ALUMINUM BOATS

[M.T. WALLET]

I was just wonderimg what a good cleaner/polish would work to bring back my boats shine,i have a welded aluminum boat.It seems very dull looking and oxidized?cheers mt.

 

[SIR]

There is an aluminum acid wash product you should be able to pick up in any marine supply store. If I recall correctly it's a dilute hyrdrocloric acid. You just add water to further dilute the solution, wipe on, let sit and rinse off. It does a nice job of getting rid of all the white/black oxidation buildup but but can leave some streaky marks until you get the hang of gettting the "sit" time consistent. Do small areas at a time. Rubber gloves and safety glasses are a must on this one. We do this to our boats every other year.

 

[Last Chance]

My buddy is in the process of turning his 24' Northwest into a make-work project, he has the acid wash down, but the best polish he has found (No Residue if you want to Nylack it) is Metal Magic from the Western Star Dealer! Apparantly, it practicly melts the oxide off. But, you will be in for doing this a lot as the oxide is the Aluminium's protective coating, so you may want to just leave it and your maintainance free boat alone.

 

[SIR]

For a non-commercial applications I'd agree with LC. It's quite a bit of work and does not last that long before it begins to oxidize again. I'd never bother for a boat that I just used for personal use. For the Resort however we feel we need to do the boats / ramps etc. to have that spiffy look as guests arrive. SPIFFY is important for paying guests

Have to look at Metal Magic...