elbow grease is eco-friendly! ?

 

[Boathook]

I've just about given up with eco cleaners. Never found them particularly good, expensive and had to use twice the quantity to make something look a bit cleaner. Much rather be careful with something that works.

 

[Jollybot]

Star Brite Non-Skid Deck Cleaner https://amzn.eu/d/7LpjASZ

Is this good … boats been on mooring for two months and needs a good clean … thoughts please. Thanks.

 

[Refueler]

Cilit Bang Lime and Rust toiler cleaner WAS magic ... then EU got into it and formula was changed ... now its no better than any other multi cleaner.

Yard guy other day was cleaning up a small GRP motor-boat in the slings ... I saw he was using a Supermarket spray product ... I was passing and just mentioned I had spare Oxalic if he wanted it ... No Never was the reply ... it takes off the 'parafinic protective layer' he added ...

Yeh OK .... wasn't in the mood to argue merits of Oxalic ...

What could have been done in less than an hour with Oxalic and then rinse off - took him two days !!

 

[iantomlinson]

Have a look at "wet and forget". We use it on deck,sail covers, wood and ropes. Cleans most green stuff(algae etc). Supposedly neutral to environment.

 

[ylop]

However, surely these things are not good for marine life...what should I be using

Marina where my boat lives seems to have plenty of marine life despite all the cleaning products the inhabitants use (and some of them seem to spend more time cleaning than sailing). It’s quite an enclosed marina so even though those chemicals are massively diluted they probably don’t “flush” as much as other marinas.

White vinegar kills and inhibits mould and green stuff and is dirt cheap. It won't shift stains or mould residue.

Vinegar goes well with fish (n chips) but it doesn’t automatically make it an environmentally friendly material! Neat it would kill most marine life - indeed if these things didn’t disrupt life they wouldn’t be very good at getting slime/algae etc off

Citrus cleaner is good for shifting grease and many stains.

Another example of a product that sounds like it’s not toxic because it’s from a natural source - but fish don’t live inside lemons. Probably better to a little of the stuff that works and dispose of excess responsibly than focus on greenwash marketing claims and use loads more of it.

 

[PabloPicasso]

Cilit Bang Lime and Rust toiler cleaner WAS magic ... then EU got into it and formula was changed ... now its no better than any other multi cleaner.

Yard guy other day was cleaning up a small GRP motor-boat in the slings ... I saw he was using a Supermarket spray product ... I was passing and just mentioned I had spare Oxalic if he wanted it ... No Never was the reply ... it takes off the 'parafinic protective layer' he added ...

Yeh OK .... wasn't in the mood to argue merits of Oxalic ...

What could have been done in less than an hour with Oxalic and then rinse off - took him two days !!

For which he undoubtedly charged the owner for...

 

[Stemar]

I'm all in favour of using harmless stuff, but I'm very suspicious of "eco-friendly" labelling. It's one of those weasel words used in greenwashing that doesn't actually mean anything. Biodegradable is another one - most stuff is biodegradable if you wait long enough, but it says nothing about how much damage it'll do first.

Also, in the small quantities needed to deal with a few stains on a boat, anything you use will be so diluted as to be undetectable within minutes. Yes, there is stuff that shouldn't be finding its way into the water at all - mercury and other heavy metals, for example, because they get concentrated in the food chain, but I certainly wouldn't worry about a bit of oxalic acid, or even a few ml of Patio Magic in a tidal harbour.

 

[Momac]

No products are totally eco friendly but using products sparingly is not only good for the environment but also good for the bank balance.
Some small amounts of cleaning chemicals spilled in the marina where I keep my boat can only have a benefit.
The way people dump their toilet waste and spill fuel or pump out bilges are much greater pollution events compared to cleaning products. I used some Elbow Grease to disperse some diesel only last week (the diesel was not from my boat).

 

[Refueler]

It has been said by various environmentalists that using washing up liquid to disperse diesel / oil spilled is actually worse than leaving the diesel / oil to naturally disperse. The basis being that the washing up liquid breaks down the oil-water barrier and allows the oil to spread further vertically as well as horizontally..

I sit on the fence with that ...

 

[Refueler]

For which he undoubtedly charged the owner for...

Actually he has a standard lump fee - so its really his loss ....

 

[CapPugwash]

A regular bucket of sea water over the decks deals most of the deck green for us.

 

[Snowgoose-1]

I've found those magic erasers can work well on flat surfaces without added cleaners . They seem to break up on the rough stuff though.