How To Deep Clean An Aluminum Jon Boat
At a glance
Start by rinsing the hull with fresh water to remove loose debris. In this video, Instant Hull Cleaner goes on the painted hull, sits for one to two minutes, and is rinsed off. Scrub stubborn spots with a stiff nylon brush, working in sections. Rinse thoroughly and dry to prevent water spots. On bare aluminum, use Aluminum Boat Cleaner instead, and a marine aluminum polish for stubborn oxidation.
- Clear the boat and open the drain before washing.
- Clean small sections and rinse muddy water toward the stern.
- Wash the outboard gently, then dry the cowling carefully.
Video Transcription
Hey guys, welcome back to another video. Today I'm going to show you how to take care and clean your boat, to make sure it lasts a long time, as well as look good.
In order to get every nook and cranny of this boat, go ahead and remove absolutely everything you can from it. That includes life jackets, stroke motors, everything like that if you're able to. And once that's complete, go ahead and go to the back, and remove that drain plug. That way we can allow any water to escape from the back.
And before we begin, a big shout out to Better Boat for sending me all these products to try, and this is what I'm going to use to be cleaning the boat today. As with any product, always follow the manufacturer's instructions and recommendations, in order to get the best results.
For my use, this is a pretty heavy duty boat cleaner. It's made to get scum off a fiberglass boat, that's been sitting around for years. Fortunately, all I have is some mud on this boat, and it's only been on here for a day or two. So I went ahead and I made a 50/50 mix ratio, of the Instant Hull Cleaner and water. Just dilute it a little bit. And I'll also reduce how much of this I'm going to be using, so I could use them for later projects.
Pro tip. Remove loose gear and open the drain before washing. This gives rinse water and debris a clear path out of the boat.
In case you're wondering whether this stuff works, I want to show you how to go from all of this to this. From this to this. And finally from this to this. I want to take my Instant Hull Cleaner and go ahead and spray all of the bow of the boat, and get all these mud stains saturated. And then let it sit for one to two minutes, and allow it to start picking up that dirt, and making it easier to clean off.
This Hull Cleaner is pretty heavy duty stuff, so make sure that anything that drips on your trailer, to go ahead and wash that off thoroughly as well. While it's not absolute unnecessary, a power washer is a great tool for cleaning boats, ATVs, trucks, your house, everything else. And with these new electric ones, just like the Sun Joe here, there's no maintenance involved. You don't have to worry about cranking it, don't worry about gasoline, carburetors. You simply plug it and go, every single time.
And without brushing at all, look at the massive difference that has made.
What I'll do now is continue that process throughout the entire boat, spray an area, let it sit for a minute or two, wash it down, and then move on to the next section.
Since the sides are so flat, when I put the Instant Hull Cleaner on, I'm just going to give it a quick wipe down, and that's just going to make sure that it gets into those dirt deposits, and start lifting them up, where it's easier to wash them.
The results are incredible. There's a massive difference. All that mud is gone. We have the true color of the boat back, and it looks great. Now while you're doing all the sides of your boat on the outside, what you want to go ahead and do as well, is come down here to the tire. Check it out. If you're in a muddy environment, like I was, see if there's any gravel, mud, stuck inside or near the axle or the suspension, just go ahead and knock that off with the power washer.
Use a soap, not necessarily detergent like this Hull Cleaner.
Clean this wheel well out. Go ahead, just rub it in. Use a sponge and then power wash it, and that's going to help keep this looking great, and lasting a lot longer. Helping to mitigate corrosion, all that rock just getting into the axle, or something of that nature, breaking something. Just a good step to go ahead and do.
Now the outside is done, and looking good, we're going to go ahead, get in here on the inside, and I'm going to use the Instant Hull Cleaner. And you don't need a whole lot of it. Just spray in a few areas, and I'm going to scrub it with a brush. Get all this gunk off, and then power wash, from top to bottom.
That way all this mud will go running off down here, into the trough, and then it'll go into the bilge, and it'll start coming out. And once you get all that nasty mud and water, and it goes down through the bilge, make sure that if you do have a bilge pump, you do not want to turn it on.
This could damage the bilge.
Pro tip. Leave the bilge pump off while muddy water drains. Sand, gravel, and other debris can damage the pump.
You're going to suck up nasty little mud particles, sand, tiny bits of gravel, and you don't want that, and you don't want to deal with it. Like I said earlier, just go ahead and take out that drain plug, and let all the water cleaner out of here.
