20 Best Hull Cleaner For Boats (2023 Updated)

I had heavy tannin stains on my fiberglass deck boat that a high end pressure washer could not even make a difference on. Spent over a hour hand cleaning with a soft scrub type of product. Got about 85-90% of the stains off just 20% of the boat and thought that there had to be a better way.

I was very skeptical when I read the product instructions. Spray on and rinse off after two minutes. I was prepared to be disappointed. Instead, I was truly stunned and amazed. Sprayed the product on a test area, then walked around the garage to get the hose.

In that short of a time, the tannin stains had just 100% disappeared. I couldnt believe it. Tried another section and got the same amazing results. Finished the whole boat, including the hard to get to areas in less than 15 minutes and used only about a quart of product.

I was giddy! No doubt about continued use of this product in the future!.

Purchased this to clean yellowing on hull of boat. I don’t keep it in the water just do some overnights and by the end of the year it’s not terrible but significantly stained. I wanted On/Off but the store was out, they said this isn’t quit as strong.

Used a sprayer like I usually do and it ate right through it in minutes , for me it worked awesome. No need to scrub, 100% of yellowing came right off. Best part is this does not give off toxic fumes anywhere near as much as the other brand.

I’ll be buying this for now on.

This stuff is amazing. Leaf and tree sap markings that stain the inside of my boat disappear. I could scrub with any kind of soap and get nothing. I use a cup of this with a sponge for application and you cannot believe what happens.

It’s hands down the best cleaner for your boat out there.

I don’t write very many reviews, but this product inspired me to write one. I bought a boat, for a good price, that had its bottom covered in lake scum. I tried rubbing it out with rubbing compound on a small sample, with a lot of effort, and still wasn’t completely clean afterwards.

This product requires no effort other than squeezing the spray bottle and hosing it down. I was shocked how the gawd awful stains just washed away. I needed a second spray bottle to finish the job, worth every penny.

It’s not often that I run into a product that exceeds all expectations, this one does that.

I have a 20 year old boat and rarely wash it when I do I just pressure wash it. It was looking pretty bad and I didn’t think that it was going to come clean unless I used a buffer with compound. But, wow! I sprayed this on and it started coming clean on its own.

Then I rubbed it down with a brush and washed it off, it looks so good now! I’ll probably never use another brand I’m so satisfied with this.

I give this 7/10 This product did help but took 3 coats to do it. 1st coat took off about 30% 2nd coat took off about 70% 3rd coat took off rest. 1st & 2nd coat was done with brush and hose. 3rd coat had to be done with scrubbing pad & medium brush My boat just had river slime build up.

It works! Simply put, if you take time to prep the boat surface, it’s amazing! I would highly recommend wearing goggles, not safety glasses, and also good rubber gloves. For best results, I power washed the hull of the boat prior to use.

I had a solid sludge line on the hull from the boat sitting in the water on an inland lake for six months. there was enough algae that I could have used a scraper to remove a 1/64″. After power washing, I was left with a stained surface in which you could feel the remaining algae.

I applied the product with a 2″ brush and was shocked that the algae literally disappeared as I was brushing it on. For about 98% of the boat, a simply 2-3 brush strokes over the algae removed it down to the white hull.

The remaining areas required it to soak in a bit and a second coat that quickly took it off. In addition, it took off the discoloration that was on the boat when I purchased it. the hull literally looks new! For a 20′ boat, I used about a quart and applied it liberally to the entire hull and outdrives and rinsed the entire boat afterward.

I took the boat to the self serve car wash as I wasn’t sure if this product would damage my driveway, lawn or landscaping. It did get on the trailer, bunk carpet and spare tire and I rinsed it along with the rest of the boat – it didn’t appear to damage my specific trailer.

I’ve used everything in the past, including straight muriatic acid. this work as well if not better. It’s a bit more expensive than straight muriatic acid but as to the product itself, it works amazing! Wish I would have known about it twenty years ago.

