mineral deposits on white gelcoat???

[Garry Dean]

So a boat I have to detail tomorrow was sitting over a sprinkler system for a long time and has orange mineral or whatever staining all over one side of it. It is pretty bad and the owner wants it gone!! Wish I would have taken some pics, but I didnt bring my camera. What can I use to take this orange stain off??

[murf'n'surf]

CLR should pull the rust stain off. If CLR is not strong enough you may need to step up to a rust stain remover sold at most Home Depot stores -- I forget the name! Make sure you polish and seal the gelcoat after removing the rust stains.

[Garry Dean]

I tried CLR, Iron out, Lime Away and about 5 other products and nothing!! I ended up just wet sanding it all out. I talked to the owner before I did it and told him that if I wet sanded it it would have to be polished back out to remove all of the scuffing, but he said just do it and we will worry about it later. So thats what I did. So I got it all off, but I will still have to compound the whole boat and polish it.

[murf'n'surf]

That sucks......it must have been on there for a long time and penetrated really deep into the gel.

[Garry Dean]

Ok, muriatic acid works wonders!! I figured it out!! Just spray on and rinse off!!! No more stain!!

[murf'n'surf]

It sure does but it is a little bit harsh!!!! There is a product called On-Off that will burn anything off and out of gel coat.

[Ruddell]

It sure does but it is a little bit harsh!!!! There is a product called On-Off that will burn anything off and out of gel coat.

Sounds brutal. Where do you pick up something like that haha?

[murf'n'surf]

Right here.....



West Marine: On & Off Hull/Bottom Cleaner Product Display