Care guides
Caring for a boat wrap.
Salt, sun and rub points are what kill marine film early - and all three are manageable. Here's the routine that keeps a wrapped hull looking sharp season after season.
The habits that keep film alive.
Rinse after every salt run
Fresh water over the whole wrap the day you're back on the trailer. Salt left to dry and bake is the number-one ager of hull film in WA.
Wash like it's a wrap
Soft brush or mitt, pH-neutral soap, no cutting compounds. The hull is film, not gelcoat - wash it the way you'd wash a wrapped car.
Manage the rub points
Fenders, mooring lines, trailer rollers and guide posts all wear film at contact points. Keep fenders clean - grit on a fender is sandpaper on a wrap.
Fight the UV war
Mooring and storage covers earn their money. A boat that lives under cover keeps its wrap years longer than one baking in a pen all summer.
Never do these.
- Pressure-blasting the waterline edge or any film seam
- Letting salt crust dry on the wrap between runs
- Beaching the wrapped section on sand or ramps if you can avoid it
- Abrasive hull cleaners and metal polishes drifting onto the film
- Ratchet straps bearing directly on wrapped surfaces - pad them
The rhythm.
After every run
Fresh-water rinse, top of the wrap to the waterline. Two minutes at the ramp saves the finish.
Monthly
Proper wash with a film-safe soap, and a walk-around of the edges - waterline, transom corners, hardware trims.
Each season
Check contact points - fenders, trailer rollers, strap lines. Wear shows up there first, and a small repair early beats a panel later.
The waterline is the boundary.
Wraps live above the waterline; antifoul owns everything below. Don't run film-cleaning products down into the antifoul, and don't let antifoul solvents creep up the film. The boundary line we finished at your survey mark is engineered to shed water - treat it kindly with the pressure washer and it will keep doing its job.
If the boat lives on a mooring rather than a trailer, ask us about the wrap's realistic service life in your conditions before you commit - permanent water exposure is a different life for film than weekend trailering, and we'd rather set the expectation straight than sell you a disappointment.
FAQ
Owners ask us these all the time.
How long does a boat wrap last in WA conditions? +
It depends more on how the boat lives than any brochure number - trailered and covered versus moored in full sun are different worlds. The routine on this page is what pushes a wrap toward the long end of its range.
Can I pressure-wash a wrapped hull? +
Body of the wrap, yes - modest pressure, wide fan, sensible distance. Edges and the waterline finish, no. Concentrated pressure at an edge is how water gets under film, and once it's under, the ocean does the rest.
What about salt - is it really that bad for film? +
Dried, baked salt crust is abrasive and hygroscopic - it scours the finish and holds moisture against it. The fresh-water rinse after every salt run is the single most valuable habit a wrapped-boat owner has.