Acid, gelcoat & colour

[Veebyes2]

Who was asking about restoring gelcoat not long ago?

I just finished my annual acid wash of the hull. I use muriatic acid diluted by at least 50%. The acid removes the powdering on the coloured sections leaving a very smooth clean surface for ready for compound or whatever else might be planned for the area.

About 1qt was ample for whole hull. The acid removes rust stains & the water stain close to the waterline. Don't let this stuff touch any aluminium or galvanised metals.

[Capt Paul]

Veebyes,

How do you actually apply it to the hull. Sponge, wash rag, brush?

I have allot of oxidation to remove and would like to try this out.

Thanks,
Paul

[jcollins]

Who was asking about restoring gelcoat not long ago?

I just finished my annual acid wash of the hull. I use muriatic acid diluted by at least 50%. The acid removes the powdering on the coloured sections leaving a very smooth clean surface for ready for compound or whatever else might be planned for the area.

About 1qt was ample for whole hull. The acid removes rust stains & the water stain close to the waterline. Don't let this stuff touch any aluminium or galvanised metals.

That was me. I was concerned about the black hull. I'm going to try it on a small section under the swim platform. Now that winter has finally hit us I'm really looking forward to spring. Temp right now 12. High today of 23. <brrrr>

[Veebyes2]

The more distance I can put between that stuff & me the better. I roll it on, just like painting the walls of a room but using an extension handle. 3 or 4 sections per side with a good rinse after doing each section.

[Capt Paul]

Veebyes,

I tried the muriatic acid solution on my red hull and it didn't quite work. I was a little bummed because it seemed like an easy way to get rid of the oxidation. I didn't want to try an increase the amount of acid solution either. I tried some 3M Marine Fiberglass Restorer & Polish and that worked great, although it will be allot more work. The person who dives my boat to clean the bottom and check zinks told me she used a product called Vertglass on her boat and it worked great. The system seems to be easier then the 3M solution so I opted to try that before going any further. I should get the supplies within the next week and will supply an update.