Cleaning topsides of a boat

[Thallac]

Hi need some advice on cleaning my topsides. (boat id mitchell sea warrior 28ft, grp blue)
Will be running aground on Thames at Kew, (have generator, and power wash)

Since i bought the boat, have a couple of scratches from tress, fender rub, and general dirt and grime. The previous owner kept it in great condition, i just wanted to clean it and rectify the areas of scratches and fender rub. i am completely new to this, have researched a lot and am confused by all the conflicting advice.

this is my approach

wash the boat sides (what is the best way of doing this)
use G3 on the bad areas (using a electric polisher)
tcut the boat
finish off with autoglym

questions i have are:
does this sound a good approach
how long will it take to do a 28ft boat, i am limited by tides, so will have to do in sections.
is this overkill? (i am buying sander/polisher for the rubbing streak)
what type of attachments do i need for the sander polisher

thanks tim

 

[William_H]

I would suggest you first clean the topsides with oxalic acid or even lemon juice. This will take off a lot of the grie that accumulates. You can then decide if you eed to polish etc. good luck olewill

 

[johnalison]

Traditionally, sailors have avoided car products in case they contain silicone, which can make repainting harder. I don't know if AutoGlym resin polishes are a problem but if in doubt I would use a boat wax. There have been threads on using cutting compounds on these forums, which might be worth searching for.

 

[maby]

What you describe should work - but don't do it too often - TCut will be a bit agressive on the gelcoat.

Be very careful with powertools in that environment - you'll be standing in mud - very good conductor - any failure of the insulation on your polisher could make your eyes light up!

 

[PlankWalker]

Don't use oxalic acid on blue gelcoat, only use on white.

 

[Trundlebug]

For washing the boat, either sides or top I don't like using a pressure washer although I see many others using them.

I guess if time is limited, the pressure's not too high (fan nozzle best) and you don't dwell on any one area it'll be OK for a quick clean off of algae and general muck.

I would however use oxalic acid (e.g. Y10 from swindleries) or other cleaning compounds to remove things that don't come off at first pass with the pressure washer, rather than dwell on them with high pressure water.

To make it a manageable job it's usually best to do the polishing in sections (the cleaning can be done in one).
I wouldn't use T-cut at all on the boat, it's really not the right stuff on GRP.
G3 is OK but again primarily designed for automotive applications, from my experience starting where you are (from scratch) it is much better to use Farecla 200 which was designed for use on GRP and gives much better results much more quickly. It also doesn't leave swirl marks which I found I got with G3.

AutoGlym super resin polish is fine as a wax, I use it myself and it's as good as anything else I've tried so far.
As it's particularly easy to apply, smells good and is easily available I've stuck with it but many others will tell you products X,Y or Z are better.

In reality they all last about 3 months in the UK environment from my experience.
I still experiment with alternatives looking for the holy grail of course, but I think most of us do that...

Attachments for the sander polisher? A white sponge (firm) is the only one I seem to use.
Other than that the best thing to have is a plant sprayer to spray a fine water mist whilst compounding, to prevent overheating and drying out.
Oh, and plenty of rags to wipe everything off afterwards. The compounding gets sprayed everywhere...

Best of luck

 

[Elemental]

Don't use oxalic acid on blue gelcoat, only use on white.

Why is that - oxalic acid isn't like bleach (and I'm not sure that even bleach would be a problem)?

 

[StephenW]

Why is that - oxalic acid isn't like bleach (and I'm not sure that even bleach would be a t using
Just be careful in using oxalic acid- if you read safety instructions it canlead to serious health problems if used carelessly. Avoid anything that enables it to be inhaled as a mist.

It's majical on waterline stains
Good luck

 

[ClaireDuet]

I used Cillit Bang (it has oxalic acid in) and a Flash Magic a Eraser, both household products on my white hull and was really impressed by the results. I did a video, you can see it here: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qew8LEL1IrA

I then used a cheap £20 double handed blue car polisher with rubbing compound, and then wax polish which was a bit more disappointing. I think either buy a proper polisher (like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/3211...ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108) or polish by hand. It's harder work but I've seen pretty good results!

For the rubbing strake/strip, which is Iroko on my boat, I scrubbed it first with a brush and soapy water to remove dirt and green algae, then used nitromors and a scraper to remove the remains of the old varnish. Then I sanded with 120 grit on a sander, then a light rub over by hand with some fine grade... Then I wiped it over with white spirit... And then masked it up and it had 7 coats of Deks Olje. It looks fab now.

Good luck!

 

[Anwen]

The polisher from eBay in the post above is cheaper from Toolstation.

 

[Momac]

I would suggest using the least aggressive and least abrasive products that will do the job.

'Stardrops' is a good , mild and economical general cleaner which added to water works well. Baby bath is similarly good .
I clean the boat little and often.

For cleaning of the grp I have recently tried Greased Lightning Showroom Shine. It cleans off streaks helps to removed marks that washing has not removed and gives a good water repellent shine. Very easy to work with.

I have also tried lots of different car cleaner/polishes. I quite like 'Mer' as it can be applied wet ,or as a wash and wax , and is good for polishing out light scratches.

 

[vyv_cox]

My topsides have been abrasive polished so many times, not by me, that the glass is almost visible through the gelcoat. I am very careful to avoid any abrasives now, limit to occasional oxalic acid treatment and polish.

 

[Hydrozoan]

We had a lot of grey streaking, the last of which could sometimes take two or even three goes with various cleaners to remove. Some people attributed it to an aluminium toerail, but I am convinced that it is hydrocarbon residues in rain - from emissions from neighbouring port operations and/or from general traffic. If you have reason to believe you are suffering from that, try an appropriate cleaner. I use Auto Glym Engine and Machine Cleaner, which clears the streaks very effectively in one go. A ca. £10 spray bottle does the topsides of a 32 footer twice. It is described as as a 'biodegradeable degreaser', the labelling reports only non-ionic and amphoteric surfactants, and I do not believe it contains any abrasive ingredients (about which I would share others' concerns).

 

[Thallac]

Hi thanks for your input on the forum about topsides.

I did a small section yesterday. I did not use power washer, just scar shampoo to get clean.

Polishing worked a treat, it looks fantastic.

One question can I use oxylic acid on a blue boat. Thanks for your reply

 

[lynall]

Cif cleaner and a soft brush is really good