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Now I need to polish the topside and get rid of the stains. I know poliglow has a kit with includes a "filler" and for lack of a better word polish (which it is not)! The also make a oxidization remover. Anyone used that stuff?
I purchased the Poliglow kit at the Newport Boat show this fall....good deal for the prep stuff, Polyglow, and applicators. I have used Newglass II in the past and was very impressed with the outcome. However, everyone I have talked with and Practical Sailor both rate Poliglow the highest....so here we go. I am planning to apply it in the spring to Yankee Lady. If it turns out as good as the Newglass, I will be satisfied. No, not a polish or wax, but really does the same thing as wax....fills in the microscopic holes in the gelcoat so light can reflect better off it. Key to success is the prep....do exactly as the directions say. With the Newglass on my former CD27 Salsa, I actually had people ask if I had had the boat Awlgripped!! Up close, you wouldn't make that mistake, but from a slight distance, looked pretty darned good. Short of springing for an Awlgrip job, this seems like the best option for appearance. I may Awlgrip down the road "when the ship comes in," which will probably be never.......
Clay Stalker
Westmoreland, NH and Spofford Lake, NH
Well I thought I would try some LimeAway to remove the "river mustache" but it didnt phase it. The only thing that I have ever used successfully was Y-10. A member of the "northern tribe" from Quincy MA told me about it and it does wonders! So tomorrow I'll be ordering the Y-10.
I received an email from Cathy earlier concerning Poliglow, Newglass and another one. While she and Bruce like the way this stuff makes the hull look, she is now back to Wax! (are you ready for this Clay). I am not too sure I want to put the acrylic stuff on or not. So it may just be a Wax on, Wax off kinda deal !
Anyway, I dont have to make that decision right now.
Hope you are settling in for the winter. Remember Spring is just around the corner.
Have you tried Muriatic acid on the boottop stains? Use gloves, apply with spnge or rag and wash with plenty of water afterwards. I use lemon juice first as it is so mild but if you got a STAIN the muriatic works well and it is cheap.
Best of luck, I will post a shot of our boats all shrink wrapped when I get around to it. It is a bummer.
Paul D. wrote:Have you tried Muriatic acid on the boottop stains? Use gloves, apply with spnge or rag and wash with plenty of water afterwards. I use lemon juice first as it is so mild but if you got a STAIN the muriatic works well and it is cheap.
I used Muriatic a year ago to get rid of the "ICW Beard", the brown stain above the waterline. It worked terrific with no noticable ill effects. Works great to clean up your prop and shaft too. I applied it with a cheapo throwaway brush and rinsed with water after.
Be careful not to directly smell the stuff, ugh.
Russell
s/v (yet to be named) Tayana 42CC
s/v Lady Pauline Cape Dory 36 #117 (for sale)
Y-10 gel is good stuff, will take that off very well. I also use On-Off hull cleaner, which I think is just a form of acid....works good, but nasty to breathe.
I used wax on the hull last year, and it looked okay at the end of the season, but definately not as good as the Newglass. I knew Cathy and Bruce had used it once and liked it, but was not aware they were returning to wax. I would be interested to know why. I suspect it's because at some point, the stuff needs to be stripped off and start over....which may be a pain....but the stripper now supplied with Poliglow is supposed to make this easier. I still think I am going with the Poliglow next spring.....
I found the main problem with wax is that you need to compound the hull periodically to keep it looking good. Compounding the gelcoat on an older boat eventually causes it to wear thin and you get the print-through of the woven roving fiberglass....you've probably seen it on old boats. There is a Bristol 32 in my yard that was recently Awlgripped and came out terribly because the gelcoat was so thin from years of compounding that the fiberglass showed right through the Awlgrip. Cape Dorys have pretty thick gelcoat (the source of some of the cracking they are known for) so you can probably compound the hulls for quite a while without running into this problem. I suspect that the gelcoat on Yankee Lady is thinner as I don't have cracks anywhere, and she is an old boat....I am hesitant to compound the hull again....I did it last spring to get it looking good, but now I think it will be Poliglow.
Clay Stalker
Westmoreland, NH and Spofford Lake, NH
Before you try anything fancy I have found that plain old Comet Soft Scrub (the gel version, not the powder) does a good job. Then again that good rich Oklahoma soil gets "chemically treated" coming down the Mississippi before it gets to us, and may not have the holding power that it does on your boat, so it may not work for you.
Come down and sail with us when it gets too cold up there.
barfwinkle wrote:
Well I thought I would try some LimeAway to remove the "river mustache" but it didnt phase it. The only thing that I have ever used successfully was Y-10. A member of the "northern tribe" from Quincy MA told me about it and it does wonders! So tomorrow I'll be ordering the Y-10.
Bill,
I use On & Off Hull and Bottom Cleaner made by MARKYKATE (CRC Industries). It is amazing for removing the brown mustache. You apply it carefully with a sponge and go all around the water line. By the time you come back to the starting point you simply hose it off with some mild soap and a srubbing sponge and your done. I the Y-10 doesn't work out give it a try. You got to wear gloves and watch your eyes. It is also biodegradable. It also works on those stains from the drains in the toe rail.
Dick
________________
Clay,
I didn't read your post about On & Off until after I posted. Bill can consider my post as just another endorsement. Man how did you get to know so much about boats?
Aside from never having to compound the gelcoat, which as noted above, will eventually wear through, the thing I like about PoliGlow is that it forms a protective coating on the gelcoat. Dirt attaches to the coating, not to the gelcoat, so it's easy to clean, and also easy to touch up in mid-season. If you hate it after using it one year, it is no problem to strip it off and go back to waxing. But you probably won't!!!
In the November 2007 issue of Practical Sailor there is an article on "hull cleaners". They rated 22 different products.
The overall winner was something called "Boat Bottom Cleaner" by Spray Nine. Best cleaner and best price. "On & Off Gel" by Marykate, "Fiberglass Stain Remover" by Y-10, and Marine Cleanser by Poliglow were recommended as well. Comet Soft Scrub was apparently not evaluated .
Ace Hardware sells a product called Thick Liquid Toilet Bowl Cleaner (I paid $1.00 on sale for a generous-sized squeeze bottle) that does everything that so-called "fiberglass stain removers" do (Starbrite, Y-10, etc. priced from $7.95 to $14.95 for a small container). Put it in a plastic bucket, paint it on with a fiber bristle brush (8-10 sq. ft areas), let it sit a few minutes, wipe it around a bit and hose it, and the discoloration, off. Works on rust, tannic acid, bleeding fasteners, etc. Careful around paint, though as it will disclolor/streak if left on too long.
This stuff really works well and it's cheap (it doesn't have the word "marine" on the container!) It contains exactly the same chemicals as the chandlery stuff.
I have used Poliglow a few times over the past decade on Remedy, our CD27.
With decent prep, it gives a good, season-long shine. I've never had the good fortune to be able to string two seasons together where I could give a maintenance coat the second year, but the second year with no maintenance looks okay, too.
The beauty of this stuff is that, once the hull is clean (this is important, since it is really a coating, not a polish) you can get the recommended 5-6 coats on about an hour - it dries by the time you have gone around the boat once.
Rather than use the cleaner/remover/prep they sell, I use Zep Industrial Purple Cleaner from Home Depot for that and many other boat cleaning chores.
!
