Today I wanted to share with you a little tip on how cleaning pontoons with vinegar can work really well on certain items on your boat. It’s a method I have used since 2016, but there are just a few little things you need to know before you do so.
Use a 50/50 mix ratio of vinegar with water (preferably distilled). Spray the solution on to the pontoon boat, and then wipe away with clean towel.
I also have a recommendation on a product that will work even better than just vinegar to clean your pontoon boat, but I will come onto that a little lower down the page.
Table of Contents
What Will Vinegar Clean on a Pontoon Boat?
It’s a cheap and effective multi-purpose cleaner that can help you keep your boat clean and get rid of stains and water spots. Here are just some of the applications and jobs I’ve used it on.
- Water spots
- Vinyl seats
- Side walls and panels
- Pontoon tubes
- Outboard motors
- Anchor winches
I am going to go into a little bit more detail on some of those individual aspects in a moment, but before I do so, it’s important to get the mixture ratio right, as you don’t want to use undiluted vinegar.
What You Will Need
- 50% white vinegar
- 50% clean water (distilled preferably)
- Small spray bottle (buy on Amazon)
- Clean non-abrasive towel, cloth or rag
For tougher stains and water spots you can increase the vinegar ratio to 75% but I would not go any larger than that.
Keep a spray bottle of this solution on your pontoon boat, as if you really want a nice-looking boat, you might be using it with every single trip, particular on pesky water spotting and streaks.
How to Remove Water Spots from a Pontoon
Darn water spots. They get on everything from side panels to your outboard motor.
If the area is dirty, clean up first with soap and water before using the vinegar cleaning solution. Otherwise you’re just going to be spreading dirt everywhere, probably making more work for yourself.
Spray the mix onto the affected area, let it soak in for 60 seconds, and then use the wet corner of a towel, rag, or cloth to wipe completely clean.
Left hand panels with water spots, right hand panels after cleaning – image credit unknown, found via a Facebook share.
Cleaning pontoons with vinegar works great for daily wipe downs of virtually anything on the boat, and will help to remove water spots, mostly with just one swipe.
If water spots have built-up over several days, then they could be harder to remove and will take more work, which is why I clean on every trip.
For really tough stains, skip down a little further to see my recommendation for even better cleaning results.
How to Clean Boat Seats with Vinegar
This process can also work well on vinyl pontoon seats. You go through exactly the same steps described above.
I’ve used the vinegar cleaning method to get rid of spider poop, bird mess, and fresher mildew and mold stains – even those hard to reach ones you get in the seat seams and folds.
However, it might not remove really stubborn mildew stains or black and orange streaks that have been left to fester for a long time.
You might need more than vinegar to get really clean vinyl seats.
With really bad mildew stains you might want to try cleaning the mold with vinegar and baking soda.
If that doesn’t work, there are a couple of different items that I recommend you buy.
You can read what those are and how to do it in this guide to cleaning mildew stains from boat seats.
Want Even Better Cleaning Results?
Whilst a 50/50 vinegar and water mix will work really well on the majority of water spots, there will be times when you need a little bit more ammunition to take into battle.
Not all water spots are going to come off, and in fact, it’s going to take quite a lot of elbow grease for really tough water marks.
I’ve been using a product called Boat Bling Hot Sauce hard water spot remover over the last 12 months, with great results.
I use it each time that I go out on our Bennington, not just one the side panels and motor, but also on the tubes. It sprays out a fine mist, you don’t need to use too much, and can then wipe away water spots with just one swipe.
My tubes look as good now as they did when I first bought my boat.
It’s has vinegar as one of the main ingredients (and you will smell it as soon as you spray), but also has some other finishing products mixed into it including Carnuba wax.
The wax is a great ingredient.
After you have wiped away water spots, you will also notice that you’re left with a really nice shiny finish, almost as if you have waxed. That’s the Carnuba elements coming into play.
No need to hose down, you just spray, wipe, and get on with your day on the water.
