My kayak gets extremely dirty. Mine usually gets used more on trips or expeditions than single use situations. I mean I certainly take it out for day trips and things, but its the longer trips that are usually responsible for getting it super dirty. For example, I just concluded a week long river trip and it had tons of mud and muck in it from when I would board the kayak after wet wading in mucky areas etc.
So I usually have a few tactics:
- First things first get out that hose and spray it down thoroughly.
- Fill up a bucket with car wash and get a sponge...Take the ole hand mitt full of foamy wash to it just like you would a car.
- I also use a pressure washer. You don't need to go crazy with a 0 degree nozzle or anything, but a 25 degree is awesome for getting rid of worked in dirt stains plus its awesome for power blasting out the cup holders, rod holders and hard to reach areas. Displacement of loose crap and junk all over your kayak is reason enough for the pressure washer in my opinion.
- Lastly I'll use 409, simple green, or Amsoil MP with a rag for any really tough to get stuff.
Now, to take things further, a lot of times, the inside of my kayak gets filthy. After being on a Kayak camping trip for a week the under deck storage eventually collects water, debris, bad smells etc. So for that I usually cycle lots of fresh water through it and even some dish soap or tide to clean it up. I have a nice method where I put a hose in the rear hatch and lock it on and let the kayak fill up for awhile...then I will rock the trailer the kayak is on up and down a few times so the water really swishes around in there. Then, I have this thing called a super siphon and I put that up front and get it sucking water out. You can then empty all the water out or just keep fresh water running in from the back while the siphon cycles it out the front. Do this until all the debris and junk is out and your kayak is fresh as new!