Has anyone had to acetone the entire gelcoat?

D

douglee25

Well-Known Member
Jan 13, 2008
4,757
Dallas, TX
Boat Info
Cruisers 3575
Engines
Twin 7.4l
I volunteered to buff my neighbor's boat for him because he's got a bad back. As I was prepping the boat first by washing it, I noticed that there was a ton of risidual 'dirt' that was just not coming off with a normal wash. This 'dirt' was black in color and even appeared to resemble mildew? I even tried Starbrite deck cleaner which usually works wonders. That didn't even take it off. I ended up resorting to using acetone on the entire hull. This removed about 90% of the residual dirt. I was under the impression that my neighbor did a good job of cleaning his hull throughout the season, so I'm trying to figure out what the deal is? I know my boat didn't require this acetone step. Was this acetone step due to improper maintenance throughout the past season? Has anyone had to use acetone on the entire gelcoat before? Are there other products out there that may have worked? Either way, the acetone has prepped the surface and it should be ready for compounding and waxing.

Thanks again.

Doug
 
First, props on helping a neighbor...that is what boating is all about!!!

Secondly, I get a few spots that don't come up with the deck cleaner. I use collinite 920 and a stiff brush. Whipe on and whipe off. Good stuff. I have seen on here before that you get "mold" growing on non skid but that is usually older boats where there can be some porosity...
 
Anytime I have seen this you can use a bleach and water mix and that will usually work. Just make sure you keep the surface wet. However, I have run across some that have been buffed so hard that it actually over time thinned the gel out and what you are seeing come through is the fiberglass. At that point is usually when someone paints it like awlgrip or imron. And good job helping him out. That is a lot of work for a friend to do.
 
Doug
I use acetone to get off last year's stupid NJ registration sticker (I don't pile one sticker on top of the other, I remove the old one yearly). It seems that acetone dissolves some of the gel coat, so I'm VERY VERY careful with it and use it sparingly. I guess your results were good, but I'd be scared to death to use it on the whole boat.

For really deeply ingrained filth, I've used softscrub and even diluted comet or ajax (with bleach). I did in quite a few spots when I first got this old boat but have not needed to do it since. YES it's abrasive but with dirt like that you either have to tackle it with abrasives OR chemistry. I prefer abrasives b/c you can always shine it back up using finer and finer abrasives in a step-wise fashion.
 
To update this thread -

1. Yes, compound would take off the spots, but there was so much still remaining on the gelcoat that I know the buffing pads would clog up so fast. The black stuff needed to come off first.

2. Acetone evaporates so quickly that as long as you're not rubbing very hard, the gelcoat does not soften and come off on the rag.

3. I compounded the entire boat after I acetoned it on Sunday. It turned out beautifully. The owner is really happy. I got 3/4 of it waxed as well. I just need to do the bow and above the rub rail now.

Thanks again.

Doug
 
douglee25 said:
Ha! As long as you drive the boat to me!

Doug
Click to expand...

How about I offer you a boat ride and a comfy mid cabin? Oh and drinks on me:grin:

As I said its great you are helping out a neighbor... great example we all can follow...
 
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