Removing Wax from a Topper Dinghy

[dolabriform]

Ok, so for all of you who followed the previous thread here's an update.

Before buying the Topper I had looked at various videos about tarting them up, and seen how easy it was to do with White Spirit, wire wool and a hot air gun.

So of course being a numpty I viewed the one I bought through rose tinted spectacles, and didn't spot the layers and layers of what appears to be wax covering the deck. White spirit seems to dissolve it making a thickish goo, which I then need to wipe off, let dry and repeat. I've even taken to scraping as much off as I can with a paint scraper.

This is turning into a very very long process, and is not going to be easy on certain areas, so I was wondering if any of the clever people her had a better idea on how to remove the wax?

I probably shouldn't bother, but I'd like the boat to be fairly clean and on the places I've managed to get back to the original deck the yellow is like new.

 

[ashtead]

Have you thought about buying some deck cleaner?

 

[dolabriform]

Have you thought about buying some deck cleaner?

I've tried Owatrol marine strip, oxalic acid, and no luck unfortunately!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Wax should melt in hot water. Would a wallpaper stripper work, coupled with some absorbent paper? Or even a hot air gun, again followed by something absorbent? If you get wax on clothing, ironing it through blotting paper works very well.

 

[dolabriform]

Wax should melt in hot water. Would a wallpaper stripper work, coupled with some absorbent paper? Or even a hot air gun, again followed by something absorbent? If you get wax on clothing, ironing it through blotting paper works very well.

I thought about trying an Iron with newspaper, I'll give that a go later

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I thought about trying an Iron with newspaper, I'll give that a go later

I'd be cautious about using an iron - you might get the setting too high and melt the polypropylene of which it's made.

 

[ashtead]

I just wonder if this is really wax but there are products that take wax candles out of limestone type surfaces that work quite well so you might look at products that remove wax from stone fireplaces

 

[dolabriform]

ok, the Iron didn't work.
The hot air gun helps to remove some of the thicker areas, but in the main I'm left with this which I can't seem to remove.

 

[johnalison]

Enter it for the Turner prize. You could perhaps try acetone, if the plastic will take it.

I'm still trying to get my head round the thought of a polypropylene iron.

 

[Hadenough]

Steam cleaner?

 

[ashtead]

Have you tried some form of flap wheel on a drill in a discrete corner you can cover with a harbour s ticker?

 

[lw395]

Toppers are IIRC made of ABS. I would check that.
Is this stuff actually wax, or some sort of breakdown due to sunlight?
Some people put surfboard wax on their decks.

You could try a degreaser, the cheap one from Screwfix is good on motorcycle chain wax if that's any help?
OTher than that, solvents. The solvent cleaner sold for UPVC windows perhaps?

Failing that, it's probably wet'n'dry time?
I know people used to w&d the bottoms to good effect.

 

[dolabriform]

Toppers are IIRC made of ABS. I would check that.
Is this stuff actually wax, or some sort of breakdown due to sunlight?
Some people put surfboard wax on their decks.

You could try a degreaser, the cheap one from Screwfix is good on motorcycle chain wax if that's any help?
OTher than that, solvents. The solvent cleaner sold for UPVC windows perhaps?

Failing that, it's probably wet'n'dry time?
I know people used to w&d the bottoms to good effect.

It's not UV breakdown as you can feel the waxiness of it and breaks down slowly with white spirit.

I'm thinking it probably is some kind of surfboard wax.

 

[john_morris_uk]

In a previous era of my life, I used to clean surfboard wax off my surfboard with boiling water. Just pour it on and the wax runs off...

How about one of those steam cleaners that you can use on curtains and soft furnishings?

Make sure you don't melt the dinghy though...

 

[ashtead]

Have you thought of asking topper for advice?

 

[chrishscorp]

Steam cleaner?

yes i would have thought that would be fairly effective.

One of the transport firms i have used have a diesel powered steam washer for their trucks, you would want to turn the pressure down to start with, should make pretty quick work of the wax.

 

[dolabriform]

I must admit that I'm rather stumped as to what this substance is.

Hot water does not melt it. Degreaser removes some of the waxy feeling from it but still leaves a residue underneath. White spirit breaks it down albeit layer by layer which takes a long time. Owatrol marine strip doesn't do anything. A hot air gun will melt off the thicker sections allowing me to wipe off a large amount, but still leaves a fair amount on there and I wary of using the hot air gun to much for fear of melting the deck. An Iron and paper lifted a tiny amount, but again I'm worried about damaging the deck.

I wouldn't be concerned if it wasn't for the amount of dirt in this substance that rubs off on everything including wetsuits.

 

[Corribee Boy]

Our topper's surface finish was degraded by sunlight and we were advised to scrape it with a spare stanley blade, held at right angles to the surface. This stripped the crud back to fresh plastic without any other damage.

Perhaps using fairly vigorous mechanical removal would work? I know you tried a paint scraper but perhaps the sharpness is key?

 

[lw395]

Could be a whole cocktail of board wax, tree sap and sunlight afflicted plastic.
I'd try different solvents, and/or the stanley blade.

If you've got one of those steam cleaners, used in conjunction with screwfix degreaser they are worth a try.

The other thing which is often surprisingly effective on any sticky mess is Jif/Cif cream cleaner.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I must admit that I'm rather stumped as to what this substance is.

Hot water does not melt it. Degreaser removes some of the waxy feeling from it but still leaves a residue underneath. White spirit breaks it down albeit layer by layer which takes a long time. Owatrol marine strip doesn't do anything. A hot air gun will melt off the thicker sections allowing me to wipe off a large amount, but still leaves a fair amount on there and I wary of using the hot air gun to much for fear of melting the deck. An Iron and paper lifted a tiny amount, but again I'm worried about damaging the deck.

I wouldn't be concerned if it wasn't for the amount of dirt in this substance that rubs off on everything including wetsuits.

Sounds like a silicone wax to me, in which case I don't think there is an easy way to strip it.