Gel Coat Color Transfer to Skin ... any way to seal?

arsweb

arsweb

New Member
Title says it all. Original green '71 transfers color to skin in contact with it, skin covered in sunscreen is especially prone to becoming very green by the end of a sail. I'd love to put fresh gel coat on it as the color is faded, but from what I've read that's a bigger job than I want to get into for this summer. Is there something fairly user friendly I can use to seal the paint in the meantime (and not create too slippery a deck)? And/or is it possible to repaint without removing the aluminum trim (bonus points if you have a guide to link to)? I've just put in an inspection port and not sealed that to the hull yet, and also have the coaming off to repaint that so it would seem now is the time to do this before we get further into sailing season.
 
shorefun said:
That is just the oxided surface layer.

Wet sand with 400 or higher paper to pull the top layer off. Or you could wet sand up to like 1000 or 1500 then buff out and wax. It will look like new.
Click to expand...

Would something like this work? And would I use the oxidation remover/cleaner before wet sanding or after?
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3M also makes a gel coat restoration rubbing compound with wax built in. Amazon sells it (surprise, surprise) It is a little pricey but works well. Comes in two grades for lightly or heavily oxidized surfaces.

Alan Glos
Cazenoivia, NY
 
Wax makes for a slippery surface, which can be defeated (if desired) with special pads / sailing shorts.
 
So all the solutions to oxide removal are based on an abrasive removing the top layer. The question is how bad is the oxide as the worse the oxide the more abrasive you need to go to remove it. Well you start off with a courser abrasive and get the big stuff of and then work your way down to finer grit to make a pretty surface.

I am suggesting starting with wet sanding (with a drop of dish detergent) first because you are describing heavy oxidation.

Basically you could use some of the other products, but they tend to be a finder grit so you will have to spend more time getting the oxide off which could be more expensive. Yes, the compounds are pricey and a few sheets of 400 are cheap. Also you should use some sort of flat foam backer on the sandpaper to keep the surface level.

Yes, I can assure you if you sand out the surface and wax it it does get slippery. I did this to the deck of my sunfish, and regretted it when I went in the water at the dock. I just slide right off like I was on ice. Of course there were witnesses and I did not live that one down. But you do need wax to protect the surface from oxidation.

There are many ways of fixing your problems. Repainting would be the most work and likely not look as good as a good sand and buff out.
 
Give the boat a good scrub with water and a little Dawn dishwashing liquid. That should remove most of the oxidized gelcoat. Then we'd use 3M Fiberglass Restorer and Wax, applied with 5-6 inch car buffer from Walmart with a set Car Polisher Bonnet Orbital Buffer Pads.

3M buffer.jpeg


We had to repair a little scratch before we got to waxing...


PHOENIX waxed.jpeg


That is one way to do it. The correct ways to apply 3M, passed along to us by 3M, are "1) by hand with a soft, clean cloth to a 1' x 1' area. Rub aggressively using short, straight strokes. Rub until the product is gone and do not allow product to haze. Or 2) by variable speed buffer/polisher set at 1400-2000 rpm equipped with a 3M Perfect-It wool compounding pad (PN 05753). Apply sufficient material to work 2' by 2' surface area. Before starting spread material around surface to prevent sling. Use light to medium pressure. Reduce pressure as material begins to dry."

Work small areas at a time, or you might get haze that can't be buffed out.

You Meguiars product may do a similar job, but we have never used it.

We can tell you that the boat sails the same whether it is oxidized or shiny. I'd hold off on painting, and if you decide to try wet sanding we'd recommend 1600 and 200 grit. Keep in mind that that wet sanding is by hand, no electrical tools mixed with water. Also you need to be careful sanding, it is possible to sand the gelcoat color off straight through to bare fiberglass. Our 1971 green boat RAY OF HOPE came to us very chalky...

Ray leaves dump.jpg


...but she scrubbed and waxed up real nice.

Ray of Hope.jpg
 
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