Best way to clean soot from the transom

[rfverdery]

After 900 miles the transom is very dirty with soot. We rinsed it every night but it seems as if it is embedded in the gel coat. Tried simple green and a few other hull cleaners and no luck. Any one find a friendly chemical that will work. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[bud37]

Whatever you choose there will be a good chance it will strip the wax and any protectant off......tread lightly if that is a concern for you.

[Sgodfrey]

A couple of things. You are not alone.

Make sure you think about the load on the engine. I have found certain rpm will create lots of soot. On our boat either slow at 1200rpm or less or up on plane at 2300 rpm.

Using a high performance air filter plus Deezol treatment seemed to help me.

[Coldcruisin]

Grab a bottle of meguiars cleaner wax. Do a normal wash with soap then rinse. Apply the cleaner wax with an applicator. Then rub off with a clean rag. I start my season with starbrite marine polish with ptfe and it helps a lot. You will find the meguiars cleans as you are applying it.
Oil eater is another liquid I have found that works.
Good luck and report back.

[buster53]

In addition to a good cleaning, you might want to look into why you are putting out so much smoke. I’m guessing you have diesels and while a certain amount of smoke is going to happen, if it is excessive, you need to look into it. One example is over-propping. That can create excessive smoke.

[Carpediem]

If the soot is significant, use Greased Lightening or Purple Power, works like magic but it will take what ever wax you have applied off. Just rewax afterwards and maybe put multiple applications on the most affected aeras to make cleaning in the future a bit easier. 900 miles is quite the trip! Happy cleaning and boating
Carpe Diem

[rfverdery]

A good soap and rinse and then the Maguires Wax Cleaner did the trick we used a magic eraser while cleaning. 4 hours later the Maguires had it looking like new. Thanks for the help!! There was a lot of soot to remove

[Coldcruisin]

Great...keep after it and it gets easier.

[denpooch]

Recently I was a transient at a marina that was near a very active freight train overpass. The movement of the bridge made rust 'rain' on all the boats in the marina. Most boats were somewhat dirty while one 52' Carver was clean. The boat is docked permanently as the gentleman lives on the vessle.
I was speaking with the guy about the 'shine' on his boat and he suggested that his use of a ceramic polymer did the trick. The ceramic finish would sluff off any filing particles.
This kind of treatment may be a consideration for your next season. I am planning on giving it a try as well.
This is what he uses:

https://www.hydrosilex.com

[650Guy]

I use a chemical guys product called Hydrocharge then second coat with Hydroslick, I get so many compliments on my boat it makes me proud! Not sure if you pull your boat for the winter, but if you buff it out, and do a ceramic coat, you won't regret it! stuff like the diesel soot come off like a dream. you might even consider using one of the strong stripping detergents and just use HydroSlick til the end of your season. just get it nice and clean first! Hydro Slick should give you a good 4-5 months of protection in really harsh conditions like we have with boating.