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Wetsanding and polishing hulls
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Author:  passingwind [ Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Wetsanding and polishing hulls

So i started sanding my hulls to remove some serious oxidation. My question is what do i do for the grooves in the decking? Is there any way to get it clean?

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Author:  MBounds [ Mon Sep 24, 2012 4:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

There's very little you can do to the non-skid without destroying the texture.

Start with a thorough cleaning with a stiff scrub brush and mild soap. There are some commercial non-skid cleaners, but they won't help much with the oxidation.

There are also some coating products (PoliGlow) that will bring the shine back, but may make the surface slippery. I have no experience with the stuff, but there's a lot of commentary on the forum - do a seach.

Author:  SNovak [ Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:40 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

You have a few options for dealing with the deck, but like matt said, there's no good way to deal with the nonskid:
1) Matt's suggestion - use some cleaner/poliglow to clean the nonskid, and accept the fact that it will still be oxidized and faded.
2)repaint the entire deck. if done carefully, you should still be able to maintain most of the non-skid texture (I think).
3)sand the deck to bring the color back, and remove the non-skid in the process. Then
a)mold the nonskid back in using gelcoat and the procedure outlined in one of the issues of the Hotline.
b) use a non-skid paint (sold for use on larger boats) to apply new non-skid.

both 2) and 3) are a significant amount of work, and require matching colors (not a trivial task), unless you want to do a two-tone design. If it was me, I'd probably go with either 1) or 3b), depending on how much time I wanted to put into it and the condition of the rest of the boat.

Good Luck!
Steve

PS - the part of the bow you've done so far looks great!! What grit sandpaper did you start with?

Author:  passingwind [ Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

Thanks. Do you know if the non skid is basically formed with gelcoat? Or is there fiberglass in there. I am wondering if i just sand it completely down if it will be solid gelcoat. I could then just add a non slip afterwards

Author:  passingwind [ Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:55 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

Thx i actually had to go down to 400. And its still takes forever to get the oxidation out.

Author:  inspector071 [ Mon Sep 24, 2012 10:11 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

Has anyone tried some sort of gentle media blasting, perhaps baking soda, to scrub the inside texture and rid it of oxidation?

If I knew more about gel coats and what compounds are actually being oxidized, I might be able to think of some chemical that would react with the oxide and remove it.

Author:  passingwind [ Mon Sep 24, 2012 12:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

I actually have a soda blaster and i just cut up a decaying h18. I will give the soda a try on the old hull.

Author:  jackB [ Mon Sep 24, 2012 6:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

I've used 3M Super Duty Marine Rubbing Compound with some success.

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Author:  BrianCT [ Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

Nice work, passingwind! This past spring, on the recommendation of other posters, I thoroughly scrubbed my hulls with Bar Keeper's Friend and then wrapped a chamois around a block of wood and applied three coats of Zep Wet Look Floor Finish to my badly oxidized hulls. They results were terrific and remain so today - no water or dirt stains, the hulls still shining like new. Highly recommended! I didn't bother with the decks because it was too much work trying to remove the oxidation, and the Zep would have just magnified the "splotchy" color.

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Author:  83Turbo [ Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

Two questions...what grit sandpaper did you start with?

How did you remove your decals?

I have an '83 in that same blue that has oxidized to almost white...hulls are going on saw horses in the garage when the first cold front comes in.

Looking forward to the winter project.

Author:  passingwind [ Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

83Turbo wrote:
Two questions...what grit sandpaper did you start with?

How did you remove your decals?

I have an '83 in that same blue that has oxidized to almost white...hulls are going on saw horses in the garage when the first cold front comes in.

Looking forward to the winter project.


I used a heat gun on the graphics. Keep heating the graphics as you pull, stay about 8 inches abead as you pull and they will come off in one shot.

I bought a portercable 7424 which is basically an electric DA sander. It doubles as a polisher buffer as well. Make sure you get the da pad and the polisher pad if you get one. I elected to dry sand the oxidation off as it was extremely white and chalky. I started with 400 but it kept clogging up the grit so i went down to 320 which worked better for me. I then went 600 1000 1500 then moved to rubbing compound then polisher then wax. The oxidation was so bad that there are some hazy spots that are slightly visible. You can also slightly see where the graphics where, but i plan on trying recreate the graphics to keep it looking original.

