Brown wood stain on gelcoat.
- Thread starter graham
- Start date
oldgit
Well-Known Member
+1.
and usually you can sit and watch it work its magic as you stand/sit there.
Ps. You could spend £15 on a little pot of goo with a trace of the acid in it.
or
Go on ebay and buy more than sufficent to keep you going for years for less than a fiver.
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Fr J Hackett
Well-Known Member
The magic is chemistry and it is dependant on the composition of the stain.
maby
Well-Known Member
As it is with all bleaches - different chemicals bleach different stains - if you are not sure what the stain is, you may have to try multiple chemicals. There are, of course, some stains that don't respond to any bleach and some that require bleaches that are so strong that they destroy the material being cleaned!
Stemar
Well-Known Member
Since you're likely to need oxalic acid to get the browm muck off the waterline sooner rather than later, I'd certainly give it a try. As others have mentioned, it's toxic and corrosive, so glasses and gloves are a good idea.
If that doesn't work, get the strongest hydrogen peroxide peroxide solution you can lay your hands on and try that. It was the principle ingredient of a wood bleach I used some years ago to get the stain out of a pine staircase and it worked very well. Again, gloves and glasses. Buying large quantities of peroxide is liable to set anti-terrorist alarms ringing, so it might be safer just to buy the 2-part wood bleach
If that doesn't work, get the strongest hydrogen peroxide peroxide solution you can lay your hands on and try that. It was the principle ingredient of a wood bleach I used some years ago to get the stain out of a pine staircase and it worked very well. Again, gloves and glasses. Buying large quantities of peroxide is liable to set anti-terrorist alarms ringing, so it might be safer just to buy the 2-part wood bleach
Poignard
Well-Known Member
It might also be worth trying bicarbonate of soda (your wife may have some in her kitchen). I have used it to remove stains from Formica.
Fr J Hackett
Well-Known Member
graham
Well-Known Member
Thanks for all the replies . Rhubarb pies look good butI think I will give oxalic acid a go on a small area first. Wont be starting the jobb this side of Christmas but will put up some pictures of what works and doesnt work once I get into it.
Poignard
Well-Known Member
Don't try the oxalic acid until the weather is warm or it won't work!
If I remember correctly, the instructions for Y10, which is basically oxalic acid, say the ambient temperature must be at least 10 degrees Celsius.
Chris_Robb
Well-Known Member
You would be surprised at what wd40 will remove...... multiple applications to soften.... amazing other usesWe are in danger of a grandmother sucking eggs competition.
Stemar
Well-Known Member
Getting back to the OP, if Oxalic acid doesn't work, maybe a peroxide/caustic soda wood bleach? In Chateau Stemar, it worked wonders on a staircase that had been stained some 50 years previously.
Neeves
Well-Known Member
Coincidentally -
In addition our current issue with bush fires and draught we have had, sort of interconnected with the drought, dust storms inland and some of the dust is deposited on the deck of yachts - its a lovely rich red brown colour and not only boats but everything has this red/brown hue.
In between cleaning, with salt water, the dust has sat on our deck and we had a few spots of rain - and now that we have washed the deck we are left with a speckled brown finish, almost tasteful in its regularity, where the raindrops have allowed the red dust to stain. The brown speckles cannot be removed with normal soap, water and a good scrub.
I will try Oxalic acid.
We also get stains at the water line from tannin in Tasmanian water - and this is removed when we AF, by the yard when they do the power wash (and I assume it is also Oxalic acid - though other acids are, I believe, effective).
Rhubarb is quite common here, I assume a relic of days of Empire, and in the winter we often have rhubarb crumble.
Jonathan
In addition our current issue with bush fires and draught we have had, sort of interconnected with the drought, dust storms inland and some of the dust is deposited on the deck of yachts - its a lovely rich red brown colour and not only boats but everything has this red/brown hue.
In between cleaning, with salt water, the dust has sat on our deck and we had a few spots of rain - and now that we have washed the deck we are left with a speckled brown finish, almost tasteful in its regularity, where the raindrops have allowed the red dust to stain. The brown speckles cannot be removed with normal soap, water and a good scrub.
I will try Oxalic acid.
We also get stains at the water line from tannin in Tasmanian water - and this is removed when we AF, by the yard when they do the power wash (and I assume it is also Oxalic acid - though other acids are, I believe, effective).
Rhubarb is quite common here, I assume a relic of days of Empire, and in the winter we often have rhubarb crumble.
Jonathan