Wax after acetone?

Davidasailor26 · May 25, 2021

greta2u said:
Hi Sailors-
We are relatively new-3years- boat owners. Love our Hunter 34 Sea Angel.
Just did an overdue Spring cleaning. I took some advice from an Old Salt to clean the cockpit area by wiping with acetone (after I had scrubbed with fabuloso & bon ami & it was better but still spotted and dingy). It looks super clean, but now I’m worried I may have left the surface porous to future dirt? Do I need to wax it now?
If so, with what? I’m leery of making it slippery.
Thanks in advance.

The acetone would’ve removed any existing wax protection, so yes it would be good to reapply wax to seal the gelcoat and prevent oxidation. For the vertical surfaces you can use regular marine wax. For the non-skid surfaces try Woody Wax, which provides protection without being slippery.

Roland5048 · May 25, 2021

Be careful with the acetone. Fiberglass and acetone don't necessarily play well together.

Justin_NSA · May 25, 2021

You definitely need to protect it again. Here's a recent thread on deck waxing

Sailboat Deck cleaner/treatment

Just spent a couple days cleaning and waxing the hull of our sailboat. I used Meguiars 50. Came out great! Now, for the deck of our 38' boat. What do you recommend for the gelcoat on the deck? I not sure if I want to put the Meguiars 50 on it, as it may be too slippery and a little...

forums.sailboatowners.com

Tally Ho · May 25, 2021

Roland5048 said:
Be careful with the acetone. Fiberglass and acetone don't necessarily play well together.

I dripped some epoxy on my coming when filling some old Bimini holes last year…now I have an ugly, yellowed spot on my coming…would rubbing that with acetone remove the spilled epoxy? Without damage to the underlying gel coat?

Greg

Ralph Johnstone · May 25, 2021

Tally Ho said:
would rubbing that with acetone remove the spilled epoxy?

Greg, the only thing that will touch set epoxy is C-4.

Unfortunately, it will also remove a bit of the gel coat as well even if it was well waxed immediately before the accidental drips. Don't ask me how I know.

I would suggest sanding off the epoxy with fine wet sandpaper (depends on the amount of epoxy maybe #600) and finishing up with #1500. Get some light weight cut polish to finish it off. It will set you back a few bucks to start but I find I'm always chasing spider cracks and small dings with a few drops of gel coat and then finishing off with this when I'm bored. It doesn't go to waste.

shemandr · May 25, 2021

Tally Ho said:
…would rubbing that with acetone remove the spilled epoxy?...

I don't really think so. Hopefully with enough UV the epoxy will start to degrade and maybe you can remove it. When I was looking at the H356's one had a large amber stain on the deck. The sales guy had some explanation. But it was spilled epoxy. Between that and the dog hair, I walked.

Tally Ho · May 25, 2021

Ralph Johnstone said:
Greg, the only thing that will touch set epoxy is C-4.

View attachment 194528

Unfortunately, it will also remove a bit of the gel coat as well even if it was well waxed immediately before the accidental drips. Don't ask me how I know.

I would suggest sanding down the epoxy with fine wet sandpaper (depends on the amount of epoxy maybe #600) and finishing up with #1500. Get some light weight cut polish to finish it off. It will set you back a few bucks to start but I find I'm always chasing spider cracks and small dings with a few drops of gel coat and then finishing off with this when I'm bored. It doesn't go to waste.

Dang, Don’t want to use that then!

The spill was on in non-skid pattern….so hard to sand I suspect.

Greg

dmax · May 25, 2021

Greg - use a heat gun to warm up the epoxy, this will soften it and then you can remove it with various tools from the anti-skid (awl, SS wire brush etc.). The epoxy will soften up around 150 - 200 degrees, the gelcoat will be fine at these temps. I got some epxoy on my anti-skid potting some holes and was able to get it completely clean with heat. Put the heat gun at a medium temperature and warm the epoxy for 10 seconds and see if it can be removed - if not, heat in 10 second increments until it can (to avoid overheating). The problem with sanding is the gelcoat sands much easier than the epoxy so you may end up doing more damage.

jrussnogle · May 25, 2021

Tally Ho said:
Dang, Don’t want to use that then!

The spill was on in non-skid pattern….so hard to sand I suspect.

Greg

A heat gun is your best friend. Softens the epoxy and you can remove it without damage. I’ve even removed dried penetrating epoxy accidentally spilled on Naugahyde without damage. I’d start with a scotch pad and proceed from there.

Tally Ho · May 25, 2021

dmax said:
Greg - use a heat gun to warm up the epoxy, this will soften it and then you can remove it with various tools from the anti-skid (awl, SS wire brush etc.). The epoxy will soften up around 150 - 200 degrees, the gelcoat will be fine at these temps. I got some epxoy on my anti-skid potting some holes and was able to get it completely clean with heat. Put the heat gun at a medium temperature and warm the epoxy for 10 seconds and see if it can be removed - if not, heat in 10 second increments until it can (to avoid overheating). The problem with sanding is the gelcoat sands much easier than the epoxy so you may end up doing more damage.

Excellent! Thank you…I will give that a try ;-)

Greg