Cleaning sap and crap off fibreglass

[MrPlywood]

I'm looking for ideas... The cuddy roof and bow area is covered with hardened sap/needles/detritus that has been impossible to remove. I've tried (in very small areas) Goof Off, rubbing alcohol, mineral spirits, lacquer thinner, WD-40, good old soap and water - nothing has budged. Obviously I'd like to find something that would not harm the gelcoat - the Goof-Off, lacquer thinner and alcohol would do just that, as they each left telltale traces of the gelcoat color on the rag.

Thoughts?

[SaltLakeSailer]

I have used rubbing compound with an electric buffing pad to clean similar residue. This would clean, and the next step would be to protect the finish with any decent wax. Good luck - tree drippings can be stubborn even in small quantities.

[Kleanbore]

The color you are seeing on the rag is most likely oxidation of the gelcoat. You will see a lot of people dispute this, but, acetone will remove the sap and not damage your gelcoat provided you do not leave an acetone soaked rag sit on the gelcoat for a while. Waxing any surface of your boat where you will be placing a foot is a bad idea. Clean the surface, keep it clean and cover it to cut down on the sun fade.

[GreenLake]

Wax on hull: yes
Wax on deck/floor: gets really slippery

[MrPlywood]

Thanks guys. I haven't tried acetone, but I may yet. So far it's been a combination of lots of soaking with carwash soap, a very dull, rounded flathead screwdriver to scrape the top layer off the sap deposits without damaging the gelcoat, and lots of elbow grease. Rinse, repeat. Once the hardened outer layer has been broken up, it goes a little easier. Then I've been using a very mild polishing compound to get the remaining bits off. I think I'll have some permanent stains left though.

Re: the color on the rag - pretty sure the harsher chemicals were eating into the gelcoat, since the other two didn't bring up any color at all.

[GreenLake]

The magazine Practical Sailor routinely reviews chemicals for use on and around boats, including varnishes and cleaners. Useful resource - they carry no ads, and it comes 3-hole punched for easy filing. (Now if I only kept mine where I could find them when I need them )

[GreenLake]

If your gelcoat is older, then using some rubbing compound followed by 3M's Finesse II would be a way to remove oxidation and restore a nice polish.

As regards wax: there's an alternative that's chemically similar to what goes into the stuff you use on no-wax floors. An Acrylic shine that's supposed to last for many months. I'd expect it to be less slippery than wax - haven't tried any on my boat yet, because I no longer have exposed gelcoat (boat's been painted long ago).

One of the brand names for this stuff is NewGlass2.

[MrPlywood]

The polishing compound is doing a great job on it's own. I don't think I'll need anything else. The cuddy is looking very nice albeit with the numerous small stains. I have minimized them so they're not too evident until you're quite close the boat. The hull looks great - I've polished then waxed that. There's some paint on the lower quarter of the hull that should come off, but I'll tackle that next spring since I want to get the boat in the water as soon as possible.

[Sean McGuire]

I have heard from a couple of boat owners that smoothtop range cleaner works very well on fiberglass. I have not tried it, but think it is worth a shot.

Sean McGuire
1984 DSII 'Iona'

[Alan]

So I immediately bolted to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of the stuff, and gave it a quick test.

It works great as a remover of light film (dust, oxidation, not sure which), and it brightened up the white tape boot stripes considerably.

It doesn't remove fine scratches from gelcoat.

This was on the hull. I'm impressed enough to try it on the deck, especially the non-skid parts. Island Girl Neutral Clear also works great on non-skid, but it's $26 a pint. I've run out of daylight, but will try it and report back later.

[GreenLake]

3M Finesse II is the one to use for the very fine scratches. It's intended to remove buff marks etc. Bigger scratches may need fine sanding and/or rubbing compounds to remove.

Aside: I've used Finesse II as a final polish when restoring DVDs and CDs to a playable condition after they had been scratched. (Even though this does not striclty belong here, 1200 grit 3M sanding pads "micro fine" and Rubbing compound were the first two steps in the process).

[kokko]

As an employee and stockholder I thank you. I preferred many of the Maguiar's prodcts to our own, but then we bought them last year.

[MrPlywood]

I have some Novus 2 Fine Scratch Remover that sounds very similar. Couldn't hurt - I've tried everything else. I still think I'll end up with stains, but anything to make the job go quicker would be nice.

[Alan]

Update on the stove top cleaner on non-skid: After several days sitting in the sun uncovered, it still looks good. Very good, actually.

However, it suddenly occurred to me that at about $5 for 10 ounces for stove top cleaner, it would probably be worth doing some comparison shopping before deciding that it's a better buy than dedicated marine products.

[GreenLake]

The DS is such a small boat that you won't need much. If you drive 20 miles to a marine store for a cleaner, that product is going to be more expensive than anything you find in your house.

Now, if you spend your lunch hours at the marins store anyway...