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Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 8:15 am
by greezzmunkei
I found a pontoon cleaner, it's actually for all aluminum but it works great. Spray it on, wait a minute and hose it off. I couldn't believe it. I actually found the stuff at work and bought some to use at home because I was impressed. If you can like clean toons and don't like to polish'em this is for you. I included before and after photos. P.S. wear gloves it has some pretty aggressive ingredients.

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 8:35 am
by redbeard
So what's it called? Looks good.

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 8:46 am
by greezzmunkei
Duh. It's NAPA auto parts branded jug called Aluminum Brightener. It's a little pricey, but well worth it if you don't like to work hard :thumbsup

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 9:00 am
by MPosey519
Looks great, NAPA stuff's been lauded on the forum fairly heavily. Great to see more pics though!

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 9:11 am
by BobG
It makes your boat look HUGE!!! :rofl

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 12:04 pm
by Bamaman
NAPA's aluminum brightener is great stuff, and it'll sure clean the toons. Unfortunately, you'll have to polish the toons if you care to have any shine to them--and restore their "new" look. All the acidic cleaners dull aluminum.

For polishing, I have a Porter Cable Dual Action Polisher with a 6" wool bonnet. Place two dime size dollups of White Diamond metal polish on the bonnet, and put the bonnet on a 2' x 2' section of the toon. Then turn on the polisher, and move the head back and forth, up and down for about 90 seconds. All of a sudden, the black goop (oxide) will dry up and will turn to a powder and disappear. Wipe with a dry towel.

Polishing the toons is not any big deal if you just get at it. It's not even very time consuming.

But removing the remaining black oxide with lacquer cleaner is required if you intend to use Sharkhide. And I tried and tried to get the black oxide off to no avail. Polishing is so much easier than cleaning any toon good enough to be Sharkhide'd.

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 3:32 pm
by Jordeli
This is exactly what I have been looking for (I think). My pontoons look very similar to Redbeard's from the photo he posted. I don't mind the dull aluminum look, just as long as it doesn't have lime deposits and crud below the water line. Polished tubes might be a great idea for Father's/Grandfather's day, just assign an area to each, son, or grandson, hmmmm. wonder if I can sell that to them. It worked for Tom Sawyer. Having tubes as shiny as Handyman Herb's would keep me off the water, I'd afraid to get them dirty. Thanks for the idea, I'll try it for two reasons, 1. I've tried everything else, and 2. I'm lazy, so this is very attractive for me. Jordeli

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 5:33 pm
by Bamaman
To those who leave their boats in the water:

Have Scotchbrite pads that you assign to every person with you on the boat. Tell'em you'll move to the next cove when the bottom's clean.

You need to do a little scrubbing about every weekend. It beats the serious scrubbing when the hull really gets green and grungy.

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 6:50 am
by DinoSteel
Thanks for the tip about the NAPA product. I picked up a gallon this weekend and mixed 50/50 with H2O in a pump sprayer. I used the entire gallon going over the toons twice. What a time saver. It’s amazing how fast this stuff works.

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Thanks again for the tip! You guys ROCK.

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 7:28 am
by VaGent
Since being in the HVAC business for over 45 yrs., I've always advocated the use of the PINK coil cleaner that is used to clean condenser coils on the outside AC units. It's works really well although CARE MUST be used while applying it. It can cause burns like you can't believe & it WILL kill grass or flowers. LOTS of water must be used to dilute it. I tried using a gallon of the NAPA Aluminum Cleaner last weekend on my 1993 Voyager pontoon my son & I are rebuilding & I must say it did do a decent job cleaning the logs, cross members & railings. I found it to be a little PRICEY compared to the PINK coil cleaner. It seemed to work faster too but overall I still have to say the PINK coil cleaner actually did a better job. By saying that I also have to admit the PINK is a stronger mixer then the NAPA is thereby making the difference in the cleaning. I was unaware of the NAPA cleaner until reading about it on this forum. I do recommend it but for me I'll stick with the PINK coil cleaner. I guess "old habits" are hard to break. Being "old school" I tend to stick with proven "old school" methods of doing certain things. Nothing at all against NAPA Aluminum Cleaner. I just happen to like the other stuff better. Just my 2cents which won't buy you a cup of coffee.

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 8:17 am
by HandymanHerb
You have to think what they are made to do, the pink is made to make little pits to increase the surface area for cooling, the NAPA stuff is made to make paint stick

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 8:41 am
by steveiam
HandymanHerb wrote:You have to think what they are made to do, the pink is made to make little pits to increase the surface area for cooling, the NAPA stuff is made to make paint stick
Herb--I know my "dumbass" is showing, but I don't understand what you just wrote and i am planning on buying the NAPA this afternoon, can ya help me understand what that meant about the difference from the pink stuff?

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 9:19 am
by HandymanHerb
Their both made to etch aluminum the pink is made to increase the surface area by making many little pits with more surface area for cooling, the NAPA stuff is made to strip corrosion and make small pits for the paint primer to hold on to.

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 9:33 am
by Bamaman
As far as I can tell, both the pink stuff and aluminum cleaner work about the same. One may need to be diluted more than the other. A little practice will tell you how much water to use. And neither has to stay on the surface very long, followed by a lot of water.

I've been hearing nice things about both products for years.

Re: Pontoon cleaner

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 10:12 am
by steveiam
HandymanHerb wrote:Their both made to etch aluminum the pink is made to increase the surface area by making many little pits with more surface area for cooling, the NAPA stuff is made to strip corrosion and make small pits for the paint primer to hold on to.
Thanks--