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What product is best to wash external coachwork?


Salopgal

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My Mum's narrowboat was professionally painted in 2011 by previous owners and needs a good clean. I forgot to ask them what they used to wash and then polish the boat's external coachwork.

I tried a car wash/wax solution yesterday and it went chalky and smeary and no amount of clean water or rubbing would take away the dull look, so that was hopeless. Can't remember the make but it was quite expensive - I may have just got the concentrations wrong but there weren't any instructions of liquid to water ratios anywhere on the bottle....

 

Please would you advise the best product and tried and tested methods (!!) of washing a narrowboat? What detergent do you use and do you use any specialist polishes afterwards?

 

Also, how regularly would you recommend cleaning external paintwork and are there any major dos and don'ts? I'm such a novice at this and want to take the very best care of this boat, inside and out.

 

Thanks so much!

 

K

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There's a very good waterless cleaner polish that will wax the boat as well as clean it.

 

http://www.netparts.co.uk/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=56

 

I've been using this product for years and usually buy it in 5 litre containers, we've just finished painting our boat and will be cleaning it with this product in the future. it cleans the grimiest paintwork and leaves a a deep shine coat or carnauba wax which helps keep the paintwork clean, so no need to have to wash so often, you apply it directly you the paintwork and simply wipe off, no smearing or powdery residue, it's eco friendly, so no pollutants in the canal as no rinsing off required. We also clean our vans and lorry in the same stuff.

It;s also a brilliant cleaner for glass (not windscreen) painted surfaces and plastics, will make kitchen white goods look like new good for cleaning S/S too.

 

Probably one of the best cleaning products I've come across.

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Phil Speight's Craftmaster Carnuba wax polish is the best I've come across.It does a fantastic job and it lasts a long time. We use the wash as well. Bought a pack containing both products which was on offer at bottom lock chandlery Braunston. It is not cheap, but is easy to apply and polish and seems to go a long way.

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Phil Speight's Craftmaster Carnuba wax polish is the best I've come across.It does a fantastic job and it lasts a long time. We use the wash as well. Bought a pack containing both products which was on offer at bottom lock chandlery Braunston. It is not cheap, but is easy to apply and polish and seems to go a long way.

 

 

Being a self confessed "shiney boater" I would second the above. captain.gif

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Hi, sorry to hijack, but related.

 

Does the craftmaster carnuba wax bring back the shiny colour to the paintwork like when you wash your boat, but then unfortunately dries back dull?

My boat paintwork is red and black and the red is gradually turning more pink!!

 

Thanks Jamescheers.gif

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Phil Speight's Craftmaster Carnuba wax polish is the best I've come across.It does a fantastic job and it lasts a long time. We use the wash as well. Bought a pack containing both products which was on offer at bottom lock chandlery Braunston. It is not cheap, but is easy to apply and polish and seems to go a long way.

 

Many thanks for this post. I'm trying to find this product for sale on the internet - no joy yet. Found craftmaster site though and am emailing them to see whether they sell the wash and the polish you mention. Thanks again!

 

Just an afterthought - are other Carnuba products as good as this e.g. Autoglym and Autosmart or is Phil Speight's product rather special and better for narrowboat coachwork?

Edited by Salopgal
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Phil Speight's Craftmaster Carnuba wax polish is the best I've come across.It does a fantastic job and it lasts a long time. We use the wash as well. Bought a pack containing both products which was on offer at bottom lock chandlery Braunston. It is not cheap, but is easy to apply and polish and seems to go a long way.

 

I have used this as well, not often as I lost interest in the paintwork when the micro blisters started coming up.

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There's a very good waterless cleaner polish that will wax the boat as well as clean it.

 

http://www.netparts.co.uk/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=56

 

I've been using this product for years and usually buy it in 5 litre containers, we've just finished painting our boat and will be cleaning it with this product in the future. it cleans the grimiest paintwork and leaves a a deep shine coat or carnauba wax which helps keep the paintwork clean, so no need to have to wash so often, you apply it directly you the paintwork and simply wipe off, no smearing or powdery residue, it's eco friendly, so no pollutants in the canal as no rinsing off required. We also clean our vans and lorry in the same stuff.

It;s also a brilliant cleaner for glass (not windscreen) painted surfaces and plastics, will make kitchen white goods look like new good for cleaning S/S too.

 

Probably one of the best cleaning products I've come across.

I wouldn't use a waterless cleaner on my car. I prefer to remove road grit first rather than rub it into the paintwork!

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Carnauba wax is simply the best and hardest wax, that if it's 100% carnauba like here http://www.smartwax.com/carnauba_wax.htm

 

The product I've mentioned contains Canaubra wax but at what percentage I'm unsure, it does leave a very good shine though and is used by car detailers in garages. When the bottle is left still the wax separates and looks to be about 40% of the product, bearing in mind this includes cleaning agent as well it's a pretty good percentage.

 

Just try to find out the percentage of carnauba, I would suggest the higher the better.



I wouldn't use a waterless cleaner on my car. I prefer to remove road grit first rather than rub it into the paintwork!

