• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
go to homepage

Search by
Category
  • Cleaning Blog
  • Automotive
  • Bathroom Appliances and Fixtures
  • Carpets and Rugs
  • Cats
  • Closets and Organization
  • Dogs
  • Electronics
  • Fabrics
  • Floor & Carpet
  • Floors
  • Food
  • Furniture
  • General Housecleaning
  • House
  • Household Appliances and Fixtures
  • Jewelry
  • Kitchen Appliances and Fixtures
  • Kitchen and Bathroom Surfaces
  • Kitchenware
  • Metals
  • Outdoors
  • Other Pets, Animals and Pests
  • People
  • Stain Removal
  • Stuff
  • Surfaces
  • Things You Own
  • Tools and Techniques
  • Walls and Ceilings
  • Windows
  • Everything Else
  • Ask us your cleaning question

go to homepage

How To Clean Stuff.net

Search by
Category
  • Cleaning Blog
  • Automotive
  • Bathroom Appliances and Fixtures
  • Carpets and Rugs
  • Cats
  • Closets and Organization
  • Dogs
  • Electronics
  • Fabrics
  • Floor & Carpet
  • Floors
  • Food
  • Furniture
  • General Housecleaning
  • House
  • Household Appliances and Fixtures
  • Jewelry
  • Kitchen Appliances and Fixtures
  • Kitchen and Bathroom Surfaces
  • Kitchenware
  • Metals
  • Outdoors
  • Other Pets, Animals and Pests
  • People
  • Stain Removal
  • Stuff
  • Surfaces
  • Things You Own
  • Tools and Techniques
  • Walls and Ceilings
  • Windows
  • Everything Else
  • Ask us your cleaning question

Home / Cleaning Guides / Things You Own / Everything Else / How to Remove Hardened Barnacles from Boats and Stainless Propellers

How to Remove Hardened Barnacles from Boats and Stainless Propellers

Table of Contents:
  1. Scraping Method
  2. Power Washing Method
  3. Additional Tips and Advice

Kenny asked: How do I clean the hardened barnacles off of stainless propellers?

When barnacles harden anywhere on your boat, they might as well be concrete. Cleaning them off is a simple process, but it is labor intensive and will give the average person a good workout. Here’s what you need to do.

Scraping Method

You Will Need:

  • Heavy rubber gloves
  • Eye protection
  • Putty knife or paint scraper (nothing flimsy)
  • Stainless steel mesh glove
  • Lime remover
  • Propspeed

Steps to Remove the Barnacles:

  1. Begin by protecting your hands with heavy rubber gloves. The surface will be rough and without protection, your hands can become scratched.
  2. Also put on eye protection. Sunglasses that fit well against the face can work.
  3. Use the putty knife or paint scraper to knock the barnacles loose. Work slowly and scrape to get under the edges of the barnacles. Metal scrapers have more strength, but use caution not to damage the surface of the boat. It’s best to dull the edge first. If you choose a plastic tool, you can round off the edges to help prevent scratching the boat.
  4. Once the big pieces of barnacles have been removed, use the stainless steel mesh glove to remove the remaining finer particles from the surface.
  5. Once all the barnacles are removed, clean the surface with a lime cleaner to remove any remaining residue on the surface.
  6. After the surface is clean, consider applying a protective product such as Propspeed. These products provide a slick base that makes it easier to remove barnacles in the future, but it only works if it’s applied it to a clean propeller.

Power Washing Method

You Will Need:

  • Power Washer
  • Rubber gloves
  • Protective eyewear
  • Hydrochloric acid or Hull cleaner
  • Lime remover
  • Scraper

Steps to Remove the Barnacles:

  1. To power wash the barnacles away, it is best to have them dry.
  2. Remove the boat from the water and allow the barnacles to dry for several weeks. This method can be done while the barnacles are wet, but may not be as effective.
  3. Have a wide, open area to work in.
  4. Spray the barnacles with the power washer at an angle to get underneath the edge.
  5. A parallel spray works best.
  6. Use caution as the pressure from the water may cause the barnacles to fly when they are released.
  7. Work in small sections until all of the barnacles are removed.
  8. Once the majority of the barnacles are removed, acid can be applied to the surface to aid in removing the remaining pieces.
  9. Apply hydrochloric acid or commercial hull cleaner to the surface.
  10. Scrape away the remaining pieces.
  11. Lastly, clean the surface with a lime remover and wash the propellers thoroughly.

