Best results with minimal effort on cleaning toons

[Mucho Gusto]

Hey guys....I know, i know. This subject has been beat to death on this forum and I'm hesitant to start another thread. However, I'm pretty desperate. My boat is a couple of years old now and the toons are starting to look pretty crappy. I dont want to spend the time or money on an acid wash, cleaning, Polish and protectant (sharkhide) "whole 9 yards" type of treatment.

Having said that, has anybody had any luck with any type of cleaner that can be sprayed on and hosed off after every few trips to the lake. I'd rather not have the dull white finish that alumibrite seems to give and don't want to worry about ruining the paint on the trailer. Just want to toons to look better and and a uniform look without all the streaking.

Has anybody had good luck with something that what I'm looking for? Am I looking for something that doesn't exist?

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated !

[sunedog]

I acid wash at the end of the season. To avoid streaking, start spraying at the bottom and work your way up. I do 3 or 4 feet at a time, then move over.

For any type of cleaner, apply from the bottom up, rinse from the top down.

[Bamaman]

Acid washing is only needed to get green grundge off the toons if it's been left in the water. Otherwise, your only option is polishing the toons. I use White Diamond metal polish and a wool bonnet on my Porter Cable dual action sander/polisher.

I can polish the outside two toons, 3 nosecones and the rear end of the boat in 90 minutes or so. It's not that hard of work, really. Since the inside of the toons is not seen, I don't polish them.

Getting the black aluminum oxide off the toons in order to Sharkhide them (with lacquer cleaner) is murder. There is so much welding slag and so many cracks that the black gets into. It's just easier to polish it every May.

That's my 5/24 job--along with changing the lower unit grease and changing the motor oil.

[Strake]

Acid washing is only needed to get green grundge off the toons if it's been left in the water. Otherwise, your only option is polishing the toons. I use White Diamond metal polish and a wool bonnet on my Porter Cable dual action sander/polisher.

I can polish the outside two toons, 3 nosecones and the rear end of the boat in 90 minutes or so. It's not that hard of work, really. Since the inside of the toons is not seen, I don't polish them.

Getting the black aluminum oxide off the toons in order to Sharkhide them (with lacquer cleaner) is murder. There is so much welding slag and so many cracks that the black gets into. It's just easier to polish it every May.

That's my 5/24 job--along with changing the lower unit grease and changing the motor oil.

Although I'm good for the time being, since I had ours acid washed and Sharkhided last year....... HOW MANY wool bonnets and white Diamond polish do you go through each time? I've got the Porter Cable 724 polisher already, but haven't used it on the toons...... just foam pads on the Corvette occasionally. I'd really prefer the look of being polished rather than the dull whitish look.

[Soonertoon]

this is a never ending debate on here it seems. Everyone has their own opinions of what looks best, how much work is too much. and on and on.
the bottom line is what are you prepared and willing to do to get them looking like they should in your mind? you can run the gamut on effort and money for damned sure .
I wrestled with it myself for the last year or so , going back and forth over polishing or not , sharkhide or not , acid or not like you are now. The bottom line is there is NO easy button . I pulled my boat out ( on a lift at a marina) and drug it home 40 miles with the intent that by God, I'm gonna take a day and make em' shine like a diamond. Well, that lasted until I finished doing all the other spring cleaning chores I did on it . In the end it just wasn't worth the effort.
I ended up going to Napa Auto Parts and bought a gallon of aluminum brightener for $26.00 . Sprayed it on, power washed it off. Rinse and repeat. Turned out really nice. Clean and shiny but to me , it didn't have the dull finish that Toon Brite gives. I was happy with it . My boat is kept on a lift , so the change in appearance wasn't over the top different. I passed on the Sharkhide for several reasons of which have been discussed on here to death. I sprayed the trailer down with water as I put the brightener on and it didn't discolor or dull the paint.
I will do it again next year and be happy with the results. I keep my stuff in pretty tip top shape and I'm good with, it as the end results compared to the effort, time and expense were pretty good . However, that's me. Everyone is different. Like I said, there's no easy button to keeping these things looking nice. It all depends on what you can accept vs what you are willing to do . Best of luck in whatever direction you go.

[Bamaman]

Although I'm good for the time being, since I had ours acid washed and Sharkhided last year....... HOW MANY wool bonnets and white Diamond polish do you go through each time? I've got the Porter Cable 724 polisher already, but haven't used it on the toons...... just foam pads on the Corvette occasionally. I'd really prefer the look of being polished rather than the dull whitish look.

A wool bonnet will last many years. If you get too much black powder on it, you can wash it in a washing machine. One $14.99 bottle of White Diamond lasted me two polishings of the outside toons, 3 nosecones and the rear end. Note: Don't polish the fencing as it's anodized aluminum--plated.

Two or three dime size dollups of White Diamond on the 6" wool bonnet will do a 2x2' section in 90 seconds or so. First it'll make a black paste, and then it'll turn to a dry powder, polish the aluminum and all blow away in the air. Then you just use a dry towel to remove the remaining black oxide--leaving the shiny toons underneath.

I also have a high speed polisher, however I don't use it. It's like holding on to a bucking bronco--very physical to use for polishing with a wool bonnet. With rouge, it'll get an almost mirror image, however. I don't want to work that hard.

[HandymanHerb]

You have to acid wash before buffing, to take off the corrosion layer on them, then the easiest way to do it is find someone near you doing it all the time, you can tell them, they will be black, or will be by the end of the day

But then if you really want to go crazy, you can do the rest you didn't pay for

[BobL]

I am patiently awaiting the long term results from the guy on this board that had his toons wrapped. That may be an answer to all of our prayers.

[PlaynDoc]

I am patiently awaiting the long term results from the guy on this board that had his toons wrapped. That may be an answer to all of our prayers.

i heard that. it's been almost a year now, right? wonder how it's holding up...

[Bamaman]

Herb: You are indeed a motivated man and a perfectionist.

I have the high speed buffer but not the desire to work so hard. And I've got too much grass to cut and other honey do's to spend more time on my toons. I'm also fighting the spider poop on my seats and their webs. I'll be making a midnight run to Walmart tonight to get motor oil and lower unit grease. In the morning, I'll be driving 20 miles each way to buy three $1 paper gaskets for the lower unit grease change.

You've really done an admirable job on your boat. Now it's time for the winds to die down so we can experience some of those magical days on the water. It was beautiful out on the lake today.