I have a fiberglass boat with gel coat which has been sorely neglected from a maintenance perspective. It is usable but not pretty. I have scrubbed the deck and exposed portion of the the hull (boat in the water) using water and 3M boat soap but there still seems to be a lot of dirt/stains so I am not ready to use wax at this point. Have you ever heard of using a steam blaster/cleaner to clean a boat? Do you think it is a good idea? What other methods would be more appropriate to get her clean to the point of waxing? Thanks!
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Easy On Easy Off..
West Marine sold me a great cleaner. Some kind of acid based cleaner, so wear proper protection when handling it. In any case it cleaned those stains right out. It was unbelievably easy! It's called Easy On Easy Off. good luck.. -Sean
West Marine sold me a great cleaner. Some kind of acid based cleaner, so wear proper protection when handling it. In any case it cleaned those stains right out. It was unbelievably easy! It's called Easy On Easy Off. good luck.. -Sean
Not a good idea to pressure wash .....
any small bubbles/voids in the gel will get ripped open. Use a strong caustic detergent such as sodium silicate containing detergent for deep cleaning of the porous gelcoat. It will turn the gel a 'yellowish' color but will fade back to the base color when you rinse. Rinse, Then follow with a wash of oxalic acid to lift any iron and/or tannin stains. Wear gloves, etc. when washing with strong detergents and with oxalic.
any small bubbles/voids in the gel will get ripped open. Use a strong caustic detergent such as sodium silicate containing detergent for deep cleaning of the porous gelcoat. It will turn the gel a 'yellowish' color but will fade back to the base color when you rinse. Rinse, Then follow with a wash of oxalic acid to lift any iron and/or tannin stains. Wear gloves, etc. when washing with strong detergents and with oxalic.
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