two general questions...

[Steve]

I have two general questions. First,has anyone tried one of these new steam cleaners that are on the market? I am thinking of purchasing one to clean the engine, bilge and interior areas of the hull. Any thoughts on using this type of steam cleaner on fiberglass?Second,on catalinas (a C36 in particular) is there a headliner? is what I see from the interior a separate piece of fiberglass used as a headliner or is it just one piece with the interior surface finished? Thanks,Steve

 

[Jay Beery]

Pressure Washer?

If you mean a hot water pressure washer, good luck. I have one for automotive engine and boat bottom cleaning. I think that if you used one on the inside of a boat, be it bilge or engine room, you would have one hell of mess to clean up afterwords. The high pressure has a habit of removeing the glob of grease and depositing it somewhere else. If you decide to do this please use saftey glasses! The sh-t really flies at 2000psi!!!

 

[Steve]

not pressure

What I had in mind was not a pressure washer but one of those little steam cleaners you can get at best buy for about $150. Seems like the steam would do a good job on the dirt on the inside of the hull that just dosen't seem to want to let go...I just wondered if the heat would be a problem on the fiberglass?Steve

 

[Russ]

C36 Headliner?

Steve,I can weigh in on the headliner question... it is actually two seperate pieces bonded together at the factory. They pretty much appear as one piece after bonding. I was fortunate enough to visit the catalina factory in California to see this process actually take place. I placed some photographs I took online at...http://users2.ev1.net/~barr/c36factory.htmRuss

 

[Steve]

thanks Russ

Russ,Interesting pictures!Also thanks for the info on the 'headliner'. Steve

 

[Kevin McGrath]

Steam Cleaner

Ihave a delongi steam cleaner, and I have not been able to use it at the boat yard. They use alot of power and the voltage drop in the boatyard is too great to allow it to work. I use it at home and it works ok. I would not by the steam buggy, I heard they are a distaster.

 

[Walter Conner]

Steam cleaners are great!

It depends on which type of steam cleaner you use. The best ones are made by Polti in Italy. I have the Vaporetto 2000 which I bought from a dealer in Seattle. Next to my Dremel motor tool, it is the most valuable tool I have for both the boat and the house. The Polti's are designed for home cleaning, and they don't have so much pressure that they blast the junk all over. I used it to clean the entire interior of the boat, headliner, bildge, engine, sail covers, upholstery, etc. It also does a great job on the BBQ, getting off even the toughest brown stains. For the rugs and upholsterty, you put a white sock type cover over the steam brush and the steam lifts the dirt onto the sock, which you can later put in the washing machine at home.Only downside is that the Poltis are very expensive. I got my at wholesale for about $350. Not sure what they cost retail.