I power washed my boats yesterday. sitting around outside all winter and they grew some green foliage. In spraying off the hulls with mega pressure I determined that:
there is alot of friction on scratches in the hull. A L O T !!!
composite scratches are WAY less friction creaters thsan roto.
roto scratches with burrs still attached are the worse…d’uh.
the visual is GREAT.
I have a Tsunami 140 I use for heavy duty rock gardening on rough basalt rocks and whew…I promptly got out a razor knife and trimmed off all the burrs. I have a number of composite boats that were used for basically the same terrain and the little and BIG scratches created very little friction.
Thanks! I was just wondering if I could pressure wash my new kayaks. Thanks!
Now a secondary question to washing them- would waxing them hurt? I know- a lot of time & effort for a minimal gain in speed… It’s also about taking care & pride in my stuff & its appearance.
composite- yes roto- NO tho some would suggest 303. I think it makes 'em slippery and a bit greasy feeling not to mention the sheen that ends up on the pond.
no scientist but… I don’t think wax is forulated to da anything good to roto plastic. It would just slime off, tho I may be totally off. I imagine a greasy, slick mess till it wore off. seems to absorb into f/g and car paint.
Every car wax I've examined included petroleum distillates in the ingredients list. Probably not a good thing to use on plastic, though the spillover I've gotten on plastic-based Jeep wheel flares or bumper coatings didn't seem to hurt them, other than being impossible to remove the white cast. (But maybe that's damage...)
303 is a liquid that protects against UV damage. It has a much thinner feel than any car wax. I've used it on truck toppers (gel coat and paint/clearcoat), automotive paint/clearcoat, rubber, plastic, and vinyl to good effect. It prevents drying and cracking from exposure to bright sun. (The auto paint was just an experiment and I normally use wax for that.)
On my kayak, I use it only on the rubber hatch covers, plus a little on the hatch opening rims. I rub it on the interior hatch cover rims also. The covers seem to seal better with 303 on both contact areas. Wipe off any excess, though--the 303 should just darken the applied areas rather than attract dirt. I think of it as similar to skin lotion: rub it in well and skin feels more pliable; merely smear it on and it feels greasy.
When I 303'ed a plastic kayak once, I didn't like the resulting oily feel. Maybe the surface was too smooth for it to "take" well.
As for dry suit seals- I’ve been scuba diving for 18 years now. I’ve never found a better seal saver/lube than, umm, KY Jelly. It was originally formulated for latex… I’ve been using it exclusively on my seals for over 14 years now, and mine last longer than most people’s.