All I'm going to do is spray some of this Instant Hull Cleaner down. Take a brush, and brush it in a little bit. You don't have to spend a whole lot of time brushing. Just make sure to get it in. Make sure you get it everywhere, and then let it sit for a minute or two. I'll go back to the pressure washer, and take it all out.
Look at the massive difference. All that mud is now completely gone. There's some very small particles of just plant matter still on the boat, and that's going to be very difficult to get out. That may be something you're just going to have to deal with, depending on where you're cleaning your boat.
The place I really have to clean it is under trees, so that's just going to be part of it.
But I'm really excited, all the mud is also out of this middle compartment as well. It's off these back decks. This thing looks a hundred times better.
Now I've got the boat itself clean, it's time to work on the engine. Fortunately, the outside of engines are fairly easy to clean. Instead of using that Hull Cleaner, I'm going to go back to a soap, and I'm going to use a microfiber towel. I want to place soap over the engine cowling, as well as the plastics underneath going to the lever unit.
Lightly scrub it in, using a microfiber towel, of course with water, and then I'm going to rinse it all off. Afterwards I'm going to go ahead and take a chamois, and I'm going to go ahead and pat it dry. That way I leave no water spots, leaving this thing shining and beautiful.
It's amazing how much dirt you can see on a rag. All of that was on the engine cowling, and now it's on here, trapped in the microfiber, no longer on this surface, making it nice and clean.
Now the whole point of using a chamois, is to keep all these water spots off.
Pro tip. Use soap and a microfiber towel on the engine cowling. Rinse it, then pat it dry with a chamois to limit water spots.
And all you're going to do is simply take your chamois, and pat it dry. This is going to make an incredible difference here, in a second. And just like that, look, no water on the exterior. Looks super clean, super nice, and like it just came out of the factory.
While the engine cowling already looks great, I love to put a wax and sealant on, for two reasons. It first protects the paint and the clear coat from the sun, and number two is that this particular sealant is super hydrophobic, so water beats up, and just drops off. So by doing this it's going to keep my engine looking really nice in the water, and it will reduce all the water streaks I'll have on it. It just protects it a little bit more.
This engine is absolutely shining now. That wax really does give it a nice finish overall, and you can see a little bit of this water dripping down. It's just beading up, and rolling right off the paint.
This is exactly what you want to keep your paint looking nice. Keep the water streaks off, and to protect the cowling outboard for years to come.
Well there you have it. This boat is washed, clean, and looks fantastic. And it's once again ready to go out in the water, looking just as good as it did when it left the factory.
Once again, a big thanks to Better Boat, for sending me all these products to try out. I really did enjoy using them, and the results speak for themselves. I don't have to prove anything to you. The products have done it for me. This boat looks great. It's super clean. All that thick mud that was dried up, is completely out. And the engine cowling looks fantastic.
All that's left to do, is put everything back in the boat, get the boat in the garage, and have it sitting and waiting for the next time I'm ready to take it out.
Now guys, if you enjoyed this video, please make sure to check out Better Boat down in the description, as well as share, like, subscribe for more. Thanks for watching.
Products Used in This Cleaning
For the hull itself, the mud and dirt came right off with a boat hull cleaner applied before any scrubbing. The hull in this video is painted. On bare aluminum, use Aluminum Boat Cleaner instead.
Better Boat pick
Instant Boat Hull Cleaner
Attack waterline stains, rust stains, exhaust marks, algae stains, and scum before they make the hull look neglected.
View productOnce the hull is clean, bare aluminum still needs a finishing step, so I like to go over dull spots with an aluminum polish to bring the shine back.
Watch: Deep Cleaning an Aluminum Jon Boat Bow to Stern
In this video Buck Creek Tv goes over how to deep clean an aluminum jon boat from bow to stern using the Exterior Cleaning Kit and No Slip Boat Deck Cleaner. Check it out to see the before and after.
Ready to deep clean your boat? The Boat Exterior Cleaning Kit and No Slip Boat Deck Cleaner are available at betterboat.com.
Quick quiz
Tap a question to see the answer.
What should you do before washing the inside of the jon boat?
Remove loose gear and the drain plug so rinse water can flow out.
How long does the cleaner sit on muddy areas before rinsing?
Let it sit for one to two minutes before rinsing. Instant Boat Hull Cleaner
Why should the bilge pump stay off during the muddy rinse?
Mud, sand, and small gravel can enter and damage the pump.
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