Stained Water line on GRP Hull

[Colin Brown]

My boat has just been lifted out for the winter and the water line is stained brown. I have used Y 10 to clean it, however it seems ineffective. Has the product a use by date, it's 5 years old ?
Any other suggestions please

 

[Caladh]

Oxalic acid - powder form and dilute as per instructions.

 

[johnalison]

I use Yachticon anti-gilb which is much the same. I think the trick might be to repeat it and leave it on longer. I would precede it with a detergent cleaner such as those sold as ‘gelcoat cleaner’.

 

[GEM43]

My boat has just been lifted out for the winter and the water line is stained brown. I have used Y 10 to clean it, however it seems ineffective. Has the product a use by date, it's 5 years old ?
Any other suggestions please

Not aware of use by date but be aware of temperature when used, it needs to be warm enough.

 

[pandos]

I have used y10 that was years old it was fine... It wont work if the air temperature is too low, and it is slow to work even in cool weather..

I think you need to clean the hull first and then the y10. I used ciff cream last week to clean off a lot of gunk and was impressed how well it worked with a small scrubber/sponge...

 

[Poignard]

Not aware of use by date but be aware of temperature when used, it needs to be warm enough.

Temperature certainly does make a big difference. From my experience of using it over many years I think 10 degrees is a bit low.

 

[davidej]

Yes, it’s easy to get that stain off but it will reappear soon! IMHO the gel coat degrades over time making it more susceptible to staining.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

Does polishing and waxing help prevent staining?

 

[Refueler]

Does polishing and waxing help prevent staining?

Not that I've noted.

 

[MontyMariner]

Harpic does the job, about £1 from Superbuy.
Wear rubber gloves, apply using a cloth, you will think nothing is happening, but look back at an area you did 5~10 mins ago and the brown stain will have disappeared.

 

[Refueler]

Harpic does the job, about £1 from Superbuy.
Wear rubber gloves, apply using a cloth, you will think nothing is happening, but look back at an area you did 5~10 mins ago and the brown stain will have disappeared.

Any Toilet Cleaner similar to Harpic can work ..

The best used to be Cilit Bang Lime and Rust Cleaner for Toilet - but the Green Brigade got on the act and the formula was altered ... now its virtually useless - even for its labelled use !

But there is another product that can work ... Oven Cleaner ... the foaming variety ... spray on ... leave for a few minutes .. but make sure you wash off well ...
I do not advise using all over though ... only where stains are.

(Oven Cleaner is actually a very good cleaner to use to prepare inside hull for mounting transducer in-hull kits etc. ... it really gets the surface spotless).

 

[GEM43]

Yes, it’s easy to get that stain off but it will reappear soon! IMHO the gel coat degrades over time making it more susceptible to staining.

Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax Wax...... ad nauseam.......

 

[MontyMariner]

Wax

Great if you're marina based and lift out for winter, but not if you're on a river and stay in all year with only a couple of hours out - lift, pressure wash and relaunch.

 

[MontyMariner]

(Oven Cleaner is actually a very good cleaner to use to prepare inside hull for mounting transducer in-hull kits etc. ... it really gets the surface spotless).

I've not heard of that one, I will keep it in mind

 

[Refueler]

Great if you're marina based and lift out for winter, but not if you're on a river and stay in all year with only a couple of hours out - lift, pressure wash and relaunch.

Marina or not ... Wax is not on my list of jobs !!

I watched a large MoBo get the full treatment couple years ago ... yard had the rotary polishers out and all the Marine Labelled cleaners / waxes ...

I was intrigued by it all ... days - I mean LOTS of days were spent on this ... and at the end - the boat gleamed like new ... it was a sight. I can imagine owner was impressed.

Boat was later launched ... few months later - she looked like all the rest ... stained waterline ... dull topsides etc.

 

[Refueler]

I've not heard of that one, I will keep it in mind

I owe that one to my ex UK Wife ....

Boat had a transducer tube but it had a leak ,,, so the castor was a mess around it ... dried and hard to remove. Plan was to break the tube out and clean up ... refit the tube.

I tried all sorts to clean up but all it was doing was making the castor sticky ... she suggested Oven Cleaner ... WOW ... spray .. leave ... wipe. Took a couple of applications - but it removed that crud so easily. The real amazing part though ... washing off the cleaner with water revealed the cleanest bilge area I had ever seen ..
I glassed that tube back and it never leaked again.

I have used Oven Cleaner often in grotty bilge areas and same results every time ..
BUT you must wash it off well after .. I am told that it can affect GRP resin .... (I've never had evidence yet though in all applications I've made).

 

[wonkywinch]

I found "The Pink Stuff" pretty effective as is "Bar Keepers Friend". Both slightly abrasive so I polish and wax afterwards.

 

[johnalison]

Not that I've noted.

As I mentioned in another thread, the advice of a local GRP repair specialist was that it may be necessary to remove built-up wax with cellulose thinners before cleaning and re-waxing. I haven’t needed to do this myself but a friend did it with results that were good at the time.

 

[oldgit]

Oxalic acid - powder form and dilute as per instructions.

Increasingly hard to find
Internet price £12.00 for 500g . Use cheapo washing up liquid to get to adhere to vertical surfaces and chines etc £15.00 all in ?

"Y"10 at £16-"£20 per face cream sized container is only about 28g of Oxalic acid per pot, suspect the water base makes up most of the rest of the weight.

 

[johnalison]

Increasingly hard to find
Internet price £12.00 for 500g . Use cheapo washing up liquid to get to adhere to vertical surfaces and chines etc £15.00 all in ?

"Y"10 at £16-"£20 per face cream sized container is only about 28g of Oxalic acid per pot, suspect the water base makes up most of the rest of the weight.

Yachticon looks to be about the same price but comes in a much nicer container and I found it easier to use than Y10. No connection, needless to say. It was just what was available on the Continent.