A Beginner’s Guide to Cleaning Your Boat

If you’d like your vessel to have a long life, regular boat maintenance is a must. While many aspects of boat maintenance can be a bit complicated, one of the easiest tasks is cleaning your boat! We’ve created a short guide on how to clean, polish, and wax your vessel at home, so read on to learn more!

Tools

There are a few things you’ll need to gather before washing your boat. First, you’ll need soap, a polish or buff compound, and wax. All of these products should be intended specifically for boats. While a car wax or detergent might seem similar, it often doesn’t have the same cleaning capabilities and can damage parts. If your boat is stained or in rough condition, you might consider a buff compound. There are also 2-in-1 wax and polish products available for boats that only need light detailing.

Once you’ve got your cleaning agents you’ll need a few tools. A soft scrub brush, a hose with fresh water, and several soft towels. These towels will be used to dry your vessel and spread products, so you’ll need quite a few of them. If you’re using a buffing tool you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of polishing pads. Lastly, we advise having a boat cover to protect your vessel once it's been cleaned.

Washing Your Boat

Every time your boat leaves the water it should be rinsed. This will help circumvent corrosion and keep your ship cleaner for much longer. However, once your vessel becomes visibly dirty it's time to break out the boat cleaner. Begin by rinsing your vessel, then wash it with a soft scrub brush in small sections. Cleaning your boat section by section, then rinsing it quickly after, will keep the soap from drying and leaving dirty streaks. Once you’ve washed the entirety of your boat you can dry it with soft towels or allow it to air dry.

Polishing Your Boat

Polishing and waxing your boat is an important maintenance task that can be a bit time-consuming. Fortunately, as a general rule, your vessel only needs to be waxed twice a season. Once before going into storage and once after coming out. After your ship has been washed and dried you can take a soft towel or buffer tool and begin applying the polish. Be sure to use the same motion in the same direction as you go to avoid streaks or excess product.

Waxing Your Boat

Apply your wax with a soft towel, working around your ship in the same direction as before. Once applied you’ll need to let the wax dry till your boat has a hazy finish to it. Once this is achieved you’ll begin buffing your vessel. Similar to your polish this can be done with a soft towel or buffing tool. Again, use the same motion and move in the same direction around your ship. Once you’ve buffed the entirety of your boat, it should look shiny and new.

We hope that this guide has been helpful! If you’re planning to buy a boat, stop by Poplar Pointe Marine in Bracey, Virginia, to check out our inventory. We proudly serve all those in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia.