Adhesive removal

[steelie140]

I have pulled the boat flooring fabric up from the interior of my boat. I want to remove the adhesive from the fiberglass/gelcoat before I paint down Kiwi Grip. What is the most effective technique? Its been in there thirty years so is already beginning to break down. Do I need to get it all out or can I paint down a good epoxy primer and then the Kiwi Grip? Please give your wisdom/experience.

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: Adhesive removal

I was told a.product called citrus strip (I think) may help. But grinding is the most surefire way, and will help smooth the deck glass out so the kiwigrip looks good.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Adhesive removal

I've never used it, but my research says that 2-3 applications will melt away the glue and allow you to wipe it off. Might be worth a try.

 

[brnschoneck]

Re: Adhesive removal

I used a paint removal wheel i got from wal-mart in the boating section by all the resin and such ?? about 10 bucks a peice that worked pretty good it goes in a drill almost looks like a wire wheel but its not wire !!!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Adhesive removal

How good do you want the kiwi grip to look? If you want it to look like a professional job you need to remove all of the old adhesive, then you need to look at your deck and see if it's nice and flat and smooth. If it's not flat and smooth you may want to skim it with some fairing compound and then sand it smooth by hand.

Your kiwi grip job will only look as good as the deck beneath it, if your deck looks like caca when you apply the kiwi... it'll look like caca with a coat of kiwi grip on it.

 

[steelie140]

Re: Adhesive removal

How good do you want the kiwi grip to look? If you want it to look like a professional job you need to remove all of the old adhesive, then you need to look at your deck and see if it's nice and flat and smooth. If it's not flat and smooth you may want to skim it with some fairing compound and then sand it smooth by hand.

Your kiwi grip job will only look as good as the deck beneath it, if your deck looks like caca when you apply the kiwi... it'll look like caca with a coat of kiwi grip on it.

Just got a call from someone that told me Glu-Gone might be the adhesive removal answer. It rinses off with water. Easy peasy ...........maybe. I'm a little skeptical as I don't want to create a gooey mess because I have taken a short cut.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Adhesive removal

. I'm a little skeptical as I don't want to create a gooey mess because I have taken a short cut.

There's always that risk, but try it on a small area first to see if it does what you want.... then you just have a small gooey area to clean up if it doesn't work.

I think it's actually called Goo-Gone.

 

[StevenT]

Re: Adhesive removal

There's always that risk, but try it on a small area first to see if it does what you want.... then you just have a small gooey area to clean up if it doesn't work.

I think it's actually called Goo-Gone.

I think Goof Off is what your looking for. It worked great for me. I scraped of the heavy stuff and then used Goof Off to get the adhesive removed. Lowes and HD sell it.

 

[Slayer315]

Re: Adhesive removal

I just did this with my boat. For me the different strippers just smeared the glue around, especially on the side walls. I found the easiest for me was one of these,
Nylon Abrasive Wheel - 4-1/2" Polycarbide Abrasive Wheel
Made a lot of dust but seemed to work well. I'm doing something similar, just finishing with gel coat. Took a few hours to do my 16' boat.
Just an idea.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Adhesive removal

A grinder might be faster than the adhesive removers .. just an FYI ..

But if you have to go with that scrape gooy thing .. then you might try Dbond and a heat gun ( pic up some brass brushes as well )

messy stuff trying to get adhesive off the deck ..

Lots of paper towels and acetone wouldnt hurt combined with a cardboard box with a trash liner in it ..

Good luck mate.

YD.

 

[steelie140]

Re: Adhesive removal

I just did this with my boat. For me the different strippers just smeared the glue around, especially on the side walls. I found the easiest for me was one of these,
Nylon Abrasive Wheel - 4-1/2" Polycarbide Abrasive Wheel
Made a lot of dust but seemed to work well. I'm doing something similar, just finishing with gel coat. Took a few hours to do my 16' boat.
Just an idea.

Found this stuff called "LIFT-Off" at the home depot. 1st coat, with a little scrubbing, took most of the glue off without creating a mess. Gonna' look into the Nylon abrasive wheel to see if it will work to prepare the deck for the primer coat I plan to use.