I finished doing my teak today. Taped EVERYTHING last week. When I removed the tape I saw that some Cetol had managed to get under the tape at various places and had dried for a few days. The Cetol can says wipe up immediately or you can use Mineral Spirits or acetone but you can't leave that on gelcoat too long. How long is too long and what does it do to the underlying gelcoat? Any suggestions would be appreciated as I am not happy with these yellow-orange spots on gelcoat, non skid, and metal fittings.
Warren Kaplan
Sine Qua Non
CD27
Oyster Bay Harbor, NY
Setsail728@aol.com
Removing Dried Cetol
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Ed Haley
Re: Removing Dried Cetol
Warren:
Acetone works great at removing dried Cetol. The key here is not to allow the acetone to "pool" on the gelcoat. It will soften the fiberglass underneath as well as the gelcoat. As long as the acetone is on a rag, it will be OK. Don't pour it on the gelcoat and let it run down the toerail/deck joint. As it runs out the toerail openings, it will soften the Cetol as well.
It works well on the hull, too!
Ed Haley
s/v Mokita
CD330 #1
Mystic CT
eghaleyNOSPAM@twcny.rr.com
Acetone works great at removing dried Cetol. The key here is not to allow the acetone to "pool" on the gelcoat. It will soften the fiberglass underneath as well as the gelcoat. As long as the acetone is on a rag, it will be OK. Don't pour it on the gelcoat and let it run down the toerail/deck joint. As it runs out the toerail openings, it will soften the Cetol as well.
It works well on the hull, too!
Ed Haley
s/v Mokita
CD330 #1
Mystic CT
eghaleyNOSPAM@twcny.rr.com
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sloopjohnl
Re: Removing Dried Cetol
warren,
did you use the blue tape? i have found that almost everything gets under the blue tape unless it is perfectly adhered all the way. i switched to 3m fine line (green tape) when i redid my non-skid and didn't want anything under the tape. worked great! i use the 1/8"
first, it adheres great and you can tape a tight circle or arc and not have the tape crinkle. it's what the auto guys use to get those fancy flames, etc. then i tape over that with 1/2" green tape, which goes on quick even though it is a second layer of tape. i had it on for 10 days before removal and it left no problematic residue.
good luck getting the cetol off. the only thing i see is getting it off my gelcoat is time and wear.
w: I finished doing my teak today. Taped EVERYTHING last week. When I removed the tape I saw that some Cetol had managed to get under the tape at various places and had dried for a few days. The Cetol can says wipe up immediately or you can use Mineral Spirits or acetone but you can't leave that on gelcoat too long. How long is too long and what does it do to the underlying gelcoat? Any suggestions would be appreciated as I am not happy with these yellow-orange spots on gelcoat, non skid, and metal fittings.
did you use the blue tape? i have found that almost everything gets under the blue tape unless it is perfectly adhered all the way. i switched to 3m fine line (green tape) when i redid my non-skid and didn't want anything under the tape. worked great! i use the 1/8"
first, it adheres great and you can tape a tight circle or arc and not have the tape crinkle. it's what the auto guys use to get those fancy flames, etc. then i tape over that with 1/2" green tape, which goes on quick even though it is a second layer of tape. i had it on for 10 days before removal and it left no problematic residue.
good luck getting the cetol off. the only thing i see is getting it off my gelcoat is time and wear.
w: I finished doing my teak today. Taped EVERYTHING last week. When I removed the tape I saw that some Cetol had managed to get under the tape at various places and had dried for a few days. The Cetol can says wipe up immediately or you can use Mineral Spirits or acetone but you can't leave that on gelcoat too long. How long is too long and what does it do to the underlying gelcoat? Any suggestions would be appreciated as I am not happy with these yellow-orange spots on gelcoat, non skid, and metal fittings.
Warren Kaplan wrote: Warren Kaplan
Sine Qua Non
CD27
Oyster Bay Harbor, NY
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Warren Kaplan
Re: Removing Dried Cetol
Give that man a cigar.Exactly! I used the blue tape and paid the price. Funny, because I used the green tape to tape the topsides when I was doing the underside of the toerail and had no problems there. Like your experience, I found the green stuff peeled right off while the blue sometimes "broke" and I had to scrape sections off with a fingernail.sloopjohnl wrote: warren,
did you use the blue tape? i have found that almost everything gets under the blue tape unless it is perfectly adhered all the way. i switched to 3m fine line (green tape) when i redid my non-skid and didn't want anything under the tape. worked great! i use the 1/8"
first, it adheres great and you can tape a tight circle or arc and not have the tape crinkle. it's what the auto guys use to get those fancy flames, etc. then i tape over that with 1/2" green tape, which goes on quick even though it is a second layer of tape. i had it on for 10 days before removal and it left no problematic residue.
good luck getting the cetol off. the only thing i see is getting it off my gelcoat is time and wear.
ED,
I think I'll try a little acetone on a rag on some small spots and see what happens. Hopefully it will work without me mucking up everything else!
Thanks,
Warren
Setsail728@aol.com
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John Nuttall
Burnish the edge of the tape........
.........as sloopjohn mentioned, use the right tape.
Something else that helps is to burnish, or press down the edge of the tape that's against the area you are finishing. Done correctly, nothing gets under it, and the tape still comes off easily.
Use any rounded non marring object. Sometimes I have to use a putty knife drawn backwards to get into tight places. You'll develope your own techniques for how & where to do it......
This also works really well for bedding & caulking too. Ever wonder how the factory gets those nice straignt neat caulk lines. Mask off the areas, then caulk. Peel off the tape before the caulk skins and you have crisp straight edges, and no clean-up. Neat , eh???
John
s/v Aimless
CD31
Something else that helps is to burnish, or press down the edge of the tape that's against the area you are finishing. Done correctly, nothing gets under it, and the tape still comes off easily.
Use any rounded non marring object. Sometimes I have to use a putty knife drawn backwards to get into tight places. You'll develope your own techniques for how & where to do it......
This also works really well for bedding & caulking too. Ever wonder how the factory gets those nice straignt neat caulk lines. Mask off the areas, then caulk. Peel off the tape before the caulk skins and you have crisp straight edges, and no clean-up. Neat , eh???
John
s/v Aimless
CD31
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Eric
Re: Burnish the edge of the tape........
Wet sand with VERY fine grit paper:
John Nuttall wrote: .........as sloopjohn mentioned, use the right tape.
Something else that helps is to burnish, or press down the edge of the tape that's against the area you are finishing. Done correctly, nothing gets under it, and the tape still comes off easily.
Use any rounded non marring object. Sometimes I have to use a putty knife drawn backwards to get into tight places. You'll develope your own techniques for how & where to do it......
This also works really well for bedding & caulking too. Ever wonder how the factory gets those nice straignt neat caulk lines. Mask off the areas, then caulk. Peel off the tape before the caulk skins and you have crisp straight edges, and no clean-up. Neat , eh???
John
s/v Aimless
CD31