Pinpoint mildew on deck

Ted

Ted

New Member
I've acquire a sunfish that was exposed to sun and weather for at least a year. There's some oxidation - not too bad. The appearance problem is pinpoints of mildew that do not scrub (sponge or scrub brush) off with mild soap and water. I spot tested Tilex and it had no effect. I'd appreciate any suggestions - mild abrasive? Thanks.
 
I don't have any experience with X14 on this problem but it works much better that Tilex in the shower. Maybe it will work better than Tilex here too. I think it has more bleach than Tilex. There's also Soft Scrub with bleach which will give you some abrasion and bleach.
Fred
 
TED, if you've got what I think you do it's actually pitting into the gelcoat. If you can find a magnifying glass take a good look at the spots. We've seen several older boats with the tiny black spots and they were under magnification actually pits.
Any of the products with clorine bleach in them will kill any mildew the problem is getting the black remains out of the pits. Soft Scrub will work on milder cases, but on ones with some real depth to the pits we had to use rubbing compound to level the surface.
Be careful as it's easy to go through the gelcoat on edges. Then the only solutions are to regelcoat (which I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy) or paint.
 
Ted,
You can try what Fred and Mike suggest. I found (and bought) a '69 Sunfish that had been under a tree for the past 14 years and looked to be in bad shape (It wasn't). I tried scrubbing bubbles and everything else in the bathroom closet, no luck. I finally eliminated the mold, mildew, tree sap and other dirt by washing with car wash soap and straight clorox bleach (wear rubber gloves). After getting the hull and deck clean, I followed the instructions under "Tips and Tricks", Gelcoat Restoration (after filling the nicks and dings, I followed the part on sanding, the fiberglass was oxidized pretty badly) on the SF Class home page. Heed Mikes advise on the gelcoat being thin. It took some time and elbow grease, but it came out real nice. No paint except the splashrail. Most people think it is a newer model until they look at it up close. Those comments made the effort worth while.
 
I found the scrubbing bubbles (Dow Bathroom Cleaner) to work better on a lot of things if it is allowed to stand for an hour. This works best in a garage or some other place where evaporation is at a minimum. Using this stuff with water makes it almost useless. It's got to go on straight to a dry surface to get the full affect.

I read in another group (several actually) that Oxalic Acid attacks organic and metallic stains. I tried it on a rust stain and it worked beautifully. The mild form can be found in a cleanser called Barkeeper's Friend.
http://www.barkeepersfriend.com/products.htm
A stronger variety is also known as wood bleach and can be found at most hardware outlets.
http://www.dap.com/retail/retail_detail.cfm?catid=5&subcatid=12&prodhdrid=324
(no brand endorsement - there are other brands too)

I have never liked chlorine bleach products for fiberglass. Strong bleach attacks plastics in the same way UV light does and leads to crazing sooner.
 
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