Bring back the white! Detailing question

[Bdecker]

Another great season in the books for my boat partner @ali and our 2016 CarbonPro. As I’m preparing her for a long winter’s nap, I noticed a bunch of stains in the white gel. We have a lift that makes it hard to thoroughly wipe down, but I suspect these stains are a function of the waterline cover that didn’t dry out effectively most of the summer. Any suggestions for getting the white back to it’s former glory? All the hand scrubbing I’ve done hasn’t done much…

 

 

[swbca]

My boat was on a mooring for a few weeks this spring while my boat lift was being re-cabled. The boat looked like your photo above.

 

Mineral deposits can be dissolved and flushed away quickly with several household acid based cleaners, or products package specifically for fiberglass boats. This year I used Saniteen toilet bowl cleaner which is a formulation including muriatic acid. I picked up a universal empty spray bottle at the hardware store at the same time. Spray it on and then flush it off with water a minute later; the deposits are gone with one application.

 

Harmless to stainless steel and chrome, but maybe test on other materials.

 

Caution: All acid based cleaners can burn skin, eyes and your respiratory system Wear rubber gloves, eye protection and a long sleeve shirt. If there is any breeze be very careful to stay up-wind from the spray and wear a respirator if available.

 

This was from True Value hardware. I flush it out of the spray bottle and its sprayer-cap because the metal spring would corrode over time.

[jjackkrash]

You can try all the chemical suggestions you are going to get, but generally to restore gelcoat, you need a rotary buffer with a medium-to-course wool pad and compound, followed by a gear-driven or random orbital with a fine wool pad or a medium foam pad and polishing compound. And even if the chemicals work, I would still hit it with a mechanical buffer as stated above. Then wax with Collinite 925.

[jjackkrash]

And I'd add potentially a wet sand followed by a mechanical buffer if it is bad enough.

[Mastercrafter]

Zing hull cleaner (acid based) will make easy work of something like that. Wear gloves, goggles, and respirator, and rinse it off the trailer as you're working.

[swbca]

@jjackkrash The chemicals don't do anything to restore the sun fade on Gelcoat, but completely remove the mineral deposits with a 10 minute effort for the whole boat. I need to use your suggestions on the back corner of my ProStar that got all the sun when it was on the lift for years.

[Skoot1123]

Are they stains on the gelcoat or is it something you can scrape off with a fingernail?

 

I started a thread last year called “What is this substance?” which describes the steps I ended up taking to bring the gelcoat back to normal on my boat. I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about what steps/processes I went through.

[jjackkrash]

@swbca, yes, chemicals do have their place, but I still make liberal use of the mechanical buffers on gel coat. Gel coat is thick and gets oxidized easily and buffers make it look so nice. I will polish at least twice a year no matter what and don't hesitate to pull out the rotary and wool when I need it.

[swbca]

@jjackkrash My boat has raised graphics on the transom and on the sides. I am going to be using rubbing compound with my finger tips in all the places where there is only a 3/4" wide area of blue hull showing around and inside the letters. Fortunately the sun fade was pretty much limited to the transom.

[PatM]

Brian, have you tried On/Off?

[scoke]

this is what you seek as it's made FOR boats not toilet bowls:

 

 

[Bdecker]

@Skoot1123 - they are definitely stains in the gelcoat. Can’t scrape them off with a fingernail.

 

@PatM @scoke - I’m going to start with the ON/OFF then proceed to some of the things that seem like a bit more work if it doesn’t work.

[Cnewbert]

On & Off worked magic on some rust stains we had on our white gel coat resulting from water draining from the dripless shaft seal. It’s potent stuff though! Use carefully and protect your trailer.

[Minelickskier]

I agree with what @jjackkrash said if you want to do it right

[Skoot1123]

@Bdecker - do you have any more pictures of the staining?

[lpskier]

I use this: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-marine--instant-hull-cleaner-quart--15003726?cm_sp=Onsite-Recs-_-Related-Items-_-Mobile

 

It works great. Spray it on, wipe it off, clean as a whistle.

[6balls]

star bright hull cleaner works great too

[Kevin89MC]

Another vote for MaryKate's On & Off hull cleaner. You can try the Starbrite hull cleaner first, but if that doesn't work, hit it with MK. On an older boat I had a pretty bad 3 year old baked on scum line that Starbrite and a number of other things (including toilet bowl cleaner) couldn't touch. MK took it right off very easily.

[Dacon62]

On a muddy lake and this stuff is magic. Spray on and the staining just disappears. Rinse off with water. May be a similar product to what others have mentioned. Not sure what kind of staining that is and if this would work but if you run out of options…

 

 

[BlueSki]

Babes Spot Solver will bleed out stains as well. Looks like a pretty good list of options has formed.

[Ali]

I am expecting @Bdecker to have a pristine boat for me to get dirty again in the spring

[ProStah_Skiah]

For Star Brite, they have two different options. Instant Hull Cleaner and Boat Bottom Cleaner/EZ-ON EZ-OFF . The Instant Hull Cleaner is more gentle, containing 8% oxalic acid. The Boat Bottom Cleaner is more potent, containing 5-10% HCl and 1-5% Oxalic acid. I have both, but have never needed to resort to the Boat Bottom Cleaner.

[Bongo]

I am a big fan of FSR from Davis. Available at Amazon and occasionally on the shelf for some of the other usual spots. It is much more gentle on skin, lungs and metals than some of the above mentioned, but I found it to have it to be as or more effective.

 

Wipe it on as a gel. Leave it sit for 5 minutes. Rinse it off. Each year toward the end of our boating season, I'll get up under the boat while it is on the boat lift and clean the running surface with this, since much easier than navigating around the trailer bunks. I once had a glob drop into my eye and it didn't hurt or cause much of a problem.

 

 

[Bdecker]

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments. @ali - you can just keep filling the gas cans and I’ll clean the boat!

 

I chickened out on the more aggressive chemicals like on/off (due to fear of ruining my garage/driveway floor) and went with Collinite’s boat cleaner followed by their wax. Pretty incredible results, especially with the orbital polisher I borrowed. Waterline disappeared instantly as did the staining up on the main white stripe.