Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

What has everyone found to be easiest for you to clean up your carpet after an outing (or several)? My thought was I would shop vac it maybe once a month, but after two weekends out it already needs a thorough vacuuming from food, sand, etc. And now we'll be in a slip at the lake, I will have to actually load up the shop vac when we leave for the lake and do it at the end of the day. Lugging the shop vac up and down the slope to where we park will kind of suck too but I don't see a way around it.

I got an industrial rug like this one:



I unroll it as soon as we get on the boat.
It was one that the company we use for uniforms and rugs had taken out of service.
It really helps keep the main part of the carpet clean.

As far as cleaning, a good shop vac like you said works wonders. Every once in a while I will rinse the whole carpet off.

if the bottom of the fence is elevated off the floor (most are now) just get a small pump an wash it down that way as needed. I have vacuumed an even used the floor cleaner for the house,but now I just spay it down. Got a small pump, with a weed eater motor to water the grass, found that it is great for washing down the toon. Any thing that puts out in the neighborhood of 10gpm will work.
doc

i've been thinking about purchasing one of the 12v vacuums that I've seen on the west marine and/or overton catalogs. Haven't found reviews to see how well they do or don't work though. I may give the power washer a shot at the end of the season when we prep the boat for winter storage.

We bought a shop vac. Have power at marinia and water hose if we need it. So far we have just been a little careful and make sure we rinse sand off feet before getting in boat. Sometimes I think I would have been better off without the carpet option .
Maybe Chris will suprise Teresa with a golf cart . Bill

so far, i've found nothing beats a pressure washer. just be careful where you point it. its a real hassle getting it to and from the dock but it sure is nice watching all those stains and mold blast away. for the mold i'll pretreat with a dilute bleach solution (only the rear that isn't covered that molds). i do this once a year and it will keep the mold at bay for most of the summer.

i vaccume the toon after everytime we use it now we dont have a slip so its easy to do sometimes i even vaccume before we go out depends on time of year and the trees. anyway then after a big weekend i wash it down with the hose and just before it should be dry i take the shop vac and suck up the water only down side is then i have to leave the cover off a little longer so this is a whole day project but the trailer and truck both get a good cleaning on those days

tkrein wrote:i vaccume the toon after everytime we use it now we dont have a slip so its easy to do sometimes i even vaccume before we go out depends on time of year and the trees. anyway then after a big weekend i wash it down with the hose and just before it should be dry i take the shop vac and suck up the water only down side is then i have to leave the cover off a little longer so this is a whole day project but the trailer and truck both get a good cleaning on those days

going to have to change your avatar to mr clean. it easier to clean as you go rather than waiting especially on the vinyl
doc

o but gotta keep her clean my wife gets pissed as sometimes the boat gets clean before the house does or even the lawn mowed

We keep a vinyl table cloth, the kind with the padding on the back, on the front of the boat when we're beached. That's where the kids put their sand toys, shoes, etc. That has helped alot to keep sand off the boat. I don't know if anyone else has tried this, but my wife's upright vacuum cleaner does a better job cleaning the carpet than my shop vac. I just set it as low as it will go.

I cut down on sand by using a kitty litter box. Fill it with water when we beach and make folks rinse their feet before they board.

We don't beach but dirt and other beverage stains add up. Every two months I go to local carwash with truck bay. I unhitch and drop front of toon so water runs of well and blast it with carwash soap then rinse.