stains on gelcoat

[mikeb]

Hi- I was looking for something that will remove stains from Gelcoat. I have two things I was working on:

1. A Brown water stain mark form the boats early years of staying in the water all the time and

2. a color difference on the side of the boat. I replaced some decals on the side of the boat with different graphics; but I have spots that are whiter than the rest of the boat- anything to help with this? I think I know which product of yours will work; but looking for some advice.


Mike

[Mike Phillips]

Hi- I was looking for something that will remove stains from Gelcoat.



Hi Mike,

Welcome to Marine31Online! :welcome:




I have two things I was working on:

1. A Brown water stain mark form the boats early years of staying in the water all the time and



At this time we don't make a specific product for removing this type of staining outside of compounding the hull. There are other companies that do however. I also post to TheHullTruth and here's a thread where the members there offers some product ideas to help another member with this same issue.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/14515-removing-brown-water-stain.html







2. a color difference on the side of the boat. I replaced some decals on the side of the boat with different graphics; but I have spots that are whiter than the rest of the boat- anything to help with this? I think I know which product of yours will work; but looking for some advice.



This is called ghosting and I have some information typed up about this issue in the below thread and there's pictures to look at too....

Ghosting on boat after removing letters (http://www.marine31online.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135)


Click the link and take a look at the pictures and here's what I posted at the bottom of post #1



About the only thing you can do to try to remove the ghosting is to either,

Compound the hull using an aggressive cutting compound with a wool pad on a rotary buffer.

Wet sand the area and then compound out your sanding marks using an aggressive cutting compound and a wool pad on a rotary buffer.


Sad to say, all to often you'll always be able to see the tale-tale sign of ghosting if you know where to look.




:)

[Hoytman]

Mike, somewhere on my ol' slow poke computer are some before and after photo's of a 1974 Boston Whaler that I worked on that had water stains on it from the 70's. That's a long time.

The owner said his dad and mom had tried numerous products over the years...even bleach, but the stain remained. He even tried numerous products on the boat himself with no luck. The owner then asked if I knew of a way to remove the stain. Of course, my answer was no. The owner then gave me permission, actually asked me to try and remove the staining with whatever I had.

I had heard of people using Muratic Acid on stains, but I'd never used it myself.

Obviously, the boat owner wasn't aware of Mary Kate products intended fro hull cleaning, and I myself had never used them either. Having researched those products they too seemed 'tricky' to use as a person would need to use PPE...or Personal Protective Equipmen when using these products.

Long story short...Super Clean, in the purple jug from Wal-Mart worked wonders at removing the yellow stains on the sides of the hull of that 1970's Whaler and the owner was extremely pleased with the results. I was in luck...though I'd rather have been smart. My point is, I was asked to try anything and I got lucky. I would much rather use a product that is marketed for use in the marine industry as I believe this would be...for lack of a better term...a 'safer' route.

I'll try and dig up the photo's, bu only after I finish canning tomato's. LOL!!!

[Mike Phillips]

I'll try and dig up the photo's, bu only after I finish canning tomato's. LOL!!!




Sounds good Bill, thanks for chiming in....



:thumb:

[Hoytman]

Ok...I did take a look at my pictures file, but unfortunately I did not take any before and after photo's of the staining on the hull of the Whaler I worked on. However, I do have video of before and after and supposedly I can slice photo's from the video file, but I've yet to figure out how to do that and haven't had much time lately to learn. Unfortunately, this computer is so old and slow that uploading the video's to youtube isn't possible at this time...tried several times already to upload video of other projects I've worked on and it simply not upload them.

I'll keep this thread in mind for when I get a new computer in the near future and I will post my Whaler project...which, looking back on it, was probably one of those jobs I should have let someone else have the 'blessing'. LOL!!