Remember how shiny your pontoon tubes and logs looked when you first bought your boat? If that sounds like a very afar retention, then perchance information technology'southward fourth dimension yous got them looking squeamish and new with an effective and efficient pontoon polish.

What I am going to today is show you how to smoothen a pontoon boat so that you get stunning results, with clean, slick, and shiny aluminum logs in under 3 hours – plus you lot can save a lot of money in doing then.

These tips will help you to ensure that non only might you become improved performance, but it's besides going help y'all to keep the value of your boat from depreciating – later all, who wants to buy a used pontoon with algae and dirt all over the tubes?

If you have ever taken your boat to a dealer and asked them to clean up your logs and tubes, chances are they quoted you back a price of nearly $500 for creating a mirror-like result, and and then stop it off with Shark Hide.

Quite frankly, that price is absurd when y'all tin can do information technology easily and polish them up yourself using inexpensive and hands attainable materials.

All yous will need to do is buy some reasonably cheap polishing products (and I will bear witness you what the best ones are in this guide), then spend a lilliputian fourth dimension, and exert some effort, and yous will have the shiniest and best-looking pontoon logs out on the water for your next trip.

How to Polish a Pontoon Boat: 5 Steps

Footstep i: Prepare Your Pontoon Tubes

Fail to set up, gear up to fail.

Y'all are never going to go a great polished finish on your logs unless you prep them start. That ways getting rid of all that nasty algae, barnacles, osmosis, zebra mussels, scum, droppings, and more from the tubes – this can exist a particularly trouble in saltwater areas.

If you have regularly cleaned your pontoons after each trip, and so hopefully you won't accept whatsoever of this grim build-upwardly to remove. But if y'all do, information technology all needs to come off before you start the pontoon boat polish – y'all tin find out how to remove algae here – do that kickoff.

Assuming you keep your pontoons in good condition and there's no build-up of scum or algae on them, you lot tin can skip straight to a quick wash-down.

This is as simple equally using a pressure washer in straight up and down motions, until the tubes are clean of debris. If you don't take a pressure washer, I would suggest you buy a modest portable one (the Sun Joe on Amazon is proficient).

If you don't want to spend that coin, and so use a wet rag. It will take you much longer though and will exist very hard piece of work.

Stride 2: Apply Cleaner

This step won't polish your pontoons, just information technology is still essential every bit it will make the results last a lot longer, believe me. If you lot don't do this earlier applying pontoon polish, all of your hard piece of work is going to probably come up direct back off after one trip on the h2o.

As weird as it might sound, toilet bowl cleaner is the best product for this (something like this is fine). It's a lot cheaper than using an acid bath or any other specific treatment as some pontooners practice and gives y'all exactly the same results. Honestly.

Information technology's simple also. All you do is get a bucket and mix up one part toilet basin cleaner with two parts water, and then use a cheap i gallon sprayer to utilize the cleaning mix to your tubes.

By using a sprayer, you will save a lot of hassle, giving you more than time to focus on the later on steps where we polish the aluminum pontoon logs.

To exercise it properly, spray one section at a time with just one coat. The key here is to leave it on for a few minutes, but not to let it dry. If it does dry on, you volition have to clean it again. Past spraying the tubes with cleaner in smaller sections – perhaps 3 foot a fourth dimension –  y'all volition get the best results.

Once you take left the cleaner on for a few minutes in one section, spray that off with clean h2o before it goes dry. I e'er use a moisture fabric later spraying the cleaner off with water to give it a quick rub downward just to brand certain.

Step iii: Buffing & Polishing the Pontoons

This is where the hard work really begins.

How to Polish Aluminum Pontoon Tubes

Information technology's difficult piece of work, simply you can get keen results (image shared on Facebook, credit unknown).

You lot don't accept to practise a pontoon polish. If you just wanted to clean them, y'all can skip over and movement to the adjacent footstep with the Shark Hide sealer… simply given that yous are here because you desire to know how to smooth a pontoon boat, stick with information technology.

By doing this tube and log polishing stride, your aluminum pontoons are going to have a stunning mirror-like finish, making them await brand new.

So, what exercise you need?

Firstly, you're going to demand a polisher. The one that I utilise is past a company called Porter-Cablevision, and you can buy this polisher on Amazon.

I adopt the Porter-Cable product to the big names on the market such as Dewalt and Makita, but only due to bad experiences I have had with those products in the past. I have institute that if you printing to hard with them, you tin can leave marks on the aluminum logs.

The Porter-Cable polisher only seems a little bit more gentle, then for me, it's the ideal tool for achieving the best pontoon polish, specially when you use a wool pad with it.

Polishing the aluminum pontoon tubes is simple enough. You just go in circular movements in minor areas. Don't go upwards and down, as this tin go out polish lines that a very keen eye might option up on. Go in circular motions all the time; that will give you lot the best results with trivial S-shaped movements to blend in any lines.

How long will this take?

Good question, and my best reply would be my own experience from polishing a 22-foot pontoon boat; just over 2 hours.

Whilst those aluminum logs don't await like much, they have a surprisingly large expanse, especially if y'all are a stickler for detail like me and fifty-fifty like to polish the parts that nobody would e'er conceivably see.

Step four: Utilize Cleaner Again

I know what you are thinking. You lot're thinking, really? Do I really have to do step 2 again?

Yes, and there's a good reason for doing so.

If you lot leave whatever of the pontoon polish on the toons it can seal on and non look practiced. You've gone to so much trouble already to prepare, clean, buff, and polish and so please don't then un-do all your work by leaving polish residue on the aluminum tubes.

Be actually comprehensive, and brand that nothing is left on, and you've actually rinsed the logs downwardly as well as yous tin – once y'all've washed that we tin can move onto the terminal step where we can apply the Shark Hibernate sealant.

Step 5: Use Shark Hide Sealant & Protectant

I am sure yous've heard of Shark Hide (view on Amazon) as it'due south extremely popular in the pontoon community. At that place's a reason why, it'southward merely really, really, skillful at what information technology does.

What is Shark Hide?

It's a metallic protectant and sealant that boat owners swear by for protecting aluminum logs and tubes. I use information technology, everyone I know uses it, and when you search pontoon forums, everyone on the Net uses information technology also. Don't be the only one who doesn't.

It won't terminate algae and other debris from growing on your pontoons, but what it will do is protect your logs from stains, oxidation, rust, weathering, salt spray, and pitting. It volition also help your pontoon smoothen in staying shiny and mirror-like for far longer.

I would advise that you read the instructions that come up with the Shark Hide sealant before using it. I personally mix 1 part Shark Hibernate to 3 parts water.

Once that'south all done, you're finished.

Pontoon Gunkhole Polish Tips: Conclusion

Admittedly it'south quite a labor-intensive task to do the all-time pontoon shine job possible, just I exercise promise yous that the results will 100% be worth your time.

If the job is done properly volition take around 3 hours, and but a little scrap of expenditure on the cleaning and polishing materials, plus a few tools every bit highlighted in this how-to guide.

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