What detergent for bottom paint prep?

[RhythmDoctor]

I spent several days sanding the orange peel off my boat bottom's hard epoxy paint. It's nice and smooth, ready for a new coat of bottom paint.

Don Casey and other say to sand, then wash, let it dry, then wipe down with solvent/thinner (paying special to dewaxing bare fiberglass spots), then paint. This afternoon I'm going to wash the bottom.

I almost grabbed my biodegradable car wash detergent, but then realized it has wax in it, which is the LAST thing I want going onto the bottom at this point. Most boat washes have some wax also.

What is a good household detergent to use? It must be something I can buy at a grocery store - I do not have time to go out of my way to a boat store this afternoon.

[mitchb50]

If you use a mild detergent like dish washing soap be carefull not to get the kind with lotion in it like Ivory. If it was me i would probably use Simple green. It seems to clean pretty good and it rinses off with out leaving any residue.

Mitch

[zz4gta]

Use thinner or acetone to whipe it down. You just want a clean dry surface. Nothing fancy.

How far did you sand to? What grit?

[Ulladh]

I may be a bit late in responding, your are probably finished after such a beautiful day in the Delaware valley.

After sanding just rub down with a tack cloth, available from Home Depot or most paint stores. I used to wash with clean water but then had to wait for a dry surface to paint on.

4-1/2 sq. ft. 48/cs Tack Cloth (3-Pack) - K-99261 at The Home Depot

[RhythmDoctor]

Yes, it was a nice day to be dealing with a garden hose. The admiral had some Palmolive dish detergent, but I had a flashback to the 1970s when "Madge" said, "softens your hands while you do the dishes," and realized that there might be undesirable additives in there. So instead I used a tiny bit of Woolite (which I use for periodic sail cleaning) and scrubbed with a 30" wide push broom. Got the whole boat done in about 1/2 hour. Now that I've gotten rid of all the porous stale paint I can rub my hand on it and nothing comes off (hard modified epoxy, not ablative). It will be ready for paint as soon as I get a window in the weather and my work.