It comes in a small bottle which might last a few months, so it’s worth buying a gallon bottle of the stuff to replace as and when you need it.
Here’s why I recommend it over cleaning pontoons with a vinegar solution.
- Leaves a shiny wax finish on your pontoon
- The wax will also help to prevent water spots in the future
- Make for light cleaning work with less elbow grease
- Doesn’t cost huge amounts of money
- You can leave it under the seats for when you need it
- No need to mess around mixing water and vinegar
What Vinegar Won’t Help Clean
As you can see, vinegar has some great qualities for pontoon boat cleaning, but there are some things that it won’t work with.
For example, it won’t take algae of your pontoons, you need a much more thorough and comprehensive approach to do that which I have outlined in this guide.
Alternatively, you could even look at the toilet bowl cleaner method which is also very popular for aluminum tubes.
I have also found that road salt that gets kicked up when you tow your pontoon to and from the dock won’t shift using a vinegar solution; for that I have used the Hot Sauce spot cleaner instead.
What Other Pontoon Boat Owners Say
I didn’t just want to leave this guide with my own advice. I’ve learnt so much from other pontooners down the years, especially on social media. As part of this guide, I decided to ask a few other people online how to clean a pontoon boat with vinegar.
Here’s a selection of the best comments and questions.
“I use a 50/50 vinegar and water mixture for the really hard spots on my pontoons, plus for cleaning my side walls and mirrors. For my porta-potty I use the same cleaning solution, but also chuck in a cup of bleach to rinse it out. Vinegar and water keeps my pontoon clean and my PP tank mildew and germ free.”
“Last year I had water spots that were really hard to get off. Thanks to reading the advice on Pontoonopedia I tried the water and vinegar solution tip and it worked like a dream.”
“I used vinegar and water on some mildew spots that I had on my vinyl seats. There were still some that refused to budge, so then used Magic Eraser and mildew remover as described in the Pontoonopedia guide to vinyl seat cleaning. I’ve got great results so thank you!”
“My wife swears by straight vinegar for spot free glass and for hard surface cleaning. On our pontoon boat she uses a 50/50 vinegar and water mix in a spray bottle combined with some Turtle Wax “wax and dry”. Spray them both on, dry it off. Works for us.”
“Hot Sauce is a great spray product to get rid of water spots on pontoon panels. It smells like vinegar, so assume that’s a main ingredient, but works quicker. It’s a great boat wash and doesn’t leave spots. Worth the money.”
“Water with a vinegar mix is great for taking water spots of a brand new Mercury motor and a black pontoon boat. Just talking from personal experience! Remember to use distilled white vinegar though, just to clarify.”
“I get annoying water spots on my black Mercury outboard motor and have found that the vinegar and water method does work great. I also use the same process on black rails, and the grey Honda outboard on my smaller inflatable.”
“I bought a used pontoon in 2013 which had been kept in the water for 12 months. The amount of scum on the pontoons was unbelievable. By using straight vinegar and loads of elbow grease I eventually managed to clear it all.”
“I had a bird poop on my pontoon vinyl seats and had zero success with a vinyl cleaner. Instead I mixed up some baking soda, sparkling water and vinegar, and I managed to shift the mess with a little elbow grease.”
“My neighbor keeps turning on his water sprinkler, and it’s leaving water spots all over my trailered pontoon. The quickest way for me to clean up water spots has also been a vinegar and water mixture. I would recommend it.”
“We own a black pontoon boat and due to the color have suffered with water spots from day one. I’ve use the Hot Sauce product, as find that actually works a lot better and is quicker than the cheaper method.”
Conclusion
Cleaning your pontoon with vinegar and water is a cheap and effective way to brighten up so many different aspects on your boat.
It’s not just me saying it but is a common practice with thousands of pontoon boat owners across the United States as you can see from my featured comments.
However, if you do want something that works a little bit quicker and does tend to get even the most stubborn water spots and marks off, I do recommend the Hot Sauce. It won’t cost a lot, and for the extra pennies is definitely worth a look.
