Jet washing grp decks.

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jonjo

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I own a medium size Karcher jetwasher for domestic jobs but I am considering taking it down to the boat for the first time. Is is possible to to damage a boat through overzealous use of these things?

One plus point for Bavarias is their highly effective deck grip pattern which inevitably picks up stubborn flecks of dirt over the years. My intention is to blast these out with the jetwasher but do I risk eroding some of the gelcoat in the grip pattern as well?

p.s. there is no deck paint to worry about.

p..s.2. If I do proceed with the job I will delay the jetwashing to Monday because I have perviously suffered hours of these machines wining away nearby in a marina.
 
Also keep jet away from decals, its an effective remover!

In fact I would not get the nozzle up close to the deck, a few feet away should be effective enough
 
agree about the noise.... and especially when it's windy the spray goes everywhere... I waited until late on bank holiday monday when half the pontoon had gone to sit in the bank holiday traffic until i started mine /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Don't let the jet near any wood, including the tiller. It looks like it is doing a great job - lots of dirt comes off. But it damages the wood and leaves it ridged - any on cockpit seats becomes uncomfortable to sit on, for example.
best wishes
Rick
 
I find that good old honest scrubbing the deck with a bowl of warm water and floor cleanerr on a brillow pad followed by a brushing down with a stiff and then soft deck brush flshed with slow running water from a hose pipe brings the deck up better than my karcher. Also nice to listen to the music while your doing it as it doens't make the same noise..
 
I've used a Karcher jet wash on my catamaran for years without any damage, great for taking the dirt off the tread pattern. I also use it to brighten up the teak inlay deck (keep the pressure down for that job.)
Willie
 
I saw (what had once been) a reasonably nice yacht in Ramsgate harbour that had the hull gelcoat (blue) covered in swirl marks blasted into the paint . Caused I was told by overenthusiastic Karchering.
I think you have to be very careful, keep the jet away from wood and nowehere near ropes and avoid using full power. A friend of mine had his running rigging seriously damaged by a helpful friend who thought it would be good to blast off the greeny mouldy bits with the jet washer. The ropes were frazzed.
 
Thanks everyone. My caution is partly driven by the damage I inflected on some manmade stone effect cills at my house last week as I tried to lift 10 years of green grime.

On reflection I think I will do a quick half power once over of the deck grip keeping the jet lance at least 15" away. Then a hand brush scrub with a dab of jiff here and there, gotta go easy on the detergents because I am now at Ports Solent and don't want to create a land locked foam slick.

Finally any stubborn bits will be dealt with by spot jetwash treatment.
 
I gave my teak deck a bit of a blast with power washer. recently. Deck came up nice and clean. Doesn't seem to have had any detrimental affect.....at least as far as I can see anyway!
 
Use my K on the Birchwood, brings her up a treat but always finish off with warm water and a brush, as with all things in life, with moderation and care and all will be well....lol
 
A jet wash should be fine on the grp but you will have to get closer than a few feet suggested by someone. Use a medium width setting about 150 to 200mm from the surface. Closer and the work will take ages, further away and you will be wasting your time.

I also use the jet wash with care on the spray hood, sails and the teak in the cockpit with no problems at all. Just use common sense and you will be OK. On the other hand if you prefer hard work to sailing manual methods also work.
 
Great idea. Just blast away and spread your dirt over all the nearby boats. Better still, pick a day when there are folks all round touching up their brightwork. Nothing better on fresh paint or varnish than the spray from some t1t pressure-washing their boat. Pressure washers come a close second to personal watercraft on my hate list. Maybe it is just the t1ts that use them.
 
Today is my day for pressure washing the boats after winter ... it will be full power (my washer only has one setting = On - Off ) with variable nozzle.

I will blast off decks, covers, woodwork etc. In fact if I can direct jet at it - then it gets blast ...

BUT I make sure of :

a) No direct into joints blast, particularly window frame joints.
b) Wood work has a wider fan nozzle setting to reduce cutting into grain.
c) No spraying into or at vents.
d) Wide fan setting across any vinyl decals to stop lifting thne edges !!

For those that talk about not hitting teak - that is true if you hit at high force in narrow jet ... it a) strips out the natural oil, b) cuts into the soft parts of the grain causing hairy / ridged surface. But if you are about to refinish teak rails or similar - it can be used to pre-prepare wood ready for sanding / coating.

One thing I like about PW'g - is if you have any loose flaking deck paint etc. - it will lift it away nicely ... saving that back breaking bent over with diddy scrapers act that we all love ! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

As to blow-over to other boats - the only other boats near mine are also mine - so no worries !! But yes - I've been in UK marina where another decides to give a sprucing up of their boat - resulting in boats downwind of the mess being pebbledashed in crap !!

Worst I saw in that sort of thing ... guy decided to use an electric sprayer for antifoul !! Oh dear .... the bill for cleaning up the half-dozen boats nearby that got splattered must have convinced him it wasn't such a good idea !! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Absolute rubbish. Having used a jet wash often it is easy to ensure adjacent boats are not covered with dirt or spray. I have not once had a single adverse comment or complaint from anyone, only requests to borrow the jet wash when finished. As I said in the posting, use care and common sense, which includes not using it when there is a strong wind blowing or when people are relaxing in their cockpits as the noise can be very annoying.
 
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