Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

[Fordiesel69]

Is there somthing I can using to cut some of the oxidation from the gel coat prior to wet sanding and buffing?

 

[Scott Chinsota]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

tsp, toilet bowl cleaner, muratic, sufuric or sulfamic acid, vinegar, or any product for cleaning fiberglass showers/tubs. there are so many options, i can't recommend any as i have yet to work on the outside of my hull. others will chime in to help.

 

[oops!]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

nope.....no miracle cures....its all snake oil.


wait....that is not correct.....

there is a special grease that has never failed me......its called elbow grease !

 

[joewithaboat]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

Is there somthing I can using to cut some of the oxidation from the gel coat prior to wet sanding and buffing?

If you are going to wet sand and buff you shouldn't need to bother cleaning with cleaners designed to work with out harming the gel coat. I have tried all of the things mentioned in post # 2. Some work better than others, but none as good as wet sand and buff.
Good luck!

 

[oops!]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

wet sanding an entire hull is quite a bit of a pain......even at 600 you are going to get blotchy results.

the way to do it is use a polishing compound.....then wax and buff the boat.

your orbital should be about 2000 rpm.

i use a product made for gellcoat called farecla.

its really good......but it still takes me 5 hours to do a 16 footer properly, start to finish.

 

[joewithaboat]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

wet sanding an entire hull is quite a bit of a pain......even at 600 you are going to get blotchy results.

the way to do it is use a polishing compound.....then wax and buff the boat.

your orbital should be about 2000 rpm.

i use a product made for gellcoat called farecla.

its really good......but it still takes me 5 hours to do a 16 footer properly, start to finish.

I have used 3M Marine High Gloss Gelcoat Compound, followed with Finesse-it II. Works great, but it is pretty pricey. Used a wool pad for the compound then foam for Finesse-it.
You must be pretty fast to do it in 4 hrs, if you were near me you'd be hired.

My current boat is so scared up (lots of little stuff) its not really worthy, cant decide how or if to fix it.

 

[gtochris]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

I followed some of the advice her, wetsanded with 1000 my Stingray, then compounded and polished, it looks AMAZING right now!

I even wet-sanded some of the stuborn scum line I missed, it all came off.

 

[oops!]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

I followed some of the advice her, wetsanded with 1000 my Stingray, then compounded and polished, it looks AMAZING right now!

I even wet-sanded some of the stuborn scum line I missed, it all came off.

Scum lines, yellow bottoms, growth, water spots ........Can all be removed with a standard acid wash done by any marina, or pro gelcoat service.

An acid wash is actually industrial strength toilet bowl cleaner applied with either a wet broom or wet rag, the rag is full strength for stubborn areas. The broom is 50/50 water.

this only takes a few minits to do......just like washing a boat....no difference. The results are picture perfect.

 

[joewithaboat]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

I followed some of the advice her, wetsanded with 1000 my Stingray, then compounded and polished, it looks AMAZING right now!

I even wet-sanded some of the stuborn scum line I missed, it all came off.

Don't for get to wax it, it will oxidize again if you don't.
Ive tried all different products with varying results, one could write a book!
So many in fact i couldn't tell you that i for sure remember which one works best.:facepalm:
Suffice it to say something seems to be better than nothing.

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

Yup, as said above, but to clarify. If you want to clean up a scumline or dirty boat bottom use an acid cleaner like MaryKate On & Off. Makes my boat bottom white after a summer in the lake.

To get the oxidation you need the wet sand, compound, polish, and wax process.

I did mine this spring and got compliments all summer.

 

[woosterken]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

here you go ,check out this fine article from Mark42 ,with pictures !!

http://forums.fiberglassics.com/mfg/restoring_glossgelcoat.htm

woosterken

 

[Fordiesel69]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

This gelcoat is real bad. It shiny but has the color of chalk. Its very hard to clean up. I have managed to get only 1/3 of the side done.

 

[sojodave]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

dadadumtahdumdummmmm...THE MAGIC ERASER. You have to be careful because it is so powerful it can take out your gel coat. However, I have taken out tough stains with the magic eraser and then waxed after wards. I have removed impossible stains with it inside the interior and exterior of my boat.

 

[zopperman]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

Similar to mine... I experimented a bit with wetsanding and a polishing compound. I wish I had pics, what a difference...

 

[joewithaboat]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

This gelcoat is real bad. It shiny but has the color of chalk. Its very hard to clean up. I have managed to get only 1/3 of the side done.

Not sure if it was the best thing... but it worked at the time. My Dad bought an otherwise beautiful boat that was solid white and had chalked gel coat like you describe. We started off with big scotch bright pads with handles on them. We got them on the kitchen isle of a grocery store. These with Soft Scrub w/ Bleach followed with prob 10 man hours of scrubbing. We then buffed and waxed. That gel coat never quite came back to life, it seemed pretty thin. We thought it was too thin to wet sand. Waxing helped the look a lot.

I use the magic eraser to knock scuffs off (love them)and maintain cleanliness, but i doubt it will touch that oxidation.

 

[halfmoa]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

Vasonevermind....

 

[joewithaboat]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

Vasonevermind....

LOL... yea seen Lemon Pledge work wonders too, but it goes away pretty quick.

 

[Capt. Collywood]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

I'm new to iboats, but not new to boats. I have used poly-ox to remove the chalky stuff, then poly-prep and followed with poly-glow. It is about the same as acrylic floor polish, shines like crazy and easy to apply. Looks great for a couple of years. Don't skip the first two steps though.

 

[zagger]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

First off oxidation and dirt/grime/hard water deposits/stains are two different things and require different approach in removal. Chemical wash, acid wash or what ever other chemical agent will work on the latter but not on oxidation. The only way to properly fix oxidation it to remove it by sanding and buffing. If the oxidation is minor some rubbing compounds will take it out as they remove very thin layer of gel coat. Some have used Vaseline to mask the oxidized look but that is a short term remedy with limited results. As said before, the only true way to remove it is with ample dose of elbow grease. Good luck.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Chemical to remove oxidiation from gel coat.

Wet-sanding would be much quicker and easier than any chemical anyway. Since that's what you're planning to do, why would you bother with chemicals beforehand?