Spent HOURS cleaning my '90 Gulfstream with bleach and water and a product called Grease Lightning which worked very well. I also used Magic Erasers. Everything came out perfect and bleach white. I did the whole cockpit area including floor, baitwells, livewell , fishwell etc.... Well, that was 4 days ago when i finished and i just hopped in the boat( its in my yard at my new house) and there were stains ALL over everything in the cockpit from little red berry things that dropped over the past two days from a Red Maple tree that is above the boat. I tested one area with grease lightning and a magic eraser and they did NOT work at ALL. I think the berrys dropped and stained the area and then dried onto the surfaces. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remove these stains??
CRAP !!!!!! VERY aggravated. Help please :-0
- Thread starter Gulfstreamrobby
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Hookup1
GreatGrady Captain
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Starbright purs out a good stain -mildew remover. Ask for it at any boat supply or Grady White store.
Hindsite is a wonderful thing.....but I try not to leave my boat without a cover under any trees for that reason as well as birds and here in Aus we also get fruit bats sit up in the trees eating mango's or blossom and crapping over evreything.I think septone also make a fiberglass restorer which is like some mild acid and has been good at getting really stuborn stains.
Try FSR it brushes on and wipes off and penetrates well and gets off greese stains well and has done wonders on some bad stains on boats in my marina, should do the trick for you. Might need to get a tarp for that boat to prevent that again...I know the berries your talking about, had them at a house I used to live at...they are horrible and go everywhere!! Also, getting a coat of wax on the boat might help, after using bleech you took all the wax off as well as opened every poor in the gelcoat that is not in good shape or filled, that is why it seeped into the gelcoat and is hard to get off, if you had wax down it would have not gone so deep since most of the gel coat poors would have bene sealed. Hope this helsp preven them in the future. Personally I'm not a fan of bleech on boats, it is harmful to gelcoat and will haze it badly and strip too much of it and damage it over time more then it is worth, there are plenty of hull cleaners that do the job just as well and do not damage the gel coat's finish. There are cleaner wax's also that will clean and wax at the same time, colinite makes one of the best out there.
I have used a lot of products but find that regardless of the product, a rag works much better than a sponge or a brush especially on embossed (diamond pattern) non skid. I don't know why this is but I have repeated the experiement many times withthe same result, rags work better.
Try the soft scrub first. Also note that the magic eraser is a bit abrassive and can remove the gloss finish.
Finally, you didn't mention if you waxed all those surfaces after cleaning. If not, the deck can act like a sponge for stains. I use and like Woddy wax for my decks.
Talk about bad stains: I spilled a can of PVC purple primer on my deck. It took two days of scrubbing to 'almost' remove the stain. As time goes on, the sun continues to bleach the stain and if I didn't point it out, you wouldn't notice it. I used xylene, Bar Keepers Friend, rubbing compound and soap along with a ton of elbow grease.
Try the soft scrub first. Also note that the magic eraser is a bit abrassive and can remove the gloss finish.
Finally, you didn't mention if you waxed all those surfaces after cleaning. If not, the deck can act like a sponge for stains. I use and like Woddy wax for my decks.
Talk about bad stains: I spilled a can of PVC purple primer on my deck. It took two days of scrubbing to 'almost' remove the stain. As time goes on, the sun continues to bleach the stain and if I didn't point it out, you wouldn't notice it. I used xylene, Bar Keepers Friend, rubbing compound and soap along with a ton of elbow grease.
Stains
Use Davis' FSR (Fiberglass Stain Remover). Comes in a light blue jar, the stuff is the t*ts. Someone above my post suggested it, too. It's a snap to use.
Use Davis' FSR (Fiberglass Stain Remover). Comes in a light blue jar, the stuff is the t*ts. Someone above my post suggested it, too. It's a snap to use.
Thanks for all the responses. I am going to experiment with a few of those options. I have also talked to a friend who had this happen and he told me I can scrub all I want but after a few weeks out on the water, the sun will bleach the stains right away as they did to his boat. Most of these stains are on surfaces that I dont wax the the cockpit floor (diamond patterned), fish and bait well covers etcc.. and the non-skid surface on the gunnel. I NEVER use magic eraser on a smooth surface and the bleach and water I use is about 2oz of bleach to 32oz of water.
Next time, wax the diammong patterned stuff as i mentioned. Woody wax. It is slippery when applied but non slippery after it dries. Stains, blood and guts rinse right off.
no kidding huh? so your saying i can use only woody wax on the diamond pattern stuff on the cockpit floor and i wont have any deaths on board this summer?
Legend
GreatGrady Captain
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When mine gets really stained I sprinkle Cascade dish washing powder on and lightly spray it let it sit for a few minutes and the floor comes back to new condition. I just use it on the floor,
megabytes said:
I 2nd this one, Works great!! , use a small firm plastic grout brush also..
elbo grease...
GL
If you read the instructions and follow them, Woody wax works quite well. You may need to apply it more than once a season depending on usage, sun, soap etc., but you do that with the deck brush. Just spray a few squirts on the BRUSH and then wipe the wet deck. It's almost like washing the deck except you have to wait for the wax to dry , rinse and wipe with a towel. I throw a towel on the deck and walk it around with my bare feet.Gulfstreamrobby said:
Of course, the secret to keeping a clean deck is to rinse it after every trip. Once that fishing crap dries, its a lot harder to remove.
The sun indirect or direct will take it it out, if it's a lot like blood in it's composition unless like pine tree sap. Blood stains almost immediately upon contact.
I don't bother with blood on gelcoat, when I get back to the boat next time, it's gone.
For 80 -90 bucks, Pep Boy has a metal framed put together car port style canopy with 6 legs and white platsic tarp material custom fit, it's worth the money and may work for you.
I don't bother with blood on gelcoat, when I get back to the boat next time, it's gone.
For 80 -90 bucks, Pep Boy has a metal framed put together car port style canopy with 6 legs and white platsic tarp material custom fit, it's worth the money and may work for you.
Sounds crazy but I had a similar problem and a friend said to use powder TANG, the drink mix. It actually worked better and any cleaner. I also heard not to use Bleach, it damages the gellcoat. Don't actually know, however I quit using it. Good luck. Barry.