I recently removed the name of our boat which was painted on for 20 years...I read a number of ways to remove in the archives and chose to use. Easy Off oven cleaner. I sprayed it on waited a few min then started with a razor blade...the good news is it worked.....bad news I now have a yellow haze in the areas I sprayed. I cleaned the residue off with Laq thinner and then water and a clean rag.. The old name is completly gone (except for a ghost)...however the yellow haze remains. Is that permanant or can I buff out with rubbing compond and polisher?? What are your thoughts??
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Acetone!
For anyone reading this, please use acetone to remove painted graphics from a boat hull. It won't stain the gelcoat. That's one problem with these forums. You can't tell the good stuff apart from the absolute baloney. Dave, I don't have any advice for you, sorry.
For anyone reading this, please use acetone to remove painted graphics from a boat hull. It won't stain the gelcoat. That's one problem with these forums. You can't tell the good stuff apart from the absolute baloney. Dave, I don't have any advice for you, sorry.
Sunshine worked for me.
I had the same problem removing the painted on name from my boat. I tried just about everything that was suggested on this site. I was left with a purple haze that resisted everything I tried. So instead of worrying about it any more, I went sailing. I have my boat in a slip at Belgrade Lakes. By the time the summer was over, the sun had thoroughly bleached out the haze.
I had the same problem removing the painted on name from my boat. I tried just about everything that was suggested on this site. I was left with a purple haze that resisted everything I tried. So instead of worrying about it any more, I went sailing. I have my boat in a slip at Belgrade Lakes. By the time the summer was over, the sun had thoroughly bleached out the haze.
No Problem
Dave, I, too used Easy-Off to remove not only my old name but also an old boot stripe at the waterline. The bad news is that I also got the yellow haze. The good news here is that, at least on my boat, the Easy Off didn't yellow the gel coat, rather, it yellowed the layers of hull polish & wax that had built up from years of maintenance. I used soft scrub with bleach applied with a black scrub pad to take off the yellow haze. For me, it worked like a charm, and only took about 15 minutes before my transome was a clean, even shade of white. If you feel that won't do the trick, then you should be able to buff it out. I'd recommend you take it easy on the buffing, though, and make sure you use the white paste & not the pink stuff. Good luck! Allen Schweitzer s/v Falstaff C-30 Hull# 632
Dave, I, too used Easy-Off to remove not only my old name but also an old boot stripe at the waterline. The bad news is that I also got the yellow haze. The good news here is that, at least on my boat, the Easy Off didn't yellow the gel coat, rather, it yellowed the layers of hull polish & wax that had built up from years of maintenance. I used soft scrub with bleach applied with a black scrub pad to take off the yellow haze. For me, it worked like a charm, and only took about 15 minutes before my transome was a clean, even shade of white. If you feel that won't do the trick, then you should be able to buff it out. I'd recommend you take it easy on the buffing, though, and make sure you use the white paste & not the pink stuff. Good luck! Allen Schweitzer s/v Falstaff C-30 Hull# 632
scotch brit pad
As a last ditch effort I wanted to see if it HAD yellowed the gel coat...so I took a scotch brite pad,,and did a test area...and the yellow did dissapear and remained white...so if I do that lightly over the yellow area I should be able to bring back the white along with compond and wax? or should I now try acetone?
As a last ditch effort I wanted to see if it HAD yellowed the gel coat...so I took a scotch brite pad,,and did a test area...and the yellow did dissapear and remained white...so if I do that lightly over the yellow area I should be able to bring back the white along with compond and wax? or should I now try acetone?
Faded Gelcoat
The gelcoat under the old letters didn't fade as much as the gelcoat exposed to the sun. Bob's suggestion about the sunlight over a summer worked for me on a previous boat. Bill
The gelcoat under the old letters didn't fade as much as the gelcoat exposed to the sun. Bob's suggestion about the sunlight over a summer worked for me on a previous boat. Bill
Only use acetone gingerly.
Dave: I also use acetone on gel coat from time to time. You never want to apply it directly on the gelcoat. Always apply it to a rag sparingly to clean the spot and wipe it off. Jim Willis from Island Girl has spoken about this from time to time. It basically will melt plastic. I used oven off to remove my letters. It also had the yellow cast. The sun will bleach it out over time. I would let the sun do it job before you use any other method other than washing a waxing. The ridge will not necessarily go away for a long time. This will take sanding with wet/dry sand paper. Again, I would not recommend this unless you become desperate. If you are re-applying a new name you will hardly notice it in a few months.
Dave: I also use acetone on gel coat from time to time. You never want to apply it directly on the gelcoat. Always apply it to a rag sparingly to clean the spot and wipe it off. Jim Willis from Island Girl has spoken about this from time to time. It basically will melt plastic. I used oven off to remove my letters. It also had the yellow cast. The sun will bleach it out over time. I would let the sun do it job before you use any other method other than washing a waxing. The ridge will not necessarily go away for a long time. This will take sanding with wet/dry sand paper. Again, I would not recommend this unless you become desperate. If you are re-applying a new name you will hardly notice it in a few months.
acetone won't hurt gelcoat.
acetone will melt polystyrene and a few other plastics. But in my experience gel coat is not affected. The basic chemistry is different. Plastics like polystyrene are large molecules but they aren't crosslinked and can be dissolved by solvents. But the polyester in gelcoat is crosslinked and very resistent to solvents. I don't know of any solvent that will affect cured gelcoat /fiberglass during a short exposure. Maybe over months or weeks some solvents will weaken these plastics.
acetone will melt polystyrene and a few other plastics. But in my experience gel coat is not affected. The basic chemistry is different. Plastics like polystyrene are large molecules but they aren't crosslinked and can be dissolved by solvents. But the polyester in gelcoat is crosslinked and very resistent to solvents. I don't know of any solvent that will affect cured gelcoat /fiberglass during a short exposure. Maybe over months or weeks some solvents will weaken these plastics.
Acetone
Acetone will not hurt gellcoat, however, remeber it is a solvent. It will remove all the wax that is on the boat in the process. I too have used easy-off for removing stubborn stains, like tree sap (long story). Easy-Off contains LYE. Do not leave this on your hull for too long and rinse with plenty of water. If you are going to use scotch brite you might just as well use sand paper, it will have the same end result. For removing yellowed areas I use lemon juice and a sponge. I especially use it on my load line after it is hauled out for the season to make it white again. Just remeber to use rubber gloves if you use acetone or easy off as it will damage your skin. LYE is a caustic and Acetone removes all the oils from your hands.
Acetone will not hurt gellcoat, however, remeber it is a solvent. It will remove all the wax that is on the boat in the process. I too have used easy-off for removing stubborn stains, like tree sap (long story). Easy-Off contains LYE. Do not leave this on your hull for too long and rinse with plenty of water. If you are going to use scotch brite you might just as well use sand paper, it will have the same end result. For removing yellowed areas I use lemon juice and a sponge. I especially use it on my load line after it is hauled out for the season to make it white again. Just remeber to use rubber gloves if you use acetone or easy off as it will damage your skin. LYE is a caustic and Acetone removes all the oils from your hands.
We had the same problem ....
Wound up having the transom sanded and refinished. Didn't want to flirt with danger from any lingering ghosts from the previous name
Fair winds, Bill
Wound up having the transom sanded and refinished. Didn't want to flirt with danger from any lingering ghosts from the previous name
Fair winds, Bill- Status