My Detailing Procedure...
I just partnered up on a 2000 23' striper. Overall it was in pretty good condition but found some spots that needed some love. It also just need an overall detailing. Here is how I spent my weekend. Hopefully you'll gain some tips to keep your boat looking brand new!
1. Wash Inside, Top with West Marine Biodegradable Crystal Wash. Outside was washed with Meguiars Premium Boat wash
2. Take Bronze Wool and Woody Wax to all the aluminum that is slightly discolored. If it looks good already just take a micro fiber cloth and wipe it down with a light coat of woody wax
3. Painted Name - we didn't like the name painted on the boat so we wanted to remove it. Best thing I found was "EASY OFF" oven cleaner. Spray it on, let it set for 30 minutes and use a stiff brush to scrub off. May take several applications. You'll also need to polish and wax that part because the paint will show a tad even after it's gone.
4. Rust - the boat had several rust stains that I wanted gone. I used StarBrite Rust Stain Remover and a medium bristled brush. As you can see, it worked like a charm. I used a little flitz metal polish to make it sparkle a little more. The spot where the drain plug is needed some more love from soft scrub with bleach.
5. Snaps - I hated on my other boat when snaps would be a pain in the ass to use. I first used a toothbrush to clean up the snaps with flitz metal polish then applied some Vaseline to make sure it stays lubed up and easy to use. It made a world of difference! I also wd-40's all the moving parts.
6. Buttons - On the back seat the buttons were pretty bad off. I taped off the area, used a stainless brush on my dremel and wiped it clean. I then used the dremel metal compound and a polishing bit to get it to shine.
7. Plastic Windows - I treated all the windows with Meguirs PlastX plastic cleaner/polish. It made the windows look almost brand new! Huge difference even on windows that were sitting for 4 years.
8. Vinyl Seating - I first cleaned up all the vinyl with Star brite Vinyl cleaner and polish. This stuff got every spot off the seats, looked brand new. After they dried I applied 303 Protectant to keep the UV's off my bum pad.
9. Black Marks on the fiberglass - we all get those shoe scuffs or mysterious black marks on the gunwhales. The easiest thing to use is regular $0.10 pink erasers. Works like a champ.
10. Outside - There was some light oxidation on the outside so I purchased a Porter Cable 7424 Buffer (amazing) , some compounding pads and some bow to stern one step polish/waxer. I also applied armorall to the black rail all the way around. It now shines like a wet boat.
11. Deck - I used soft scrub with bleach but it wasn't getting everything so I went hardcore and bought some 3M non skid deck cleaner. It took everything up! Looks like a new deck now.
Forgot to add a few things...
12. All the window zip ups I ran chap stick along the teeth. Makes a big difference, everything zipped up nice and easy. Also gives a little protection against corrosion
13. Black Rails - I had a bunch of scuff marks from where the black rub rails along the outside of the boat hit the dock or worse. I tried a bunch of cleaners, none worked except for magic erasers from mr clean. Took the white spots off nicely. Just wet them, and scrub the white marks with the white side
14. Wax the deck. The final step was to mist the deck. Spray 3-6 sprays of woody wax on the deck, get a big soft paint brush, and brush in the woody wax all over the deck. Then just take the host on full power and spray the deck until it's not slippery. That will leave a nice protection on for 3-4 trips so blood or stains come off super easy.
All in all it took two straight days. Around $600 of supplies (which should last a few years). The boat looks pretty much brand new. I couldn't find a spot on her.
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