I keep my boat on the Mullica River in Sweetwater, New Jersey. And since the river’s water is brackish, it leaves a tan/brown stain on a boat’s water line. This past weekend I pulled my boat up to the side of the river, sprayed the water line, and let this hull cleaner sit for 20 seconds.

I then took a 3M scouring pad and scrub the stain right off. The boat looks great now – although a slight stain remains but will hit it again in the fall with the hull cleaner or a toilet bowl cleaner with bleach.

I would not hesitate to recommend this product as it works as advertised. By the way, buy the gallon container to do your boat as you won’t regret it. Updated review: This stuff is the bomb. I pulled my boat out of the river about 4 weeks ago and it was stained wicked bad.

I was so worried that the stain was permanent. I sprayed the solution on the hull and it melted the scum away within minutes. I then hit the hull with a power washer to expedite the process. The boat looks great again! I used less than a half gallon on a 28 foot boat with a 9’-2” beam.

I detail boats in the Northern Atlanta suburbs. I’d read good reviews on this product and on Marykate’s “On-Off”. I’ve also used a 50/50 mixture of Muriatic Acid & Water to clean boat bottom. The muriatic acid is good, kind of a very strong product but cheap.

It worked well on a boat I did last year. I bought Markate last week after hearing so much about, it was good. But I was still curious about this product. What’s crazy is this really isn’t marketed and almost no one has heard of it.

How could something half the price of Marykate be as good as the reviews stated. Well it absolutely was. I sprayed it on, let it sit for a few minutes and rinsed it off with a pressure washer. The scum came right off of one boat.

I scrubbed a little at first but wanted to see what it would do without scrubbing, it was great. After cleaning you could feel some residue but I got it off. On the second boat the result weren’t the same.

Only because it was in bad shape. I resorted to LA’s Totally Awesome Degreaser and 1500 grit sanding disk and that was it. Some bottom scum Acid won’t get out and I was told this by another detailer as well and you will have to wet sand or try the orange peel pad with Dual Action Buffer or Medium NanoSkin Clay Bar Pad.

With hot steam or hot pressure washer I’m sure the first boat would’ve had no lite residue left.

The Star Bright Bottom Cleaner is a great product. It took away the alkali water ring that had built up from the boat being in the slip for so long. It literally melted it away. Sometimes I’d repeat the area 2 or 3 times but there was no need for scraping or elbow stress.

Just let it work. I used it on a Tracker Super Guide. It has a painted finish. There was no discoloration to the paint. I flushed the trailer often JIC but there was no staining or color change there either.

I did wear protective gear. This stuff burns exposed skin! I’d use Star Bright Bottom Cleaner again in a heart beat. It’s GREEAAT!.

This works. Wish I’d taken pics. But WEAR PROTECTIVE GEAR! This stuff is no joke. I’m not sensitive to chemicals, but had to get gloves because it burned my skin a little, and it made me cough real bad.

However. Cleaned the bottom of the boat so well! Sprayed it on, waiting a few minutes, hosed it off. years of yellow build up was gone! Works great on the vynle seats also. We used to use starbrite mold and mildew on those, but this works better.

This cleaner is no different from their ‘regular’ gel hull cleaner in terms of effectiveness. I suspect it is chemically identical. I bought this ‘bottom cleaner’ thinking it is stronger, better for cleaning a fiberglass hull that’s been in the water a bit too long.

Not so. The weird “fuzzy” growth we get in my area only takes two weeks to get out of control, requiring major cleaning effort.

Used the product as directed on a black gelgoat hull with one year of oxidation. Didn’t remove it all after two passes. Used both microfiber cloths and orbital buffer. Went back to my McGuires one step which removed the oxidation.

Can see it might appear to work on a white hull.

The overall wax is fantastic, but had to perfect the technique. Buffing by hand…horrible. Buffing with polisher…perfection!! Great product. Goes a long way.

I always pair this with the fleetwax. Perps the surface for an outstanding outcome. I typically apply by hand but have used mororized buffers too. Quick on then buff off and you are good for the fleetwax.

