How Do You Clean a Snowmobile?

Bling Sauce is the brand of world-class care products for all four seasons. If you love winter activities, we have you covered. Nolan Ferri is an avid snowmobile user, expert, and trainer who has seen it all working for Ski-Doo®. Here's his story about how he keeps his snowmobiles clean:

 Advice from a Ski-Doo® Expert!

“Where we live in upstate New York, hard water is a complete understatement and something we expect. Being an avid gearhead, I have shown and actually sold tons of my buddies on the Bling Sauce lineup, and I always get the "I am so amazed that I didn't know about this stuff" line after they use it and buy the product for themselves.

Unfortunately, where we live is not aquatic sport-friendly weather year-round unless it's frozen H2O. Living in the Lake Effect capital of the United States, it's almost a requirement to be a winter/snow sports enthusiast on some level. I am an avid snowmobiler, and seven years ago, after owning my own Powersports dealership, I took a position with BRP on the Ski-Doo® brand side.

We get some real heavy lake effect snow where we live. If you don't know what ‘lake effect snow’ is, it is a lifting of humidity/moisture from the Great Lakes when the cold air travels over the warm unfrozen water; it lifts this moisture, freezes it in the air due to ambient temperature, and becomes snow. This snow is formed from the Great Lakes' hard water and lands wherever the wind is blowing. It's not uncommon to get a foot of snow in one location, and 20 minutes away, it's sunny with the dry pavement; it's freaky!

I work for Ski-Doo® and do all dealer training, unit demo rides, shows, events, instructional videos, and product testing on the PAC side (Parts-Accessories-Clothing). I tend to put a lot of snowmobile miles on in a season, with many seasons over 5,000 miles. It never seems to fail that I receive black snowmobiles for my demos, and my snowmobiles, just like my boat, need to be clean, accessorized, and show-ready at all times—unfortunately, lake effect and hard water clash with glossy black snowmobiles.

One night while in my garage getting ready for a four-day ride, I had a thought. I would bring a small sample size of Hot Sauce and Vinyl Sauce in my heated bag, along with a microfiber towel. One of my riding partners is as much of a neat freak as I am, and we have always shared cleaning supplies. I never really spoke about it, and as we both got so involved with shinning up our sleds, we went to town the 1st night on getting our units spic-and-span. I watched Kenny rub and rub, fighting the hard water spots, while I used a squirt of Hot Sauce, and it was effortless. I cleaned each area three or four times so that he wouldn't see me finish so quickly.

Before using Bling Sauce

After using Bling Sauce

By the last night of our trip, my cleaning time was 20% faster than Kenny's. Finally, he said, "OK, what is going on? What are you cleaning your sled with? Mine looks like crap; yours cleans in 1/2 the time mine does and stays shiny all day?" I revealed my secret and started to wipe his "already clean" sled with the Hot Sauce, and out came the shine!! Now, Kenny loves the Bling Sauce line and always has some with him, as do I.

Something else we encounter here in the North East is HORRIBLE road conditions in the winter. To combat them, the state uses salt, sand, and a mixture of salt and molasses they call ‘brine’ that sticks to the road and melts the ice. You obviously can only ride so far on a snowmobile before you have to cross a road, and many of the snowmobile trails run alongside the road. Snowplows throw snow full of sand, salt, and brine on trails running alongside roads making my black sled look like crap!

I use Hot Sauce to clean and combat white salt film build-up, Vinyl Sauce for the seat and cargo bags, and Condition Sauce to seal it all up. Condition Sauce makes the luster on the vinyl and textured products last a long time. I use the Quickie Sauce when I'm at home in the garage doing my good deep shine/clean, and it also makes a massive difference on how quick a sled gets soiled versus not.

To prove myself, I gave one of my sleds the complete Bling Sauce treatment and one nothing at all. I rode them both on the same trail system one day apart for 100 miles, and it was night and day. The Bling Sauce protected sled looked terrific, and the non-protected looked like it sat outside for 12 months without a cover!! I now even use the Quickie Sauce on my suspension, as it certainly keeps it looking new and unblemished.

I love boating, but my job and life have me on a snowmobile 6-7 months a year. Bling Sauce products are a game-changer for the snowmobile industry.”

Try Bling Sauce for Snowmobiles

We appreciate Nolan's expertise in the snowmobile industry, and we are excited to get to use our Bling Sauce products on upcoming snowmobile rides with Nolan and his friends. Now we know how to protect and clean any snowmobile, but how in the heck do we stay warm? It's certainly going to be an adventure.