Browny yellow ,stain above water line

10% hydrochloric acid, aka brick cleaner, aka Starbrite boat bottom cleaner.

Brick cleaner = £8 for 4l from local hardware store, Starbrite = £22 for 1l from the swindlers.

DO NOT leave it on stainless steel.

DO wear protection. Latex gloves and safety glasses. It's only 10% but it stings your eyes nicely and WILL burn your skin if left in contact for more than a few minutes.

Did my scum line with neat brick cleaner and washed the hull with a very dilute mixture only last month. Doesn't harm GRP, but a good polish and wax afterwards will protect the now raw gelcoat.
 
We have some called Y10. "The original fibreglass stain remover".

It cost a lot for not much of the gunk (£10 for a smallish pot) but it goes a long way. Works a treat on the stains you're talking about. I think it's oxalic acid based... probably just a thickened version of it.
 
Neat brick cleaner on scum line, heavily diluted on the hull. Polished (NOT compounded) two coats of wax.

Not bad for a 27yr old hull :)
 

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annageek said:
We have some called Y10. "The original fibreglass stain remover".

It cost a lot for not much of the gunk (£10 for a smallish pot) but it goes a long way. Works a treat on the stains you're talking about. I think it's oxalic acid based... probably just a thickened version of it.
Click to expand...

thought you might use battery acid !!
 
Oxalic acid works well, it's actually the active ingredient in several specialist products.

Bear in mind that it has bleaching properties and therefore work best on white gelcoat. Test with care before applying to coloured gelcoat, especically regarding the time you leave on to do it's magic.

BTW rhubarb leaves contain natural oxalic acid :cool:
 
In a moment of idle thinking, I was considering mixing a solution of oxalic acid with cheap (25p a tub) hair gel, to make the stuff stick and still be easy to clean off, like a cheap Y10 alternative I suppose.

Before I carry this out, are there any reasons, obvious or otherwise, why it woudn't work?
 
abraxus said:
In a moment of idle thinking, I was considering mixing a solution of oxalic acid with cheap (25p a tub) hair gel, to make the stuff stick and still be easy to clean off, like a cheap Y10 alternative I suppose.

Before I carry this out, are there any reasons, obvious or otherwise, why it woudn't work?
Click to expand...

I believe it is common to mix caustic soda with wallpaper paste as a cheap antifoul paint remover. Wallpaper paste is cheap also, and shouldn't dilute the oxalic acid like hair gel would... unless I've misunderstood what you were saying, and you're just after some nice bleached highlights in your hair :P
 
annageek said:
I believe it is common to mix caustic soda with wallpaper paste as a cheap antifoul paint remover. Wallpaper paste is cheap also, and shouldn't dilute the oxalic acid like hair gel would... unless I've misunderstood what you were saying, and you're just after some nice bleached highlights in your hair :P
Click to expand...
Haha no, I wasn't thinking of bleaching my hair.

I had heard of the wallpaper paste method, but also heard that it can difficult to remove if it dries too much, whereas gel should just rinse off. I assume that a strong enough solution would overcome any dilution by the hair gel.
 
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