I recently towed my boat down from Idaho to Marina Del Rey. Upon arival my boat was covered in dust and BUGS!!! I thought it was going to take a power washer to get the thing clean, but i was wrong! It only took a little bit of Simple Clean to clean the entire thing inside and out.

It was amazing to me how well it worked.

Every boat should have a bottle of Simple Green on it.Great to wipe down any surface and sanitize/deodorize it.I have been using it for 18 yrs. Ever since I started boating.

it’s a really nice general purpose cleaner. we keep a bottle of this on deck in case blood dries up on the deck

I tried several cleaners but could not get the stains off my hull. I sprayed this on as directed, you can see the stains being removed as it drips off the boat. Hose it down and you are good. I did have to spray and scrub some of the more serious stains but they were removed as well.

Wear rubber gloves and be aware of the fumes. Great product, it surprised me how well it worked.

I live on the west coast and keep my boat in the sea water during the summer. After a few weeks boat hull has a yellow film that seemed impossible to remove. This product is fabulous, just spray on, wash off and hull looks brand new.

I was amazed at the results. Would definately recommend.

Product works exactly as indicated, cleaned an entire summer of gunk off of the bottom of my fiberglass bowrider. Bottle DOES NOT say to wear gloves, but trust me you will want to. It didn’t sting while using it, no sting after the fact either, but I lost a good layer of skin off of the one hand that rubbed this product on to my boat.

Next time I’ll wear gloves.

I’ve been using acid based hull cleaners for years and a friend told me about this product. He said that this product works great and I can get away from the harsh acid products that I’ve been using to remove the coffee stains that I get from the brackish river where I launch my boat.

Coffee stains drive me nuts and it’s constant headache removing them. Much to my surprise this worked better and faster than any other hull cleaner that I have ever used. I didn’t need to reapply in areas that were severely stained.

The spray applicator that comes with the gallon container worked great and it didn’t take much product to clean my 17′ pure white fiberglass boat. I did from the gunnel to keel and used about 1/5th of the gallon bottle.

I highly recommend this product!.

The product is amazing. Just spray it on and rinse it off. It did take 3 shipments to get the product to me as the product spilled in the box. After the third try, i just kept the product even though it was not a full gallon any longer just so I could use it this year.

Booyah and Academy Sports may want to work on that.

After the second application and a lot of scrubbing I finally got the scum line off. It does loosen the scum but you can’t simply spray it off with a garden hose. I’ll probably try some other products before I purchase more Booyah.

This wax is for gelcoat. It works much better than car wax. I put this wax on a 25 year old bass boat that had lost most to the gloss on the upper side. The boat came out great. Its not like a new boat but what a difference it made.

This is the first coat. I did wax the boat and buffed the wax off but I had tried this many time with normal car wax. It just wouldnt stay shiny very long. This Seans to be lasting longer. I bought this bottle that is 32oz compared to other boat waxs that where only 16oz for the same price.

Own a 2020 Forrest River TT dealer recommended waxing twice a year to keep paint looking like new. The reviews on this product did not disappoint. Easy to apply and wipe off. I waxed my entire 31’ trailer in about 6 hours.

Looks better then the day I bought it. We’ll see how it holds up 6 months from now. BTW my trailer has aluminum siding and doors are fiberglass so it’s safe When the sun hits it I can’t even look at it because it’s like looking at a mirror.

Im not a review writer. But this stuff is like magic. When we bought our boat about a year ago it already had some grime that needed to come off. Then we had it on the lake every weekend we could and never really took time time to try scrubbing grime.

So we purchased this Zing and used it full strength with an applicator brush. I can NOT say enough good things. No scrubbing. Easy to use. Just apply to the brush, rub it in, let it sit for a few minutes and then rinse.

The grime literally melted off.

This is legit water spot remover that we used on our Malibu boat trailer. BUT you MUST wear a respirator and rubber gloves.

Used in a freshwater application for fall cleanup. This stuff worked awesome, easily took off everything, and mixed way weaker than reccomended. Best stuff I’ve ever used.

