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Detail time


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When I picked the boat up from the repair shop beside a $6k bill I was also lucky to have a very dirty boat. So I decided it is time to call a detailer and I have some questions. Also, anyone have some good detailers in OC to recommend?

1) Is $10/ foot a good price? What should that include

2) What products should I request? (i.e. 303, NO SIMPLE GREEN)

3) Buffer or by hand? The bottom is perfect as it was re-gelcoated

4) Best way to clean carpet?

5) Any other things to request and to think about from past experience?

Oh I love boat topics!

Kelly

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1 I would think $10 per ft would be ok. I prefer to do it my self and have my crew come over for pizza and beer. We waxed and cleaned the inside in 5 hrs.

2 303 all the way.

3 Buffer is a great way to get a deep clean and shine.

4 Have your house carpet cleaned (to make the cfo happy) and have them hit the boat just because Thumbup.gif

5 remove every thing from the boat. clean the eng and ski locker area with hot water.

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Well, the good news is that there's no wrong way to clean your boat (for the most part)

here's what I think:

1) $10 a foot is good if they're doing a heckuva job! (2-step buff and wax, etc.)

2) I use a diluted mix of simple green on the interior..have for years..with no ille effects. However, I try not to get it on the seams.

3) hand

4) depending on age of boat, pressure sprayer if more then 2 years

5) Tell them to be careful with cords coming in the boat for vaccums etc., they can scratch the gunnel gelcoat. Do the teak yourself. Non-boaters always screw it up. My last thought: You shouldn't be doing any of this!! They should!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Question for all; got my first boat this year and the top half of the boat is very dull. I have gone over it extensively with a de-oxidizer then several coats of wax (by hand) only to have it look like nothing was done 2 weeks later. I am paranoid to use power on it but am running out of options... Cry.gif

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Your next step is probably going to be wet sanding. Once you have wet sanded the boat you will need to go over it with a buffing compound finished up with some sort of high gloss wax. It will bring your boat back to its original shine. When you wet sand make sure to keep the area wet with a spray bottle or hose. Just be careful not to go too deep into the gelcoat. Its pretty thick but, if you arn't watching you could accidently sand right through it and then you are in trouble.

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4) Best way to clean carpet?

After several trips to one of my favorite lakes (Bullard's) my carpet had taken on the reddish glow of the clay mud at Bullard's. Cry.gif

I took everything out of the boat, hit the carpet with water from the garden hose, and then section by section I sprayed it with Woolite Foam Carpet Cleaner (the Heavy Traffic stuff). I then used a scrub brush to work the cleaner into the carpet and to loosen up the dirt in the fibers. Once I was done scrubbing I just hosed off the carpet, "squeegeed" (if that's word) the excess water into the bilge and then hit the carpet with the wet/dry shop vac. Then just left it outside for the rest of the day to dry. It came out fantastic.

Be sure to pull your plugs. Biggrin.gif

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