Successful removal of Varnish in cockpit- Yeh!

[Captain Caliamari]

Varnish in the cockpit - Follow Up.
Success!

Clean up successfully underway.
On the advice of my local chandlery I bought this product for $32.
Captain Phab Marine Strip-It.
Claims to get rid of paint. varnish, oil stains from gelcoat, fibreglass, enamels etc. without damaging.

I had long standing varnish stains on the fibreglass and gelcoat in my cockpit; I dropped a can of varnish it went everywhere. One corner I nicknamed ''Calamity Corner''.

This product if used correctly seems to be ideal for all of the uses it claims.
The caveat is to use it correctly. It's the usual paint stripping gel texture.
So:
Apply with a brush working only one direction and leaving a thick coating.
Product has its' own built in 'evaporation' aid so application process will aid that.

Do not scrub. Have a plastic scraper, a clean dry oil free cloth, some water,(a light sanding and/or scrubbing pad, some dishwasher soap, light grade wet and dry paper and some paper tape to tape off, the as the Maximum advised working area is 2' square - I improvised with these items but was successful).

Obviously rubber gloves.
Heavy fumes. Respirator use advised.Fumes fall to lowest point so work with product height to prevent bending down into them. They are really noxious.

Leave for five minutes and check. If scraper does not remove some/all of paint /varnish etc. Paint over again for five minutes and repeat several times until varnish starts to soften and peel away.

Soon as it is coming off like a gum - neutralise with water and then wash with hot soapy water. Any remaining stains, can be very lightly sanded out. I worked patiently with sanding wet and dry as I did not want to erode the stippling/grip on the deck and lazarettes by sanding them flat..
Worked like a dream on Calamity Corner and the two runnels and drain points.

Highly recommend.
No advice on temperature and conditions outside. Suspect it will dry quicker on a warm day ? Yesterday was bright and cold but not freezing Not to be used in confined spaces.

Before and afters:
See images


Regards to all,

Cap'n Caliamari.

[er9]

sounds like a methylene chloride concoction. nasty, nasty stuff. heavy vapors, melts just about anything plastic if you leave it on long enough. we used to throw solid blocks of resin in a bucket of it and the next day they would be totally dissolved into liquid.

whatever it is worked nicely though. i have a few calamity spots i'd like to clean up as well.

[Captain Caliamari]

christopher holmes <ps4bcm@gmail.com>
12:14 AM (14 hours ago)
to support

Yes I will check but suspect y9ou are right as the container does have a warning on that leaving the
product' on the fibreglass etc. too long can ' damage'( I guess' melt it ).

It worked for me but I was very conscious of the fumes/vapours.

Just interested why you threw 'blocks' of resin into this chemical stew?
Guessing that they were small blocks?


Thanks

CC

[er9]

Originally Posted by Captain Caliamari

christopher holmes <ps4bcm@gmail.com>
12:14 AM (14 hours ago)
to support

Yes I will check but suspect y9ou are right as the container does have a warning on that leaving the
product' on the fibreglass etc. too long can ' damage'( I guess' melt it ).

It worked for me but I was very conscious of the fumes/vapours.

Just interested why you threw 'blocks' of resin into this chemical stew?
Guessing that they were small blocks?


Thanks

CC

ha! i used to work at a company that manufactured resins. we used to embed all kinds of objects into clear solid blocks of resin for fun. sometimes we wanted them back, especially the coins so we would throw the block into methylene chloride and fish out the objects in the morning.

[JPA Cate]

Nice report on the product, Capt. C.

Ann

[Captain Caliamari]

Thank you Ann.
I like to be thorough.
Loving your boat in your profile.

Regards


Also er9


Hilarious!
Good answer.
Thanks.