Bar Keepers Friend
 

Has anyone here ever used Bar Keepers Friend to wash their boat, then wax afterward? I just read on a Nautique site about people using that. I'd never heard of people doing that.

I have used it to clean chrome and stainless steel, but never fiberglass. It is an abrasive polishing substance, I would be very cautious on gel coat...

That was my thought. I use it to clean my kitchen sink. I was surprised to hear of someone using it on their boat....

There are too many quality products already out there specifically made for boats, that have been researched, tested, and found reliable through many years to go outside the box and go with a non boat product. Don't do it...

I have some experience in using this product and on a Nautique at that. I would never use this to just wash a boat. The only time I've used it was as a paste and applied it to a small portion of white gel coat that was stained. The staining came from glue that held on a sano pad on the gunnel. I made the product into a paste and lightly worked it on by hand and let it sit for a while. It did lighten the stain a little but in the end the sun and rubbing compound did the best job in removing and fading the stain which is now gone.

My dad owns a sailing school and recently tried the same thing to remove some stains and he got negligible results. A friend of mine recommended "snow bowl" toilet bowl cleaner. I believe it has an acid in it that is safe to clean gel coat with. Certainly do your research though. For just a routine cleaning and wax I recommend maguires spray cleaner/wax for routine cleaning. It's in a blue bottle and has given me exceptional results. However I do keep my gel coat in perfect condition and keep the boat in my garage so that helps too!