Boat Soap

Marine Soaps Resources and Information

PartsVu is thrilled to offer a complete selection of marine soaps from top manufacturers, including Starbrite, Babe’s Boat Care, 3M, AWLGRIP, Absorber, Buffalo Rags, and others. These boat soaps are formulated to eliminate mineral buildup like salt or silt, and remove mildew while getting rid of those unpleasant musty odors. Use these soaps on boat exteriors and interiors. 

Looking for more boating and marine products? Check out our complete selection of Products and Accessories or Cleaning and Care products. Or browse our broader category of Boat Soaps, Washes & Brushes.

Boat Soaps FAQs

How does a boat cleaner or boat soap help to protect my boat?

Buildup of salt and dirt interferes with a metal’s ability to resist corrosion. Gelcoat and marine vinyl are porous surfaces, meaning they have the ability to absorb water, dirt, and grime from their surroundings. Unprotected vinyl seats are more likely to develop mold and more likely to fade and crack with frequent sun exposure. Lastly, fiberglass that is uncared for will stain and discolor more easily over time, notwithstanding simply degrade through oxidation and literally chalk away.

These are all reasons why cleaning your boat’s many surfaces is the single most important step in protecting them. It’s important to understand that there are different types of cleaning solutions for different parts of your boat. It’s a dangerous belief that household bleaches and cleaners are OK to use on your boat; they might appear to do the trick at first, but in the long run they could end up causing unwanted deterioration.

To make protecting your boat a lot easier, PartsVu has assembled a list of recommended boat cleaner products from leading brands like StarBrite, 303 Products, 3M, Meguiar’s, and more.

What are some of the best boat cleaners?

Star Brite Instant Hull Cleaner – Remove scumline, rust stains, and grassy marine growth quickly and easily with this cleaner. You don’t even have to do any rubbing, simply wipe on and rinse off the solution to reveal spotless fiberglass.

Star Brite Instant Black Streak Remover – This popular spray-on cleaner instantly removes unattractive streaks caused by water run off. It can also be used to lift dirt and grime on metal and painted surfaces in addition to fiberglass.

Marine Spray Nine – Another convenient spray bottle cleaner, this product is an excellent degreaser. It also eliminates odors, kills germs, prevents mold, removes streaks and stains caused by food or drink. It’s safe to use on almost any hard surface.

Orpine Wash & Wax – This environmentally friendly boat soap and wax comes in a highly concentrated formula so a little bit goes a long way. It’s an excellent product for removing salt and dirt from fiberglass as well as metals, wood, and plastic.

Star Brite Sea Safe Boat Wash – This boat wash is very concentrated and powerful against stains, dirt, salt, grease, and oil. In addition to fiberglass, you can use it on metal, glass, or rubber. 

Orpine Bilge Cleaner – This heavy duty, concentrated cleaner dissolves oil, grease, and fuel from your bilge. With its fresh scent, it also effectively removes mildew odors from bilges.

Star Brite Non-Skid Deck Cleaner – This is a high quality deck cleaning product that is used by the pros. It’s safe to use on textured fiberglass, painted decks, vinyl, teak, and metal. The cleaner leaves a protective coating that repels dirt, stains, and UV damage.

How do I maintain my boat’s gel coat? 

Use a mild pH-balanced boat soap and avoid using dish soap. Dish soap typically includes heavy-duty degreasers that can strip the wax from your boat’s finish. A boat soap cleans but also preserves the wax. Also, avoid bleach or harsh detergents, which can also damage the gelcoat.

First, rinse your boat with fresh water to remove salt, dirt, and other debris from the surface. Rubbing the surface of your boat without removing these abrasive particles can scratch your gelcoat, which will, of course, reduce its luster. If you are a saltwater boater and there is a lot of salt debris on your boat’s surface, you’ll need to use a product like CRC Salt Terminator or Starbrite Salt Off.

Use a soft cloth like a wash mitt or a microfiber towel to wash, then rinse with fresh water. After rinsing, wipe down your boat with a fresh microfiber, soft cotton cloth, or chamois so that mineral deposits don’t form, which will happen if you let the water dry on its own.

If your boat’s finish is in great shape, you can likely skip this step. If you are trying to bring back the shine, you will probably need a cleaning step—more aggressive than a wash. However, we recommend using the least aggressive cleaner possible, then using a more aggressive product if necessary.

Starbrite Cleaner Wax, Mothers Cleaner Wax, Meguiars Cleaner Wax, and other products of this nature will remove light oxidation and restore your finish. These products also contain wax protection, which extends your wax’s life—reducing the number of times you need to wax your boat per year.

However, if you need to remove heavier oxidation, you will need to use a product like 3M’s rubbing compounds. Just like selecting a cleaner, start with the least aggressive rubbing compound possible.

Always follow the application directions on the product’s packaging, but generally, you will apply with a foam pad and buff out with a clean microfiber towel.

If you would like to use a bit less elbow grease, use an electric applicator—we like the Shurhold Dual-Action Polisher.

What are the best boating cleaning products for cleaning vinyl?

Star Brite’s Ultimate Vinyl Clean

Star Brite Ultimate Vinyl Clean is formulated to blast away the toughest dirt, grime and greasy stains from vinyl, plastic, rubber and leather surfaces. While you can use this product of a multitude of applications, it is particularly effective on marine vinyl.

Meguiar’s Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner

Cleans and revitalizes vinyl and rubber surfaces. Restores color with a rich natural sheen, not the typical artificial shine produced with conventional protectants. Screens out damaging UV rays that can dry out and crack the surface.

303 Multi-Surface Cleaner – Formulated for all fabrics, carpeting, and upholstery, this cleaner removes even the most difficult of stains including dirt, oil, grease, coffee, and ink. Even better, it rinses off residue free.

3M Marine Vinyl Cleaner And Restorer

3M Cleans, shines, conditions and protects vinyl, rubber and plastic surfaces. Deep cleans dirt and grime, enhances appearance. Restores natural sheen, protects surfaces.

What are the 4 types of stains I have to manage on my boat?

The stains you can find around different surfaces of your boat include:

• Dirt and grime
• Rust and tannin
• Mold and mildew
• Scuff marks or transfer stains

Dirt and grime are your everyday stains like mud, road dirt from trailering, footprints, food, drinks, fish blood, and so forth. Rust stains and tannic stains include rust stains from metal hardware or hooks you left around. Tannins are naturally produced in plants as they break down in the water, and they leach into the pores of your fiberglass, causing those signature orange stains at the waterline.

Mold and mildew stains are those black, green, brown, pink, etc. stains caused by excessive moisture. As the name suggests, scuff marks and transfer stains are transferred from another surface to your boat. Transfer stains come from many sources, including chemically resistant shoes leaving scuff marks or marks left from dragging a rubber hose around the boat when you’re cleaning.

All four types of stains require different boat cleaning and protection technologies.