Hull cleaning with Y10

AllanG

AllanG

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I have bought some Y10 to clean the 'yellow' discolouration off my hull topsides, and would like some advice of how best to use this product:-

What to use for application?
How large an area to apply?
Approximate coverage area of a standard size Y10 tub?
Do you need to 'scrub' the surface?
Can it be used on 'antislip' moulded deck?
How long to you leave it to work?
What do you use to wash it off?
How soon after should you apply polish?

Any hints / tips would be most appreciated.

Many thanks,

Allan
 
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Y10 contains oxalic acid. I brush it on with a cheap paint brush leave it 10 minutes, and then wash it off with water & a sponge. It sticks well so needs a bit of effort to wash off.
1 tub lasted for two cleanings of my 22' boat .

One thing to be aware of... This stuff does an amazing job of getting rid of brown staining. So it becomes very obvious which bits you have used it on and which you haven't.
 
Agree entirely about the temperature. It never seems to work in the winter in the yard but is fine on the water in summer. I have found the oxalic acid based powder to be far more effective and not temperature dependent. I used to use Teak Cleaner but now there are products specifically aimed at hull cleaning.
 
The stuff is so good at getting off the yellowstain that it can leave a patchwork of treated and untreated sections on the topsides as pointed out on this post. If this happens, you have no option but to go over the whole topsides with a mild abrasive such as Farecla to blend in the sections. Wash off thoroughly with fresh water and then apply a good wax polish. If you don't polish, the hull will get grimy again in no time.
 
To answer your questions:
Apply with an old paintbrush (or a cheap one).
Cover up to about 4 square metres and stop. Leave for about ten - twenty minutes. Cover the next four square metres and start washing off the first bit.
A tub will cover your hull about twice or more.
You should not need to scrub, but it is primarily a STAIN REMOVER. If the hull is dirty, use a CLEANER first, such as International Hull Cleaner. But watch this thread for lots of posts telling you it is a waste of money and that there are cheaper cleaners. I would tell you myself but can't remember which ones work.
I don't use it on decks as it is not a cleaner.
How long? answered already.
To wash off, use water. I often use seawater as I usually use it to remove yellowing during the season when the boat is on the mooring. I do not advise this, as it leaves salt crystals, but I hate wasting precious fresh water!
Polish once the hull has dried off.
 
Just came across this old thread whilst looking for reviews on Y-10 gel. Having used Claude to quickly locate the EU safety data sheet, apparently it contains 6% Oxalic acid, so not as concentrated as making your own, but of course has xanthan gum to make the gel so it sticks.

Hope that helps someone...
 
I use Oxalic powder and some (not too much) wallpaper paste. Have also tried cornflower to thicken not very successfully. Will try to get some xanthan gum to try.

Of course, compared to all my other boating costs a tub of Y10 would be insignificant, but that's not the point:(
 
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Dazedkipper said:
W5 limescale remover from Lidl works brilliantly and is 10th the cost of Y10.
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The original Cilit Bang Lime and Rust was excellent - then do-gooders forced a change in the product ... now its useless !

I have bags of Oxalic ..... about 3kgs of it !! Local shop sells it as concrete / brick cleaner ... which according to the shop owner gets round the EU regs. ??
 
I use a home brew of oxalic acid crystals, ecover dish soap and water. Spray it on the hull, give it a rub with sponge and then leave. Work my way round the boat in the tender then when I get back to the start give it a rinse down to remove the left overs. Takes 20mins on a nice day at anchor and comes up wonderfully.
 
I use Harpic 100% Limescale Remover. €3 in my local supermarket and it works great. Use plenty of it, leave on for 5-10 minutes, don’t let it dry in. Rinse off
 
Not much help now, but I used to use a very similar product to Y10 made by Yachticon that I know from its German name of Anti Gilb, meaning anti-yellow. It is much sloppier and comes in a handy bottle with a flip-lid, making it much easier. As already said, leave on for 10-20 mins and wash off, followed by polish/wax. Yellowing varies a lot from place to place. We invariably got it badly when passing through the Netherlands but in the last few years in home waters it didn’t happen at all. Wax may slow it a bit but one has to accept it as a fact of life, preferably removing it before it gets too bad.
 
johnalison said:
Wax may slow it a bit but one has to accept it as a fact of life, preferably removing it before it gets too bad.
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You don't have to accept it as a fact of life. If you want to prevent it you need to put the effort in to fix the cause. Gelcoat gets degraded by UV in sunlight and turns a thin surface layer porous. If after rubbing your hands across the surface you have fine white dust on your fingers it has happened. That porous layer absorbs the stains you see. Y10 will remove the stains but not the cause. The solution is compounding with an electric polisher to remove the surface damage. Only a tiny thin layer is taken off. You won't wear out your gelcoat. However, it's hard slow work that is tough on the arms.
 
AngusMcDoon said:
You don't have to accept it as a fact of life. If you want to prevent it you need to put the effort in to fix the cause. Gelcoat gets degraded by UV in sunlight and turns a thin surface layer porous. If after rubbing your hands across the surface you have fine white dust on your fingers it has happened. That porous layer absorbs the stains you see. Y10 will remove the stains but not the cause. The solution is compounding with an electric polisher to remove the surface damage. Only a tiny thin layer is taken off. You won't wear out your gelcoat. However, it's hard slow work that is tough on the arms.
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That doesn’t account for the yellowing that we got on a shiny new boat and for years afterwards every time we went to the Baltic. Buffing up is obviously a good idea but certainly not the whole story. A late friend bought a Nic 32 and was advised by the local GRP man to remove previous wax with cellulose thinner before polishing and re-waxing, I think on the assumption that it was old wax that was yellowing. The result looked good for a while but I can’t say that I came to any firm conclusions about it.
 
AngusMcDoon said:
You don't have to accept it as a fact of life. If you want to prevent it you need to put the effort in to fix the cause. Gelcoat gets degraded by UV in sunlight and turns a thin surface layer porous. If after rubbing your hands across the surface you have fine white dust on your fingers it has happened. That porous layer absorbs the stains you see. Y10 will remove the stains but not the cause. The solution is compounding with an electric polisher to remove the surface damage. Only a tiny thin layer is taken off. You won't wear out your gelcoat. However, it's hard slow work that is tough on the arms.
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That makes good sense.

I have a decent sized rib that has it, and access under it is very difficult, I worked hard at chocking it up, cleaned it all with oxalic acid and it came up beautifully.

I then polished it with Meguiar polish and after a weeks or so's use in and out of a dry-stack, it was all back.

I'd love to get shot of it for good.

The boat spends less than 24 hours in the water at any one time and is otherwise in great shape.
 
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