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Washing a narrowboat


Emerald Fox

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Thought the 'New to Boating' Forum would be best for this - how should we wash our new (old! -new to us) narrowboat? Is it acceptable to pour buckets of canal water over it and give it a scrubbing whilst sat in a canal? After all, it's only stuff from trees that has made it dirty - not like all that liquid coming out of peoples' shower holes and kitchen sinks!

 

Electricity & fresh-water hosepipes being hard to come by along canals, y'see.

 

Do marinas have special spots for washing boats?

 

How does one find hosepipes and electricity if 'continuous cruising'? For washing and vacuuming a boat? (Road)Petrol stations have car washes and vacuum cleaners for cars :)

 

The advantage of canal water could be it already contains a fair amount of Head and Shoulders and Fairy washing-up liquid (!!!???).

 

Perhaps a good scrubbing whilst raining might be best...

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You can buy Eco friendly boat wash from the chandlery and use a cloth/sponge/mop and bucket of diluted solution, hang on to boat when doing canal side, rinse with canal water

Or if you have a 'shiny boat' maybe you would be wish to be more diligent x

 

 

Ha ha I've done meerkat speak "or you'll have me for to answer to"

Edited by Dottyshirl
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Washing: You supply the hosepipe. We have a spray attachment as well. We use a bucket of tap water with some Eco-friendly detergent and a sponge. Soft nylon scrubbing brush for non-slip areas. You don't need a lot of water to wash a boat. But for rinsing we normally use the hose and spray attachment, either connected to a water point (provided no-one is waiting) or to the boat's own tap. Again, it doesn't take much spray to rinse off.

 

You could use canal water but I would be choosy about how clean it was, and since you are not using much tap water and there is not exactly a water shortage at the moment I don't see a problem with using tap water.

 

Maybe some marinas prohibit boat washing but ours doesn't.

 

For vacuuming, you supply the machine, and the electricity unless you are on a mooring with shore power.

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Funnily enough we gave ours a wash yesterday, We just use a soft sweeping brush and dip it in the canal water for the sides. Scoop a bucket full or 2 or 3 up for the roof. We do ours on the water point so when all washed with canal water it has a quick rinse from fresh water as the canal watger can leave dirty streaks.

 

We've actually just ordered some Spray & Shine and will be cleaning the boats cabin with that in future, it's a superb waterless cleaner polish and leaves a protective wax finish so gets less dirty in the future. We've been using it for years on our vans & lorries and personal vehicles. It's also a brilliant general cleaner for around the boat in, will clean and shine most hard surfaces, cleans glass brilliantly.

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We've actually just ordered some Spray & Shine and will be cleaning the boats cabin with that in future, it's a superb waterless cleaner polish and leaves a protective wax finish so gets less dirty in the future.

 

Could you post a link please? Google comes up with a few variations on the name - presumably cloned products!

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

 

Be careful, there are some other products as you mention with similar names Spray n Shine is one. Only the Net parts product is genuine, others are just cleaners without the carnauba wax additive.

 

Also Proshine is another but again not the same and nowhere near as good.

Edited by Julynian
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A bucket, canal water, fairly liquid, soft brush and a leather. A simple procedure that's worked for many years.

 

Darren

 

Hi

 

Be careful using domestic products, they dull the paint,.

 

I wash the boat with filtered 'Adam's Ale', the wash it with Turtle wax, dry and polish it.

 

Polish - I use Auto Glym, some frown on this due to it's silicone content.

 

Good Luxk.

 

L

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So its ok to connect a hose up to the water point so long as nobody is waiting obviously?

 

Probably frowned on if there's any hint of stress on water resources. Canal water is plenty good enough in most places, do a final rinse with a bucket of tap water if you must.

 

Tim

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So its ok to connect a hose up to the water point so long as nobody is waiting obviously?

