What cleaning fluid for my boat

[tortugarum]

Any ideas on what I use to clean and polish the hull of my GRP cruiser?
I also have to Re- anti-foul her. Is it best to rub down the hull or scrape her and if so with what?
Thanks for your help



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[Talbot]

Anti-fouling will depend upon what is on the boat now, and what you want to put on for next year. Assuming they are the same, your action then depends upon what state it is in. If it is obviously very thick then you will need to remove it at some time and start again. If it merely has some craters/valleys in it, then these can be rubbed down carefully (the dust is toxic so make sure you cover up and wear a mask).

If you need to remove it, then there are three systems you could use:
Scrape it off with a manual scraper (best one to use is a sandvik)
Use <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bcaviation.co.uk/paint_stripper/paint_stripper.htm>http://www.bcaviation.co.uk/paint_stripper/paint_stripper.htm</A> to remove it.
Get it removed professionally with a mechanical tool.

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[TheCount]

For your gelcoat use T-Cut and elbow grease. Finish with MER from the boat shows. This wipes on and wipes off really good and lasts for ages. Next time round all you need to use is the MER-dead easy.

Welcome to the show

<hr width=100% size=1>Still, what do I Know??

 

[Joe_Cole]

Depends on how dirty/stained it is.

If you've got yellow/brown stains around the waterline it's worth starting off with Oxalic Acid to "whiten" things up first. it really does save a lot of hard work.
Then use the T-cut followed by polish.

Joe

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[longjohnsilver]

I'd recommend Farecla No 10 rather than Tcut, seems to do a better job and is much cheaper from a car accessory shop.

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[VicMallows]

Fully agree with Joe's comments re: Oxalic Acid. It's sold in Chandlers as "Hull Cleaner" at an exhorbitant price, but do a search on the forum and you'll find several threads on how to make it up at a tiny fraction of the cost.

Vic

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[longjohnsilver]

And mix it with wallpaper paste to stop it from running on vertical surfaces. Can only be bought from a chemist, but be careful, it is poisonous.

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[Spuddy]

I'd heard, or read, that since gel coat was softer than car body paint, T cut wasn't the best choice. Spect it won't be critical though if not used regularly.

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[BrendanS]

Be careful with gelcoat, it's relatively thin, so you don't want to use abrasives often (Eg every year). If the gelcoat is badly clouded, yes a cutter is good. I'd use Farecla as recommended by many, or even better to my mind is the 3M range of gel coat cutters and polishes.

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