Tips for removing previous boat name imprint in gelcoat

[AllanG]

Hi,

I'm considering renaming my boat, however, as I'm sure that when I remove the present name vinyl letters, I will be left with a noticeable imprint on the gelcoat, does anyone have any tips of how to remove this imprint.......apart from copious amounts of cutting paste and polishing?

Allan

 

[neale]

The answer is that you never will. The vinyl has protected the gelcoat underneath from the weather and UV and so it has aged less than the surrounding gel. Once the vinyl is removed, a really good compound will all but make the old name disappear, but over time it will come back again.

Keep on polishing as soon as it starts to appear is all you can do. On white gelcoat this won't need to be very often but on coloured gel it could be at least once a year.

If you put the new name over the top it will mean a proper polish will be harder to achieve without damaging the new vinyl so maybe think of moving the new name to a new bit of gelcoat.

 

[Nick_H]

a really good compound will all but make the old name disappear, but over time it will come back again.

That's not what I found, maybe it varies depending on the particular gel coat. I found that it was reasonably visible at first, even after polishing, but gradually faded over time as the newly exposed gel coat weathered in.

On the point about where to put the new name, if you put it over the old it does help to disguise the witness of the old name, especially if the new name is in dark, bold lettering

 

[nimbusgb]

Even the copious amounts of cutting paste and polishing won't do it. Not only have the original letters protected the gel but the adhesive has also affected it.

Polish it well once and just live with it.

 

[ccscott49]

Even the copious amounts of cutting paste and polishing won't do it. Not only have the original letters protected the gel but the adhesive has also affected it.

Polish it well once and just live with it.

...........or put your new name on a piece of vynil which covers where the old name was, or even paint it and then put the name on. I mean paint it nicely, like a spray job with a contrasting colour.

 

[rafiki_]

I renamed Rafiki when we bought her 3 years ago. Fortunately the previous owner had removed his lettering, so we had a reasonably free "canvass". You could just about make out the previous name 3 years ago, but not any more.

 

[Marine Reflections]

Ghost names

As others have said, the vinyl has protected the gel coat.

The surrounding area has been exposed to the elements amongst other things and the lettering has not.

There will be a height / depth difference in the surrounding area, also a difference in how porous the surrounding area has become, compared with the protected gel.

The method of 'blending' is to make the protected lettered areas the same height as the surrounding area, then compound and polish the whole area to make non porous (shiny) again.

In other words the 'Ghost name' will be higher than surrounding and you need to bring this down to a uniform level.

Simple 1500-2000 grit paper used wet, for the height (depending on required depth), then compound to lose the micro scratches caused in process and to deal with the porous as a whole.

Using products that contain fillers (polishes & waxes) on the surrounding area instead of the above methods will only serve as a temporary measure, as the fillers diminish, the porous areas will return, showing up the age gap.

This depends on a few factors, how long the name has been protecting the area, the protection the surrounding gel coat has had as a whole and chemical exposure that may have slightly changed the gel coat pigment.

Most are very simple to deal with properly, but if you want to avoid even compounding, then possibly use one of the more longer lasting fillers (insert brand of 'thin varnish like' products for gel coat)
shudder just went down my spine! I did not say that.

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[nautiboats]

Try this mix

There is an expensive tin of stuff available in chandler's, about £10 a 1/2 litre or something daft, that basically eats into the faded/dirty bit and brings it up pure white/whatever color again.

I am sure this must have been covered a million times on websites and forums but I suspect it may be worth a mention in the vinyl surrounding area issue...

The expensive stuff I can't recall the name of (Y10 possibly?) but it is basically just Oxalic acid used for bleaching wood normally. There is a much cheaper way by ordering Oxalic crystals online and mixing it into wall paper paste. (about a cupful of crystals to about a fifth of a bucket of paste. (mix the paste first then put in the crystals) Google it and there is a load on the web about it too. I buy it by the 10kg tub which lasts a long time or does a big boat. Wood treatment companies sell it.

The paste gets the stuff to stick temporarily to the hull to do it's work and of course being water soluble washes off no problem subsequently. Don't just rely on putting the boat in the water to wash it off again that doesn't quite work for some reason - I know as I was trying to economize even more on the elbow grease but that was the final limit of effectiveness.

Brush it on and leave it on for five or six minutes (you will see the hull turn white before your eyes!) then brush and wash it off.

We use it to get the yellow out of the hull on ribs and similar boats that we run without anti fouling to maximize the speed and appearance of the boats. After a power wash off the hull is left with a yellow from the growth that is impossible to polish off and no matter what generally needs shed loads of elbow grease to even put a dent it in before you give up.

If covering a large area I use a stiff brush to clean off when it comes to wash off time and rub more stubborn areas with it whilst the paste is on.

It is safer than it sounds but as always wear gloves and goggles and old clothes.

I haven't tried in on areas that had the vinyl surround fade issue and vinyl on for many years but it worked on areas affected after a being covered by vinyl for two years and of course is a great tip anyway at haul out time to get the waterline looking good again.

I didn't invent the mix but many of the commercial guys use it as a trick to keep their boats looking good down here in the Solent.

After about six applications over whatever period I would recommend another polish with a silicone polish too to help keep the gel coat protected and looking good.