Boat detailing question

[-=Lobstah=-]

I'm new to this forum. Just discovered it yesterday and already spent a few hours reading the posts and stuff.
I've got a question to all the boat detailers out there. I have 3 boats to detail next week. And I'm not sure about the sequence of actions when detailing a boat. My plan is:
PS: Boat #1 - Wellcraft 210 Sportfisher; #2 - Seaswirl 210 Walkaround; #3 - older Aquasport 280 Tournament.
-Was the whole boat inside'n'out; scrub whatever doesnt come off easily; rinse again;
- Dry it with towel/air dry
- Do all the metalwork: rails, leaning post, SS hardware.
- Clean/polish/wax the center console/windshield
- Scrub, wash, condition the vynil;
- Scrub, wash the deck, drains
(Assuming the hull has been waxed before and not oxidised)
- Clean the hull with MEK/acetone; remove water spots, marks at the same time.
- Wax the hull
- Wax the outboard
HOws that for the checklist? Am i missing anything/doing too much of something? Any comments are welcome.
How much should i charge for a service like that?
PS: What power tool/compound can i use to polish the tuna tower (aluminium)?
Thanks.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Boat detailing question

Welcome to our forum and great questions.

It helps you to get good answers if you ask fewer question in a single post. Also, keep it focused on one thing, as in one boat and create a new thread for each boat as each boat will have it's own needs.

Behind the scenes we're really busy bringing up a new forum, so it's hard to stop what we're doing to write long answers to complicated multiple question messages.

But we'll try.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Boat detailing question

See our replies in bold and blue below.

I'm new to this forum. Just discovered it yesterday and already spent a few hours reading the posts and stuff.
I've got a question to all the boat detailers out there. I have 3 boats to detail next week. And I'm not sure about the sequence of actions when detailing a boat. My plan is:

Boat

#1 - Wellcraft 210 Sportfisher;
#2 - Seaswirl 210 Walkaround
#3 - older Aquasport 280 Tournament



-Was the whole boat inside'n'out; scrub whatever doesnt come off easily; rinse again; Yes.

- Dry it with towel/air dry Yes.

- Do all the metalwork: rails, leaning post, SS hardware. Yes.

- Clean/polish/wax the center console/windshield Yes.

- Scrub, wash, condition the vinyl; Yes

- Scrub, wash the deck, drains Yes
(Assuming the hull has been waxed before and not oxidized)

- Clean the hull with MEK/acetone; remove water spots, marks at the same time.

This doesn't sound right. If the hull is Fiberglas/gel-coat or painted then we would recommend a compound or oxidation remover.


- Wax the hull Yes


- Wax the outboard Yes

How's that for the checklist?
Am i missing anything/doing too much of something?
Any comments are welcome.

How much should i charge for a service like that? Figure out a rate, i.e. $65.00 an hour or a foot or whatever your market will bear.


PS: What power tool/compound can i use to polish the tuna tower (aluminum)?

A foam cutting pad with one of our metal polishes on a rotary buffer to start with should remove some oxidation and restore some brilliance.

Thanks.