Has annyone used Pettit Bio Blast bottom paint remover. Any secrets in using it? I tried using it today and paint was hard to scrape off and it will require I hope only 2 coats. Thanks Richard
Botom Paint Remover
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bottom paint removal
Hello, Last November my boat was hauled and I tried to remove what looked like 20 years of bottom paint. First I tried Franmar Soy Strip paint remover (rated #1 by practical Sailor). It softened the paint, but didn't easily remove it. Next I tried Pettit Bioblast. It did nothing. After that I tried sanding. It worked, but was very slow. Then I tried scraping. That worked the best, but it was slow, hard, dirty work. So I gave up and had the boat soda blasted. That worked great. In the next week or two I will barrier coat and then new bottom paint. In defense of the chemical strippers, it was barely 50F when I tried using them. I think they would work better at 70 or so. I also had a LOT of hard paint build up. Good luck! Barry
Hello, Last November my boat was hauled and I tried to remove what looked like 20 years of bottom paint. First I tried Franmar Soy Strip paint remover (rated #1 by practical Sailor). It softened the paint, but didn't easily remove it. Next I tried Pettit Bioblast. It did nothing. After that I tried sanding. It worked, but was very slow. Then I tried scraping. That worked the best, but it was slow, hard, dirty work. So I gave up and had the boat soda blasted. That worked great. In the next week or two I will barrier coat and then new bottom paint. In defense of the chemical strippers, it was barely 50F when I tried using them. I think they would work better at 70 or so. I also had a LOT of hard paint build up. Good luck! Barry
removing paint
This month's Practical sailor reviewed paint removers. West Marine antifoulant stripper made by Dumond, beat the Franmar Soy Strip.
This month's Practical sailor reviewed paint removers. West Marine antifoulant stripper made by Dumond, beat the Franmar Soy Strip.
Peel Away
My only experience is with Peel Away. Works pretty good on the about 5 layers of paint on the bottom of my Oday. Other products that aren't specifically safe for fiberglass didn't seem to even touch the stuff on the bottom of my boat. My pressure washer removed more paint than other products. I have removed about half of the paint already, the other half has the stripper on it right now. Going to remove it this afternoon. It does need 24hrs on my bottom paint. On the topsides, just a few hours was needed for best results.
My only experience is with Peel Away. Works pretty good on the about 5 layers of paint on the bottom of my Oday. Other products that aren't specifically safe for fiberglass didn't seem to even touch the stuff on the bottom of my boat. My pressure washer removed more paint than other products. I have removed about half of the paint already, the other half has the stripper on it right now. Going to remove it this afternoon. It does need 24hrs on my bottom paint. On the topsides, just a few hours was needed for best results.
Soda blaster
If you have a heave build up of a hard bottom paint, the absolute best way is to soda blast. It is fast, environmentally friendly,non toxic, and washes away with the first rain. The only one I have done this way had many years of a hard bottom paint on it. After three or four days and several gallons of stripper, had made little headway. I rented a soda blaster. It was fairly expensive, but probably not much more than the many gallons of stripper it would have taken.The whole job took about three hours on a 28', and it was down to the gel coat, ready for paint.
If you have a heave build up of a hard bottom paint, the absolute best way is to soda blast. It is fast, environmentally friendly,non toxic, and washes away with the first rain. The only one I have done this way had many years of a hard bottom paint on it. After three or four days and several gallons of stripper, had made little headway. I rented a soda blaster. It was fairly expensive, but probably not much more than the many gallons of stripper it would have taken.The whole job took about three hours on a 28', and it was down to the gel coat, ready for paint.
Needle scaler .
Since you have an Iron Keel, a needle scaler would work for you. I will be undertaking this task this spring also. I am going to try the needle scaler first and if that is too labor intensive I will probably go with walnut blast. Containment should be your biggest concern as the EPA regulations are quite strict. Keep us posted about the Pettit approach. I am curious how many hours it takes.
Since you have an Iron Keel, a needle scaler would work for you. I will be undertaking this task this spring also. I am going to try the needle scaler first and if that is too labor intensive I will probably go with walnut blast. Containment should be your biggest concern as the EPA regulations are quite strict. Keep us posted about the Pettit approach. I am curious how many hours it takes.
A warning from Don Casey about blasting
I don't know if it applies to soda blasting, which I know can be dialed down to be very gentle, but Don Casey states in one of his books to absolutely never blast a fiberglass hull. Blasting the hull supposedly makes the gelcoat porous and is setting it up for blisters in the near future. Again, not my opionion. I've thought of bringing the soda blaster home from work to use on my boat, but that warning sits in the back of my mind so I've been hesitant.
I don't know if it applies to soda blasting, which I know can be dialed down to be very gentle, but Don Casey states in one of his books to absolutely never blast a fiberglass hull. Blasting the hull supposedly makes the gelcoat porous and is setting it up for blisters in the near future. Again, not my opionion. I've thought of bringing the soda blaster home from work to use on my boat, but that warning sits in the back of my mind so I've been hesitant.
Soda blast
I had my 33 year old Peasrson with unknown years of build up soda blasted, then barrier coat and 3 coats of Micron. Looks great, the boats faster and it will be several years before I need to repaint. Downside...expensive as I did not have the skill set to do it so the yard did.
I had my 33 year old Peasrson with unknown years of build up soda blasted, then barrier coat and 3 coats of Micron. Looks great, the boats faster and it will be several years before I need to repaint. Downside...expensive as I did not have the skill set to do it so the yard did.
Soda Blaster
You can turn the soda blaster way down, and it is very gentle when you want it to be. When I did mine, I took it down to where I could just barely see a trace of the bottom paint color on the gel coat. No problems. I do not have any idea of the porous and inviting blisters that you referred to. I do know that if I have to do the same thing again, I will do it the same way.
You can turn the soda blaster way down, and it is very gentle when you want it to be. When I did mine, I took it down to where I could just barely see a trace of the bottom paint color on the gel coat. No problems. I do not have any idea of the porous and inviting blisters that you referred to. I do know that if I have to do the same thing again, I will do it the same way.
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