Additional Tips and Advice

  • The more often you clean barnacles, the less difficult the job will be.
  • If the removal task is too daunting, there are professional services that will remove the barnacles for you. However, the process is time consuming and can be costly if there are many barnacles and/or the boat is large.
  • Removing the barnacles will keep the boat running smoothly and efficiently.

Cleaning Guides, Everything Else

Was This Guide Helpful?

+56
-12
Rating: 83%. From 68 votes.
Please wait...

Related Posts

  • How to Remove Scratch Marks from Stainless Steel
  • How to Remove Bleach Stains from Stainless Steel
  • How to Remove Scorch Marks from Stainless Steel
  • How to Remove Heat Stains from Stainless Steel
  • How to Remove Dried Tung Oil from Stainless Steel
  • How to Clean Hardened Sauce from Stainless Steel Cooktop

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, conse ctetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit sed diam.


Thank you for subscribing!

Reader Interactions

About the Author

Avatar photo

Susan

I'm a stay-at-home mom who used to run a small housecleaning business. These days I consider myself more or a mad cleaning-scientist. I do most of the testing for our articles - as well as helping Mark & Melanie write them.

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Helpful comments include feedback on the recipe or changes you made.

show comments +

Comments

  1. Perry says

    November 2, 2014 at 6:38 pm

    Thank you for this information. I have used this very example and it is daunting, but if one stays on task, it can get done. Don’t want to ever deal with anything like this again. It was only left in the salt water for a little over four weeks at a friend’s house, as we had planned to fish those weekends. It was easy to just get in and go… However, when removing it from the water, I was in a state of shock at the condition of the bottom over the huge cluster of barnacles! Ugh.

    Reply
  2. Dean says

    September 10, 2015 at 11:30 am

    Have you ever thought about using dry ice blasting?

    Reply
  3. AW says

    October 4, 2016 at 1:16 am

    Is muriatic acid OK to use on aluminum boat hulls and is it effective for barnacle removal?
    Is muriatic acid the same chemical product as hydrochloric acid?

    Reply
    • Avatar photoMelanie says

      October 10, 2016 at 1:16 am

      AW,
      Muriatic acid is basically the same thing as hydrochloric acid, it’s just not as pure. It can clean aluminum very well, and is referred to as acid washing aluminum.
      Source: DifferenceBetween.com – Difference Between Muriatic Acid and Hydrochloric Acid
      Source: WikiHow – How to Acid Wash Aluminum

      Reply
  4. Jules says

    February 7, 2019 at 12:31 pm

    How to get the barnacle roots off a 130 ft. aluminum? Have scraped them off, but was told there’s still roots and they have to come off or the antifoul paint will not stick? They are slurry blasting; I thought that would take care of that, am I wrong?

    Reply
    • Avatar photoMelanie says

      February 7, 2019 at 3:24 pm

      Jules,
      Slurry blasting should do the trick! Good luck!

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

Featured Guides

How to Clean a Hairbrush

How to Clean a Microwave Oven With ZERO Chemicals

How to Clean Every Dental Retainer

How to Clean your Macbook’s Screen

Join our mailing list.
Be the first to know about new arrivals, sales, and special events.
Thank you for subscribing!

Footer

Browse by Category

  • Automotive
  • Clothing & Fabrics
  • Floors & Carpets
  • Housecleaning
  • Kitchen & Bath
  • Outdoors
  • People & Pets
  • Household Stuff

Contact

  • Ask Us Your Cleaning Questions
  • Contact Form

Follow us on Social Media

Site Information

  • Cookie Policy
  • Guest Post Policy
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • XML Sitemap

Copyright © 2023 · HowToCleanStuff.net · All Rights Reserved · Website by Anchored Design