Scrubbing Gelcoat?

[CaptainBob]

Can you scrub gelcoat with a stiff brush? And what about green kitchen panscrubs?

Or will it cause deep - irreparable scratches?

If so, what else? Sponge attack does nothing to some of the footprints I've found - which seem to be absorbed into the gelcoat.

 

[SONNY494]

I wouldn't use any brushes of any kind on gel coat. There are many products to remove the oxidation with less of a chance of scoring the gel coat. After you get off the oxidation then a couple of coats of some good quality boat wax (fiberglass wax) and it should be good for the season. If worse comes to worse then you could use a white compound paste; but be careful not to rub too much into the gel coat.

SONNY

 

[Bodach na mara]

It is not only oxidation that you may need to remove, we always get some weed growth above the boot-top due to the boat rolling on the mooring. A scrub with a deck-scrubber removes most of it, but I usually need to resort to he use of one of these green scratchy things (used from the dinghy) for the stuborn bits. I would not say that my gel-coat is pristine, but as the anternative is a grass skirt, it just has to put up with it.

 

[l'escargot]

I rate "Astonish"

It's biodegradable as well.

 

[oldsaltoz]

Any abrasive cleaning of gel coat should be avoided, you end up with thin plastic like layer that will be very hard to clean because the grime is not on the surface but deep in scratches.

Chemical cleaning is one way to get it clean, then you need to apply a good protective coating of polish to make it easy to clean in the future.

Polish will only last a single season at best, so should be done as time permits during the season to maintain the protection in high traffic areas.

Hope this helps.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[CaptainBob]

Cheers for the replies.

Any polish recommendations?