Acetone everywhere and not a drop to drink

[Major Catastrophe]

I now have more acetone than I know what to do with, after my sister, who lives in Southport, called into Glasplies this afternoon and bought ten litres for £12.

Is it okay to use acetone to generally remove the grey runs and general ingrained dirt from the entire boat?

It seems to work very well, but I don't want to damage the fiberglass. I will then polish with a few coats of Mer.

 

[BruceDanforth]

It is generally hard stuff to keep. Last time I needed mine there was not even a sniff of it left although it had been nearly full when I left it.

 

[burgundyben]

Be careful, apparently it can migrate into your blood stream from skin contact and get trapped in the kidneys as its too big to be filtered out. Thats why boat builders dont wash there arms up to the elbows in it at the end of each day anymore.


Have you got the COSHH and MSDS sheets?

 

[ArthurWood]

I agree w/burgundyben. Don't expose your skin to it, don't inhale the fumes and don't expose it to a naked flame. It's a great solvent, but like most of the organic ones it's toxic.

 

[hlb]

It melts fibre glass, so NO!

 

[Major Catastrophe]

Thanks guys, am using it outside - the windier the better - and am using elbow length industrial rubber gloves.

SWMBO thinks the ball gag and handcuffs is a bit OOT though!

I have COSHH and MSDS information now.

 

[Major Catastrophe]

[ QUOTE ]
It melts fibre glass, so NO!

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure about this? The man that sold it to us from Glasplies, said that it does not affect fibreglass or gelcoat.

I have cleaned all the AF of my keel area using acetone, as recommended by forumites, and the gelcoat is still sound and before affixing the KeelGuard it specifically tells you to 'thoroughly clean the gelcoat several times with acetone to ensure it is uncontaminated by oils or greases." It then goes on to say, that by not following the instructions to thoroughly clean the gelcoat can void the warranty.

You cannot 'soak' surfaces in acetone as it evaporates instantly.

Can anyone vouch for Haydn's opinion? I suppose in my original post I should have said gelcoat and not fibreglass, but I assumed people would know what I meant as I have seen very few raw fibreglass boats in marinas! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Dave_Snelson]

I would use acetone only as a degreasant prior to fitting of stuff or repairs. It does not remove rust streaks. I am equally sure that it does not melt GRP. as GRP aint for melting being a resin.

 

[hlb]

Well since it's used to clean the surface before repair and it removes nail varnish and when I've used it, the surface goes all sticky for a while. I would think it's melted it a bit.

 

[boatbuilder]

It will most certainly attack gel coat , it will make it go sticky and remove the gloss finish. After it has flashed off, the gel will go hard again but the damage is done. Be very careful handling acetone as it is very dodgy stuff, all the yards i know keep it outside the workshop and only bring small amounts inside when needed. Reply was supposed to answer majorcatastrophe, sorry.

 

[hlb]

Thank you. Was not trying to talk out of my arse. But could not quite remember the results!!

 

[Major Catastrophe]

I will be careful and am only using it outside. I tried an experiment on a hidden bit of gel coat with a clean cloth and acetone. There was no residue on cloth after cleaning the gel coat, so I am not sure what was taken off in the process. I then applied polish and area looks really good.


I was also fooled by googling "gel coat" and "acetone" together by the 16,000 web pages which advocated using acetone to clean gel coat, before, during and after repair.


But since reading this forum, and despite the advice from the fibreglass man at Glasplies that it does not damage gel coat, I will not use it as a cleaner.

 

[hlb]

Folk buy my boat remover. Thats harsh if you try to hard.

Acetone is harsher still, I' m only pretending to remove boats.

This stuff is serious!!

 

[ArthurWood]

[ QUOTE ]
It melts fibre glass, so NO!

[/ QUOTE ]
Hey, Haydn, I thought you were educated before 1970; heat melts, solvents dissolve /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif In any case, acetone will not dissolve fibreglass/gelcoat.

 

[Major Catastrophe]

Thanks Arthur, now I don't know who to believe.

You, a glassfibre expert and 16,000 webpages, or Haydn.

 

[hlb]

I'm no expert, but seems way over the top to me. Small damaged areas, yes.But washing the whole boat with the stuff!!

 

[No1_Moose]

The boatyard people at Chichester use acetone to degrease whole boats before putting some elixir on them. The boats float when they put them back in so I guess it's ok.

 

[ArthurWood]

No, but I do have a degree in polymer chemistry (many years ago) and I've also noticed that acetone does not make my hull sticky. Acetone is used for wiping off uncured polyester (gelcoat) after a gelcoat repair and it does not affect the cured finish. So there!

 

[Sixpence]

Oh will somebody please settle this , I have to remove the antifoul that's been on mine for a few years , so does actone work or not , scraping is such a pain in the arris , a chemical solution would be so much better /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[No1_Moose]

Antifouling remover would be best then. I've just tried some acetone on a bit of Interspeed Ultra and it didn't touch it.