household items to clean painted jon boat

[erictetterton]

i just bought a brand new Alweld 1752 VV LA that was on clearance for $2500. It has been sitting in the weather for a couple years and has a chalky film on it that's hard to get off. What would work the best to get this off? I don't want to spend much $ so i have a few items at the house already. Greased Lightning, Dawn dish detergent, White Vinegar? what would you use? thanks

 

[JMichael]

The only thing that comes to mind when I think about something that's weathered and chalky is the paint or bare aluminum oxidation. A little better description of what you've got or some pictures might help.

 

[Charger25]

I used Dawn and a rag to clean off the 14 . Its painted olive green, Surprisingly, it turned out pretty good.

 

[cva34]

All the above and I have a old car wash a 1/2 mile away with the hand held nozzel ..I have had good luck with that..cva34

 

[CodyPomeroy]

I am always threatening my wife that I will use her loofah to clean my boat.

 

[erictetterton]

I tried dawn, vinegar, and greased lightning but nothing worked. I guess its faded from the sun and nothing will fix that?

 

[parkerdog]

I tried dawn, vinegar, and greased lightning but nothing worked. I guess its faded from the sun and nothing will fix that?

Rubbing compound, but it will probably leave swirl marks since it's not a gloss finish.

 

[JMichael]

I tried dawn, vinegar, and greased lightning but nothing worked. I guess its faded from the sun and nothing will fix that?

Rubbing compound, but it will probably leave swirl marks since it's not a gloss finish.

You never said whether it's chalky aluminum or paint but from all the responses and you not saying otherwise, I guess it's paint.
Polishing compound is a finer grit than rubbing compound and you'll have less problems with swirling. If that still leaves you with more swirling than you want, Meguiars makes a product called Mirror Glaze Swirl Remover that works well. And yes, you can fix it, providing there is enough paint (thick enough coat) left that the polishing compound doesn't eat down to bare metal first.

 

[russ010]

Had the same thing with my 1860... it's definitely oxidation on the paint and not much you can do to kill it. I used straight bleach and got the majority of it off.

When I took off the stickers that were on there, I used a heat gun to get the stickers off, then used Acetone to take the sticky residue left behind. Well, one swipe with that stuff on the rag and the paint was gone too and I was looking at bare aluminum.

One thing you can maybe AFTER using the bleach, is to wet sand with an orbital sander with pads in the 3000-4000 range. If you don't want to repaint, you can do that and then use Rustoleum Clear spray paint to go over it. I had some hit the sides of the boat I didn't take down to the aluminum, and the clear brought back the original green color... just use VERY LIGHT coats and do it multiple times.

 

[erictetterton]

Thanks Russ. I will use bleach and clear coat rustoleum

 

[cva34]

Thanks Russ. I will use bleach and clear coat rustoleum

Just another thought What I use on Glass boats is; Soft Scrub with Bleach its a cleaner ready to use in one bottle..I think its designed to be used on fiberglass showers and tubs..Your wife knows be sure to rinse &rinse &rinse..cva34