Why You Need To Clean (And Not Just Dry Off) Your Inflatable Boat Before Storing It
After taking a great vacation, you might feel relaxed, but now all your stuff needs a break. When you put away your vacation gear, just stowing it away isn't enough. Just as you would never put dirty clothes back in the drawer, you shouldn't put a dirty boat into storage. This means cleaning the boat thoroughly, not just wiping it down and drying it. If you clean the boat before sending it to rest for the season, you'll avoid a few problems that could damage the boat over time.
Mildew and Mold
Drying off the boat does go a long way toward preventing the formation of mold and mildew. However, if any dirt left on the boat harbors spores, then mold and mildew get an extra boost and start growing anyway. There will likely be at least some humidity in your storage area no matter what you do, so reducing anything else that could promote growth is essential. Cleaning off all the dirt, sand, and whatever else got stuck to the boat will help a lot.
Marine Growth
Anything that sits in the water is subject to something called marine growth, which is a nice way of describing all the algae, scum, errant aquatic life, and more that can cling to the parts of the boat that touched the water. It's also sometimes called biofouling. If you let that stuff sit on the boat material in storage, it can make the boat material deteriorate faster. Plus, it can look pretty gross when you remove the boat from storage several weeks or months later. You'll need to remove marine growth, often with a special cleaner, and then add a marine growth inhibitor treatment. Whether the treatment is added before the boat goes into storage or after you take it out again will depend on the treatment.
Salt Water
Another enemy of inflatable boats is salt water. If you used the boat in the ocean or in a salty river or lake, you've got to wash off all salt residue. Over time, the salt will cause the inflatable boat's material to harden, degrade, and tear. Washing the boat completely to ensure all the salt is out of all those hard-to-reach places helps preserve the structural integrity of your boat.
For this reason, you obviously want to get a boat that is easy to care for. Start visiting boating and outdoor adventure supply stores to see models and find out what products you'd need to adequately clean each boat.
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