Well I think so. We once tied up just above Stratford on Avon and got our hose out and connected to the water point in the year of the drought (2012?) to rinse the boat off whence a CRT van drove past along the towpath and didn't bat an eyelid. Even though I felt slightly guilty about using the hose during a hosepipe ban, the word on this forum was that it didn't apply to boats and anyway, I doubt we used more than 2 bucketfuls and it is a much more efficient way of rinsing than sloshing a bucket over the boat (because that takes 4 buckets per side!). Hosepipe bans are about preventing gallons and gallons going onto the garden for hours via a sprinkler.

 

I realise that this will probably cause consternation to some green persons but a: coming from Scotland we always have plenty of water and b: keeping the boat super shiny is far more important than saving the planet.

Edited by nicknorman
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Hi

 

Be careful using domestic products, they dull the paint,.

 

I wash the boat with filtered 'Adam's Ale', the wash it with Turtle wax, dry and polish it.

 

Polish - I use Auto Glym, some frown on this due to it's silicone content.

 

Good Luxk.

 

L

I saw your boat yesterday Mike, having its bottom seen to!

Edited by Bullfrog
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Well I think so. We once tied up just above Stratford on Avon and got our hose out and connected to the water point in the year of the drought (2012?) to rinse the boat off whence a CRT van drove past along the towpath and didn't bat an eyelid. Even though I felt slightly guilty about using the hose during a hosepipe ban, the word on this forum was that it didn't apply to boats and anyway, I doubt we used more than 2 bucketfuls and it is a much more efficient way of rinsing than sloshing a bucket over the boat (because that takes 4 buckets per side!). Hosepipe bans are about preventing gallons and gallons going onto the garden for hours via a sprinkler.

 

I realise that this will probably cause consternation to some green persons but a: coming from Scotland we always have plenty of water and b: keeping the boat super shiny is far more important than saving the planet.

 

 

I think it didn't apply to filling boat tanks with a hosepipe. Washing off with a hose is a whole nother matter.

 

Tim

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Officially the water points aren't for washing boats, but filling their tanks with water. However, there is no pragmatic difference in the water used if its straight from a water point or via boat's water tank, domestic water pump, pipework, into a bucket, then onto the boat.

 

I prefer warm water to wash the boat with, in this weather. Bucket & sponge, don't bother with shampoo though.

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I think it didn't apply to filling boat tanks with a hosepipe. Washing off with a hose is a whole nother matter.

 

Tim

Yes, I think that was probably correct but as said by Paul, no difference in terms of water consumption between doing what we did, and filling some buckets from the tap, or the hosepipe to the boat's tap. As I mentioned earlier, a fine spray from a hose attachment is more economical than sloshing water from a bucket.

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Officially the water points aren't for washing boats, but filling their tanks with water. However, there is no pragmatic difference in the water used if its straight from a water point or via boat's water tank, domestic water pump, pipework, into a bucket, then onto the boat.

 

I prefer warm water to wash the boat with, in this weather. Bucket & sponge, don't bother with shampoo though.

 

I forgot to mention, there's no difference in water usage but if there's a queue of boats waiting for the water point, it really annoys the others behind the boat being washed!

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There doesn't need to be a difference in water usage, but I'm sure that plenty of people who use a hose for washing their boat won't be counting the litres.

 

Tim

 

I don't count the litres when I run a tap in the boat to fill a bucket (or more than one bucket) with though, I just use whatever water is needed for the job in hand - because I know I can go to a water point and fill the boat's water tank again, and that there's no water meter as such, however much water is needed is available (and already paid for, via the licence fee).

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Thanks for all this. So we need a hosepipe squirter/spray nozzle-thingy, and one to fit the water pipe (this comes with the boat, one of those that folds flat on itself and gets coiled round itself in the plastic frame). And to find a water point when there's no-one else around. Excellent plan... (adds nozzle-thingy to shopping list...)

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Thanks for all this. So we need a hosepipe squirter/spray nozzle-thingy, and one to fit the water pipe (this comes with the boat, one of those that folds flat on itself and gets coiled round itself in the plastic frame). And to find a water point when there's no-o

ne else around. Excellent plan... (adds nozzle-thingy to shopping list...)

 

Fit a deckwash pump to the boat. Then you can use all the (canal) water you want, via a hose, no worries about wasting water during drought and nobody can complain.

 

Tim

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