GRP safe paint stripper, reasonable price

[Greenheart]

Hi Andy, et al... I plan to shift the lurid green off the Osp before the season starts...I'd assumed a day or so with mask and sanding block was the way to go, but now I'm rethinking.

Looks like there are plenty of effective products, which needn't represent a localised ecological apocalypse. But I'm not certain which looks most appropriate for my purpose. My boat is outdoors and can't be effectively covered without the cover touching some of the treated portions...so I reckon I'll need a dry day when it's not frosty...if not actually warm.

My green paint looks to me like a fairly recent cover-up job which disguised various issues I've attempted to resolve. It's bubbling up off the side-decks where I believe unvented damp accumulated for about six weeks over December/January...

View attachment 40217

...having never used paint stripper before, I'll benefit from any/all advice.

Is it a good plan for me to start very early on 'the first day of spring' whenever that is, so that the stuff has a clear 12 hours, dawn till dusk, in which to work? When the twelve hours are up, must the stuff be removed immediately, or can I leave it and peel it off in the morning? Could I wrap the hull in plastic overnight, or does it need free circulation of air?

How essential is it to stop rain hitting treated areas during use? I'm guessing it would only reduce the potency of the product, rather than cause some regrettable chemical reaction.

Does paint stripper leave the underlying material ready-roughened for application of new paint/Progrip etc, or is there important intervening activity?

 

[rotrax]

For all you practical guys in a similar position, here is my 2p's worth.

We are fortunate in owning a lovely-albeit oldish-high quality yacht.

It has about 52 square feet of 1 inch thick solid teak cappings around the toerail and cockpit edges, plus the washboards and hatch trimming.

When we got her, she was in need of this teak " doing ".

It had many, many coats of Cetol-over 2mm thick in places.

This had to be stripped off-preferably with a stripper rather than sanding.

But what stripper? Research showed several specialist modern strippers that would do the job.

When priced up, 5 litres was about 65 quid delivered-no local supplier.

As I often do, I called the Companies Technical Dept. There I spoke with a young man who was very helpfull.

I said I required a stripper that would not affect the GRP, would get thick amounts of Cetol off and was easy to use.

He recomended the 65 quid one.

I said-playing the old soldier-that that was a bit steep for my shallow pocket.

He then said that the one they reccomended for graffiti removal from concrete was basicaly the same and was only 26 quid delivered.

I bought 5 litres, it worked without any damage to the GRP and was cost effective.

I am away from home untill mid April so cannot give product details-but as we know, call it a Marine stripper and the price goes up-and up..............

 

[VicS]

Hi Andy, et al... I plan to shift the lurid green off the Osp before the season starts...I'd assumed a day or so with mask and sanding block was the way to go, but now I'm rethinking.



...having never used paint stripper before, I'll benefit from any/all advice.



How essential is it to stop rain hitting treated areas during use? I'm guessing it would only reduce the potency of the product, rather than cause some regrettable chemical reaction.

Does paint stripper leave the underlying material ready-roughened for application of new paint/Progrip etc, or is there important intervening activity?

The choice of paint stripper will to some extent depend on the type of paint. If it is a two pack polyurethane chemical stripping will be difficult if even possible.

I guess you dont know what the paint is so you will have to try one or two strippers to see what is effective.

AFAIK the only strippers that are unsuitable for use on GRP are those containing dichloromethane, aka methylene chloride or methylene dichloride, but they are now only available for commercial use.

I would look at the current range of Nitromors strippers and caustic soda based strippers such as Dilunett, now sold as Owatrol Marine strip, or Strippit.

Great care obviously needed when using caustic soda based products to protect skin and especially your eyes.

Good ventilation needed for solvent based strippers such a Nitomors

A thick build up of paint or multiple coats might need several applications or may benefit from prolonged contact /covering with plastic sheet/newspaper to prevent it drying out.

Rain washing the product of the surface would not be helpful.

The surface should be lightly abraded once all the current coating has been removed. Diligently follow the manufacturers instructions for the coating you intend applying with regard to preparation and priming etc.

 

[Greenheart]

Thanks for the input. As you say, I've no clue what paint mine is...but I'm confident it won't have been very expensive, though to be fair the finish is pretty good for the most part.

I took a look today, and was amazed to find that the bubbles I photographed last month, have gone, or mostly subsided...

View attachment 40238

...but the fact that moisture (or something) had bubbled up easily from beneath, leads me to suppose the paint won't be particularly hard to shift.

Ventilation won't be any sort of issue as the boat is always outside. Am I right in thinking the stripped paint and spent product will form a caustic 'goo', which needs careful disposal?