Scruffy Toe Rails

[Neraida]

Our aluminium toe rails are abit tatty, and having been on the phone to various chandlers today, and taking my heart pills, I have decided that maybe cleaning them up might be a better idea than replacing..

How should I go about this? If I had all winter I'd rub them down with fine wet and dry untill my arm fell off, but the season is rolling on, and I neeeeeed to get her in the water!

Suggestions for a quick fix muchly appreciated!

Ta

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[tonydyer]

Try jet washing. Works wonders for the deck, and does well with my toe rails. Depends how bad yours really are, but it is a quick solution if it works.

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[andy_wilson]

If you rubbed them down with wet 'n'dry you would remove the anodising and then have a mess on your hands.

Try diesel or paraffin with a scotchbrite pad, followed by a wash with warm soapy water, followed by a good wax car polish (as advised by Selden mast agent).

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[Neraida]

oooooo! ta!! I'll try that. )

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[oldsaltoz]

G'Day Neraida ,

Have you thought about getting them re anodised, a lot less than replacement cost.

<hr width=100% size=1> Old Salt Oz /forums/images/icons/cool.gif Growing old is unavoidable. However, growing up is still optional.

 

[Ivy]

Be careful using diesle or soapy water as it will make your deck very slippery. A friend of mine washed his deck with washing up liquid, and whe it got wet it was realy bad.

If you decide to re anodise or replace them, you will have fun getting them off. make sure you have an assistant. The sealant will probably try to remove the gel coat and possibly the mat underneath. fitting new ones isn,t easy either, getting them to bend around the hull is easy at first but when you get to the end there isn't much rail to pull on to get the last bit on. when I did some I used ratchet straps to pull the last bit in.

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[tcm]

Re: BUT

if blimmin toerails are the only job to do...why not just usem as they are, get on the water and do it in novemebr!?

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[beneteau_305_553]

Metallic aluminium spray paint works if the rails are clean. Mask off surrounding areas and go for it.

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