I had some dark water stains / grunge on the Hull of my boat from it being in the Chesapeake Bay last summer. Scrubbing with water didn’t help, Mr Clean Magic Erasers did nothing. I thought I was going to try wet sanding as a last ditch effort.

then I was told about this product. I figured I’d give it a try. Watched some YouTube videos of people just wiping away the stains with little effort. yeah right. Well… boy was I surprised. This product really works! The grunge and stains literally disappeared with only minimal effort scrubbing.

I followed the directions, wore proper safety gear and the results were fantastic! I definitely recommend this product to anyone who has water / tannin / grunge stains on their boats Hull. Well worth the money.

I use this to take off scum that accumulates along the water line, and it works perfectly and nearly instantly. Other hull cleaners wouldn’t get the scum line off and at one point I thought it was permanent, but this stuff gets rid of it every time.

Because it’s acidic, I hesitate to use it everywhere on the hull, so I only save it for the areas other cleaners won’t clean. And do wear gloves – it burns skin a bit.

Did NOT do the trick on my hull. I sprayed liberally on some minor waterline hull stains and it basically done nothing. Very disappointing. Before I buy anything, I research and with this I found a couple promotional videos that looked identical to my issue.

It was obviously fabricated. Ended up using a cutting compound and buffer. Hope this helps someone out.

This is the best boat cleaner ever! You do have to leave it on for a few minutes before you rinse off. Very little, if any, scrubbing needed. If the boat is really dirty, we use a soft brush and go over it once.

Still let it sit for a minute before you brush and rinse.

Stuff works amazing. Get a spray bottle rated for chemicals, you can cut this 50/50 and it still works well. Scum drips off the hull and your water lines vanish. This is my 15 yr old Mastercraft the hull looks brand new!! I would recommend gloves and old clothes and keep fresh water readily available as it does sting when on your skin.

A respirator might not be a bad idea as well although we did two boats that day and were fine My neighbor was blown away at how easy it cleaned up my boat we sprayed down his boat and in 20 minutes, his was clean as well.

Easily removed 5 months of freshwater yuck!!.

This made my dirty boat seats look brand new with little scrubbing.

its always good stuff for removing ground in dirt

my boat is on a lift on a freshwater lake – washing it requires safe chemicals that don’t damage the aquatic ecosystem. This boat wash meets the bar in that regard. However, it doesn’t seem to have powerful detergents that can degrease a textured gel coat from kids + sunscreen.

I may may have set my expectations too high in that regard. it foams up nicely in a foam cannon though.

As with every Star brite product I’ve used this one works just as advertised. Gets the boat clean with no visible residue. I’m glad it’s biodegradable too so I can use it in my slip and not worry too much about runoff.

Starbrite is amazing boat cleaner. I was able to easily remove stains that haven’t been able to in months. I highly recommend this cleaning Provist as I feel it is one of the best on the market.

Used to clean aluminum pontoons on pontoon boat – there was thick and dried river scum. Used a squirt bottle and sprayed directly on pontoons and rinsed off after product turns white. The scum literally sloughed off in sheets- made cleaning super easy.

Highly recommended!.

I had been using aluminum jelly and purchased this when It was no longer available. I am very pleased with this product and glad that I tried it because I will continue to use it. It works fast. People need to understand cleaning aluminum does take effort even with the best of products.

It is applied, there is a chemical reaction, the byproduct is removed and repeat. The secret to cleaning aluminum is to use steel wool, like a sos pad, I know it almost seems counterintuitive but it shines it up nicely without scratching.

This stuff works great! I have a 22 year old houseboat with alumimun pontoons and I don’t think have ever been cleaned. I used this once to take most of the crud off, then polished, then use this again.

If it hadn’t been so long I’m sure that one treatment would have been enough. Boat looks new again above the waterline. Since the boat had been in the water most of its life it could clean but not shine below the waterline.

Hull was very bad as it has been standing for two years but the hull cleaner took all grime off without any problems. No instructions provided on how to use the cleaner and after surfing the internet I found that it requires careful application and is best to use gloves.

The suggested way on the internet is to apply it in small areas then wipe off with a wet cloth.