Every once in a while, I’ll run across a product that I think is well worth mentioning to other boaters. One such product is Spotless Stainless. It is a new product that has been developed to clean and help preserve stainless steel in a marine environment. The citric acid-based liquid is designed to remove corrosion and passivate the surface of stainless steel, helping prevent future corrosion from occurring.
Here is a photo of my swim ladder before I applied the Spotless Stainless:
Now, the way you use Spotless Stainless is almost laughably easy. You shake the bottle vigorously, pour some out into a cup and then brush the Spotless Stainless onto the stainless steel you want to treat. Let the Spotless Stainless sit for 30 minutes or so, a bit longer if it is cooler than 65˚—swabbing it with more Spotless Stainless to keep it wet and active. After letting it sit, rinse the Spotless Stainless off. I scrubbed the Spotless Stainless off with a microfiber cloth that was soaked with water, since the water was turned off at the marina.
Here is a photo of my swim ladder after I applied the Spotless Stainless:
Here is a close up view of the swim ladder:
If you have a lot of stainless steel to treat on your boat, it is well worth getting. I would point out that it is recommended that you clean the stainless steel so that the Spotless Stainless can work on the stainless steel more effectively. In the case of the swim ladder, I did not do this.
Their website is located here.
BTW, since this is an acid-based cleaner, you really should not let it sit on bronze, aluminum, or galvanized steel, or painted surfaces. It can damage them if not rinsed off fairly quickly. It should not be applied to bottom paint, because it will damage the paint and destroy the paint’s biocide and prevent it from working.