Wet sanding sucks!

hull cleaner by starbrite will make tht stain disappear so fast you wont believe it.

882001 wrote: hull cleaner by starbrite will make tht stain disappear so fast you wont believe it.

Did you try any of the acid based hull cleaners? If not, try the above, Marykate on-off, or for something that works as well without being so nasty to work with, FSR (Fiberglass Stain Remover that comes in a small blue jar.) All are safe for gelcoat.

David F ...What is a tracer?

I wish it was so easy...star bright is not getting it...nor snow bowl nor lime away..but I AM up for trying a stain remover...if there is one that will work.
I think I may be wet snding...

Wait a minute...there is a better way...at least in this case.
882001...star brigh IS working....it needed to sit for a while(half hour)and I resprayed a couple times inbetween...most important , I had to scrub with a scotch pad....it's almost as much fun as wet sanding! But it is working and I am not sanding away the gel coat!!!The scotch pad scuffs the gell slightly but buffs out with a light rubbing compound!
This is much better...hard work... but faster!

many thanks to all!!!

I used one years ago on some body work I did. It's basically the same thing as block sanding only faster. I used it on body filler but I don't see why it wouldn't work for what you're doing. You would just have to be careful and use a lot of finesse. The last time I dealt with severly oxidized gelcoat, I used a rotary polisher; it came out perfectly and was done in a day. That tool requires even more finesse though.

A tracer is something you spray on the surface to make sure you don't go too deeply into paint. AFAIK, its typical embodiment is a thin layer of contrasting paint sprayed on so that the sander knows exactly when he has removed all of the orange peel from the underlying finish. I guess if you're using a very coarse sand paper on your gelcoat, it would also reveal the deep scratches from that.

Hull cleaner and compound are great but sometimes the only way to go is wet sanding. i start with 600 and end with 2000 then some good wax.
the process sucks and i feel like someone beat me in my sleap the next day but its worth it when someone asks who re-shot my gelcoat.

Sorry to trespass in, but I need some help. I bought a new Promo boat that the PO had waxed prior to delivery. The boat still had a lot of water marks and they obviously got too agressive trying to remove them and scratched (not swirl marked)the finish. Although the dealership is contemplating what to do, if they stick me with this can it look new again?

Add some soap to the water mix and it makes wetsanding a lot easier, removes the surface tension of the water, eaisier to keep it wet, too.

How deep are the scratches? Would compounding via machine take care of the scratches? If not, let me tell you that the gelcoat is major thick on CC boats. So, the boat can handle a LOT of sanding before you go through.

When restoring my '93, it about wore me out removing the gelcoat even with a 4.5" grinder with a 36 grit sanding disc. My driveway was blue when I was done with just the front 1/4 of the port side.

You guys are making me tired. Whew, my arm hurts and all I have been doing is reading.... You just have to love these boats.

By the way, I just pulled my boat out of the bayou after it had set in the water for about 4 weeks. I had some pretty tough scum. "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner took it off with very little rubbing.The boat does need a good refinishing though. You guys post some pics!!!!!

check Island Girl Products.Makes old fibergla** look new without wet sanding.It really works.See web site at google.