 

The times I've heard that LOL I've used this product for around 10 years now and never got a single scratch or cleaning swirl on any vehicle including a very dark Blue Mercedes, I scratched and got swirls a hell of a lot more using a sponge & bucket & water.

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.

 

 

The times I've heard that LOL I've used this product for around 10 years now and never got a single scratch or cleaning swirl on any vehicle including a very dark Blue Mercedes, I scratched and got swirls a hell of a lot more using a sponge & bucket & water.

 

Then I bow to your superior knowledge as I've never used the stuff.

It just seems obvious to me that if you take a damp cloth and rub it over dirty paintwork which may be contaminated with grit particles, then what you have is in effect a form of abrasive pad.

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Hi, sorry to hijack, but related.

 

Does the craftmaster carnuba wax bring back the shiny colour to the paintwork like when you wash your boat, but then unfortunately dries back dull?

My boat paintwork is red and black and the red is gradually turning more pink!!

 

Thanks Jamescheers.gif

All red paints 'bleach' with daylight, (and turn pinkish)

 

And the only way to avoid it is not to paint your boat red!!!

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Canal water and mop.

 

I agree, although I also use a deck scrubbing brush for stubborn dirt (mine isn't a shiney boat).

 

Bear in mind, that if you use detergents you will probably encourage corrosion in areas where the paint might not be perfect.

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I agree, although I also use a deck scrubbing brush for stubborn dirt (mine isn't a shiney boat).

 

Bear in mind, that if you use detergents you will probably encourage corrosion in areas where the paint might not be perfect.

 

It did not look to bad for it, when we passed a couple of weeks ago. smile.png

I agree as well, I have not used anything but water and an old chamois leather on N Bear Nest's 13 year old paint.

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All red paints 'bleach' with daylight, (and turn pinkish)

 

And the only way to avoid it is not to paint your boat red!!!

 

I will eventually try the craftmaster polish on it and see what it looks like after. The boat was painted by the previous owner about 5-7 years ago in those colours. I quite liked the 2 tone dark green like a recent poster on this forum has painted his boat, looks great.

What colours are less susceptible to bleaching?

 

Jamescheers.gif

Edited by canals are us?
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It did not look to bad for it, when we passed a couple of weeks ago. smile.png

I agree as well, I have not used anything but water and an old chamois leather on N Bear Nest's 13 year old paint.

Her bottom has been treated to a few coats of comastic since you came past (it is 5 years since the previous blacking) - sorry we didn't get chance for a few beers ........... Mooring underneath trees is not conducive to a good paint job but keeping the rust at bay is the main consideration and shiney paintwork shows up imperfections!

 

Cheers

Phil

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A rub over with a paraffiny rag will give your paintwork a splendid shine, just don't light your stove for a bit afterwards.

 

Good advice Bizzard. I bet you used to chauffer drive a Rolls Royce for some VIP?

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One chem is a good cleaner, foams like crazy with as little as 5mm of solution in a bucket of water and is fish friendly? Bullet polish is amazing stuff for polishing and contains carnauba.

Is it fish friendly?

it says keep away from food, drink and animal food stuffs

If swallowed seek medical advice immediately.

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Her bottom has been treated to a few coats of comastic since you came past (it is 5 years since the previous blacking) - sorry we didn't get chance for a few beers ........... Mooring underneath trees is not conducive to a good paint job but keeping the rust at bay is the main consideration and shiney paintwork shows up imperfections!

 

Cheers

Phil

I'll be back!...We did the HNC and got back to the Ashby in record time...just as well as we missed the Shepley Bridge Lock stoppage by 24 hours and did not get caught on Cromwell sand bank (CaRT seemed to be in denial of it's existance!) I spent a a day at Atherstone making N Bear Nest's gunwales all pretty again for Mrs TNC's inspection of the old tub at her new moorings.

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Good advice Bizzard. I bet you used to chauffer drive a Rolls Royce for some VIP?

I did drive ancient cars for weddings on Saturday afternoons for a while years ago, the owner had a bit of a museum collection and any could be used for weddings at a price, and were occasionally hired for TV and film sets. The one I usually bloomin well got was a convertible 1919 Rover with wooden artiliery wheels with just a prop shaft foot and hand brakes to rear wheels, which was a wicked thing to drive in Saturday afternoons traffic.. There were also a massive long w/base 1930's R/R Phantom, Laundau Tickford, and Mulliner bodied R/R's a 1928 Talbot saloonand a speed six Bentley. The old Phantom which had had a cheap respray often got the paraffin treatment.

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Then I bow to your superior knowledge as I've never used the stuff.

It just seems obvious to me that if you take a damp cloth and rub it over dirty paintwork which may be contaminated with grit particles, then what you have is in effect a form of abrasive pad.

 

Because the polymers encapsulate the dirt/grit, car detailers have been using it for 20 years, just read the reviews, do you really think people would buy this regularly if it scratched car paintwork??

 

 

Loads of other demo's on youtube

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Canal water and mop.

The only way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It really irks me, when people sit on a water point, and use drinking water, to wash their precious tub.

 

Canal water and mop.

The only way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It really irks me, when people sit on a water point, and use drinking water, to wash their precious tub.

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