Silicone

[Sirus]

Couple of questions,I am told you cannot use a silicone polish on fibreglass, is this because it attacks the gellcoat or just that you wont be able to paint over it in the future,and part two is oxalic ( think thats how its spelt) can this be used to clean teek and will it affect the caulking.
Thats it thanks for all the help.....

 

[davel]

Never heard of silicone polish attacking GRP and would be very surprised if this were the case, let's see what others say on that one.

Re Oxcalic Acid, yes it does a good job of cleaning teak and doesn't affect the caulking. There have been numerous threads on this subject in the past so it's worth doing a search of the archives for more info.

 

[billmacfarlane]

Silocone doesn't attack gelcoat. The problem with silicone polish is that if you need to do a gelcoat/GRP repair you have to thoroughly degrease the area to remove all traces of the silicone polish. There's been a few questions on this site as to how to degrease and using acetone seems to be favourite.

 

[oldsaltoz]

Hi Sirus.
Your on the right track, silicon can spoil a new paint job if not properly removed it rejects wet paint, so best avoided. Acid will attack organic materials that’s why it does a good job of removing grime, dirt and rust but will not remove oils / grease etc, if you plan to use it on timber, make sure the timber is well wet before you apply the acid and give it a really good rinse when you finish and you should have no problems, because the acid does not attack oils it should not effect your caulking.

Anavagreatnewyear Old Salt Oz………

 

[iainmillett]

I was thinking of using silicone to ease my mast track so that raising and lowering the mainsail is easier.

My wife uses silicone spray on our aluminium window tracks at home and guards our curtains with her life - so would I be wrong to use on the aluminum mast track??

 

[chippie]

I've used a silicone paste on my mainsail sliders and it helped a lot.
I didnt want to go up the mast to do the track so put a dab on each slider.It is slippery stuff so have a means of cleaning your hands ready and waitng .I think that this paste/(grease?)lasts longer than the spray will IMHO.

 

[oldharry]

Silicon is an excellent waterproof lubricant, and is ideal for mast tracks, sticky hatches etc. It is also an excellent polish and adheres very well to GRP. And that is the problem: it is virtually impossible to remove it again once it is on, so that any repair, or subsequent paint job becomes a very great deal more difficult, as nothing will stick to it. Acetone may shift it if used in large enough quantities, but Acetone also attacks and softens the resins in GRP if allowed to remain in contact for long enough to dissolve the Silicon.