How to Clean a Waterline
Canadian Yachting
Washing a waterline is an important part of keeping a vessel in top shape, especially if it stays in the water year round. Always looking to educate boaters on the value of regular maintenance, Shurhold Industries offers the following simple steps to keep this area clean.
Before starting any scrubbing, owners must know what type of bottom paint they have, so they don't remove or damage it when cleaning. Users also don't want to employ any harsh chemicals that may hurt the environment.
When working from the dock or boat, owners will need a bucket filled with properly mixed boat soap, a Shurhold extension handle with a soft brush, medium brush, curved adapter and light-duty Swivel Scrubber.
Cleaning a small section at a time, the selected area should be rinsed first to soften and loosen the scum with the pressure from the hose. When scrubbing, owners must start with their softest tool and only move to stiffer brushes as needed. Shurhold's curved adapter helps reach those odd angles from both the dock and the boat.
For very soft ablative paints, owners should only use a gentle brush above the paint from side to side or use one-directional strokes down. Pulling up could bring soft paint onto the clean hull sides.
Some boaters find it best to clean the waterline from a small raft, kayak or even standing near a sand bar and doing it up close and by hand. In these situations, owners will need a spray bottle filled with properly mixed boat soap, soft brush, light duty scrub pad, Magic Eraser Sponge and suction cleat.
The suction cleat lets users hold on to something on the hull while scrubbing without pushing the boat away. As before, one small section should be worked at a time and sprayed with the boat soap. Then, that area can be cleaned with a horizontal scrubbing motion to loosen and get rid of the scum. Tougher areas are then easy to address with a Melamine sponge, like Shurhold's Magic Eraser. Using this same motion with the sponge, owners will find that the staining and filth come right off.
Nothing looks worse than a boat cruising around with a dirty scum line. Simply hitting the waterline with nothing more than a soft brush once a week can keep the hull looking good with little to no effort.
Dedicated to educating boat owners, Shurhold provides key tips for boat value preservation at www.shurhold.com. Inventor of the One Handle Does It All system, Shurhold manufactures specialty care items and accessories to clean, polish and detail.
Originally published here.