As far as the non skid decks, i taped one off and tried soda blasting and it came out pretty good. I dont think there is any other option for colored decks that are as oxidized as mine.
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Author:  MVD [ Tue Oct 23, 2012 10:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

I recently used PoliGlow on the blue decks of my '82 H14, to include the non-skid, and had fantastic results. Included in the PoliGlow kit is a cleaner that works pretty well. Once clean, PoliGlow wipes on easily with the applicator that they provide. You just wipe on a thin coat, absolutely no buffing, let it dry for about 15 minutes, then wipe on another coat. It takes about two minutes to wipe down a 14 hull. You have to put on 7 coats, per the instructions, but it's easy.

I took my boat to Mid-Americas and most folks thought I had painted the decks. It worked great on the non-skid. It made it a little slick, but on the 14, as with the 16, the non-skid doesn't see much action if any. When I'm trapping my feet are either on the side rails or a foot is on some non-skid tape on the hull behind the aft pylon - don't wipe Poliglow over the non-skid tape if you've put it on your boat. But the non-skid part of the deck looked great! Almost like new. It restored some of the fading and put a great shine on the decks, even the non-skid. However, if you are a racer, I would only apply Poliglow to the deck. I would be concerned that if you put it on the hull below the decks, although it feels and looks slick, it's might slow you down a bit as would a soft automotive wax. I only put it on my decks. I won't hesitate to apply another coat of PoliGlow next year.

Author:  passingwind [ Wed Oct 24, 2012 4:20 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

MVD wrote:
I recently used PoliGlow on the blue decks of my '82 H14, to include the non-skid, and had fantastic results. Included in the PoliGlow kit is a cleaner that works pretty well. Once clean, PoliGlow wipes on easily with the applicator that they provide. You just wipe on a thin coat, absolutely no buffing, let it dry for about 15 minutes, then wipe on another coat. It takes about two minutes to wipe down a 14 hull. You have to put on 7 coats, per the instructions, but it's easy.

I took my boat to Mid-Americas and most folks thought I had painted the decks. It worked great on the non-skid. It made it a little slick, but on the 14, as with the 16, the non-skid doesn't see much action if any. When I'm trapping my feet are either on the side rails or a foot is on some non-skid tape on the hull behind the aft pylon - don't wipe Poliglow over the non-skid tape if you've put it on your boat. But the non-skid part of the deck looked great! Almost like new. It restored some of the fading and put a great shine on the decks, even the non-skid. However, if you are a racer, I would only apply Poliglow to the deck. I would be concerned that if you put it on the hull below the decks, although it feels and looks slick, it's might slow you down a bit as would a soft automotive wax. I only put it on my decks. I won't hesitate to apply another coat of PoliGlow next year.


Do you have any before and after pics? With the condition of my hulls, having to use 320 sandpaper and a DA sander to get down to the original paint color i cant see how this would work for me.

I understand that poliglow would make the hulls shine but i dont want the milky white to shine i want the original powder blu to shine

Author:  MVD [ Wed Oct 24, 2012 5:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

Unfortunately, I didn't bother to take any before and after photos. If your hulls are milky white, they'll be a shiny and rich milky white color after you put Poliglow on them.

Depending on how much sun your boat has been exposed to over the years, fading can extend down into the gel coat beyond the surface. I tried sanding the brown tint out of the white part of my aged H14 hulls (they're two toned, white on the hull, blue on the decks) and I couldn't get them to whiten up after some pretty intense sanding with 220 grit. I finally sprayed new white gel on the hulls. If your sanding and compounding and polishing and waxing isn't doing the job, you just may have to accept the color as is, or at least make the faded color shine. :P

Author:  passingwind [ Wed Oct 24, 2012 5:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wetsanding and polishing hulls

Yeah i'm not a fan of the milky white hulls which is why i sanded. The hulls are done now its on to the decks. Can get all of the oxidation out of the nonskid but i think i am pleased with the outcome

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