Will Sugar Soap clean GRP?

A

alldownwind

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Just starting to decorate a room today, and the thought sudenly struck me - could you use sugar soap to clean GRP? It's really effective at cleaning the grime off paintwork.
Or is this a daft idea? Would it damage the finish on gelcoat? What is in sugar soap, anyway? I suppose it doesn't have oxalic acid in it, does it? Stings the same!
 
From Wikipedia,

Sugar soap is an industrial cleaning material, composed of sodium carbonate, sodium phosphate, and sometimes sodium silicate as an abrasive. The dry powder looks like table sugar, which gives it its name. The term appears to be used with regards to a cleaning material, mainly in Commonwealth countries.

The solution is alkaline and is used for cleaning paintwork in preparation for repainting. (An alternative to prepare paintwork for painting is to clean the painted surface with "household ammonia" or ammonium hydroxide, which is a solution of NH3 in water.)

The above mentioned substances attributed as being part of "sugar soap" resemble trisodium phosphate.

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Personally I use one of the melamine sponges like Eradicator or JML's Magic Eraser which is great at getting the scuff marks and dirt off without any chemicals. Leaves it naked in need of a polish. Starbrite Hull cleaner seems to work pretty well too.
 
We (I, when Urszula is not looking) use common ‘Dishwasher powder’ to clean almost everything that doesn’t come good after washing-up liquid, alcohol, nail varnish remover and that wonderful stuff available mostly in Holland called ‘WasBenzine’ which removes virtually everything.

Yes, use sugar soap (or a solution of dishwasher powder) but make sure you rinse very well with warm water after use.
 
[ QUOTE ]
could you use sugar soap to clean GRP? It's really effective at cleaning the grime off paintwork.
Or is this a daft idea? Would it damage the finish on gelcoat? What is in sugar soap, anyway? I suppose it doesn't have oxalic acid in it, does it? Stings the same!

[/ QUOTE ] It's an alkaline mixture eg of sodium sesquicarbonate and possibly phosphates and a detergent such as sodium dodecylbenzene sulphonate,

It is therefore good at removing greasy deposits and nicotine stains. I does not contain oxalic acid. It should not hurt GRP
[ QUOTE ]
Stings the same!

[/ QUOTE ] You should be wearing gloves and goggles when using either. "Sting" will be an understatement if you get any in your eyes!
 
Brasso. It's a form of jeweller's polish - cleans without scratching GRP.

Relatively speaking, to use sugar soap is to run a bulldozer over your GRP. Don't believe me? Take a regular washing up green toaster type block and rub it on a small area of your GRP - this should convince you how soft GRP is, and how quickly the lustre is dissipated.

Brasso!

PWG
 
[ QUOTE ]
When I were a lad

[/ QUOTE ]

......we couldn't afford toothpaste and there was nought wrong with a bit of soot and water collected in upturned dustbin lid. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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