Pressure washing, in the water?
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I have used pressure washers to remove stains in pool floors. You must be close and you do need at least a 5000PSI@5GPM pressure washer . Works good on floors and walls where you can stand on the floor. It takes alot of weight in the deep end to stay in place. You will have a good bit of thrust pushing you away from the boat if you are going to try to pressure wash a boat bottom overhead. Maybe a strap that goes all he way around the boat you could tie off to would work.
Missdirected
Contributor
Just me backing up what has been said, it will work. I have done it myself.
I’ve found that using a pressure washer on the hull can many times be more hassle than it’s worth – but it’s great for cleaning around cutlass bearings, rudder posts, and shaft log areas (provided you don’t have dripless seals). You certainly need something secure to hold on to or you look like an astronaut with a rocket on an EVA as you shoot backwards through the water. They make some nice double suction cup handles that work pretty good at sticking to the hull and giving you some leverage as needed.
Depending on the bottom paint and the degree of animals stuck to it, a square of course commercial carpet works real well and doesn’t eat into the bottom paint too badly. For the rudders, trim tabs, props, and other non painted areas I have a collection of plastic body putty scrapers tied together on a line that I keep clipped to me (so when you drop it) and they do a pretty good job of cleaning without damaging any brass.
The biggest thing I learned with cleaning boats in Florida is to ALWAYS wear a hood and a wetsuit with a tight collar. Those damn barnacles hurt when they hit the skin at high speed or get caught in your swim trunks – and they plug up your ears something fierce if they get in there as they fly off the bottom.
A pressure washer is great for cleaning the scum left at the water line. It works even better if you do it when the tanks are close to empty and the boat is riding a little higher in the water.
Depending on the bottom paint and the degree of animals stuck to it, a square of course commercial carpet works real well and doesn’t eat into the bottom paint too badly. For the rudders, trim tabs, props, and other non painted areas I have a collection of plastic body putty scrapers tied together on a line that I keep clipped to me (so when you drop it) and they do a pretty good job of cleaning without damaging any brass.
The biggest thing I learned with cleaning boats in Florida is to ALWAYS wear a hood and a wetsuit with a tight collar. Those damn barnacles hurt when they hit the skin at high speed or get caught in your swim trunks – and they plug up your ears something fierce if they get in there as they fly off the bottom.
A pressure washer is great for cleaning the scum left at the water line. It works even better if you do it when the tanks are close to empty and the boat is riding a little higher in the water.
matt_unique
Guest
Interesting idea....I would think it would be a huge pain in the as* though. You would certainly need to be suited up and under your boat to get all of it. Hopefully with a power wash hose long enough to reach everything. The PW you can rent from Home Depot for example are certainly powerful enough to take your paint off let alone slim and other junk.
--Matt
--Matt
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