Hull Finish Restoration

[geraldbasford]

Sounds drastic. Can you give me more details?Like your experiance, what you have done with it, on what craft,results, hazardous implications. Also any viewers input as to their input on acid wash. I'm amazed with all the replys I have recieved. What a great storehouse of experience and approaches.Thank you ALL for taking the time to answer my inquiry.

[s/v Jedi]

The acid wash is common before gel coat restoration, not drastic at all. Even teak decks are cleaned with acid! The On&Off product is biodegradable but you must take care while using it to keep it from splashing/dripping over/on you. It will remove everything that's not supposed to be there and won't harm fibreglass nor gelcoat. It's sold everywhere, even at the WM.

We use a soft brush (deck-brush) on telescoping handle and a big bucket. Two persons are best: 1st applies the product and the second follows with the waterhose to rinse it off and check results (when the hull is wet after the acid is washed away, it gives an idea on how it will be after all the polishing & waxing that is to follow). You will see the hull turning clean within a couple of minutes.

Note: it will remove any&all wax so you MUST polish & wax after using this. It isn't a replacement for soap. We also use it to remove rust stains from deck/hull.

cheers,
Nick.

[geraldbasford]

Nick I appreciate your reply. That doesn't sound scary at all.I will buff out and wax later.my biggest concern is some of the rust stains.Before I get this cruiser finished Maybe I will be able to be a little more knowlegable and even help my fellow cruisers.Maybe there is help for some of us old retired salts.I think the bottom line is it is good to stay busy and really great if it is something you like to do.And you are never to old to learn something new.Don't you just love this forum?

Jerry B

[s/v Jedi]

Jerry,

those rust stains will disappear before your eyes! But I would advise to first get rid of those stains using a regular disposable paint brush, before doing the complete hull. Nasty rust stains often need more time and some even repeated brushing.

For best results: don't wet it out first, brush on&off onto the dry stain. Let it work a couple of minutes and brush again without adding more acid. The brushing action itself moves dissolved rust away and fresh acid to what's left.

Also, test this on a small spot first, just like the magic products for stains in clothes etc. I only used it on our white hull and I believe yours is blue. It shouldn't matter but make sure first.

cheers,
Nick.

[Talbot]

I suspect tha the acid Nick is talking about is oxalic acid. This is present in a number of proprietary products, but not at any real strength. You can however, get the ingredients from a chemist or from some wood shops in crystal form
for example

Oxalic Acid Crystals

This is a much cheaper way to buy it. It is great on those rust stains as well as any other staining, and will save your gel coat

[Talbot]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

For best results: don't wet it out first, brush on&off onto the dry stain. Let it work a couple of minutes and brush again without adding more acid. The brushing action itself moves dissolved rust away and fresh acid to what's left.

If you have really stubborn stains, add a bit of wallpaper paste to the acid mix, this will enable you to add a glob of oxalic acid to the problem area and prevent it just running down the hull away from the problem. A good wash off will dissolve the glob.

[geraldbasford]

This might account for a small stain I removed with lime away. It worked but was weak and took quite a few applications.It is amazing what lurks out there waiting to be tapped.

[s/v Jedi]

Talbot: I actually think on&off is a cocktail with oxalic, muriatic and possibly another acid, plus some soap. It is very powerful so very effective.

cheers,
Nick.

[Talbot]

Unfortunately not available in UK. There are other proprietary cleaners that are available, and do have some oxalic acid, but are not as good as the correct concentration (and a lot more expensive)

[geraldbasford]

Just kidding. I havn't found on and off yet but did find oxilice acid but didn't order online because of hazardous shipping.I did find it in West marine site.I did buy some CLR and anxious to see how it works.I'm retired and that's a good thing. No tight time frames to deal with.My biggest problem right now is deciding what and where lunch will be.I just finished my second cup of coffee.My wife and I caretake a 300 acre island and have been here for going on three years. Needless to say our life is on a different time plan now. Everything hinges on when we will go to shore.We are on the water allmost every day.Right now with good weather it is great.I retired from welding for 40 years. Maybe that helps explain my attitude.As you can see it is condusive to rammbling.I'm anxious to get my boat launched after I finish many more pots of coffee and endless forum chats.I went to a good friends memorial Sat and saw allot of school mates. It was more like a class reunion. A bunch of gray haired gents. Most of the jocks pot bellys and bald. The nerds were mostly business men and looked pretty good. I will not tell you where I fit in.It gave me a clearer prospective of my own life.You know I think the coffee even smells better.