Which is more powerful? Interstrip or PeelAway

[jbowie]

Hi all, I have now gotten to the point in my restoration where I am going to strip the bottom paint off my '88 offshore. It is coming off in 4 inch square chunks right down to the gel coat in some places, so it is definitely due.

I would estimate that there are approximately 3000 coats (figuratively) of various bottom paint on there now and despite the fact that it is coming off completely in some places, off course it is stuck on there hard as nails in other places. I will be repainting with bottom paint (probably Micron CSC) again after stripping, so a bright shiny gel coat bottom is not what I'm looking for. Nope, just removal of most of the paint so I can repaint.

In my interweeb research, I have found two products that seem to be most popular. One is the Interlux Interstrip 299 and the other is the Dumond Peel Away Marine Safety Strip. Does anyone out there have experience with both of these products such that they could compare their effectiveness, or alternatively have a postive experience with one or the other in removing at least 8 coats (literally) of bottom paint from a grady?

Thanks,

-- James

 

[timo14]

I used interstrip and was fairly impressed. At first i thought i'd coat it, wait for a while then scrape. Didn't work too well. The trick is to coat it, wait for just a few minutes for it to soak in, but not long enough for it to dry, then coat it one more time, and scrape. It'll peel off pretty easily. I applied with a 3/4" roller... so I'd do a 12" wide by about 30" long section at a time. Any more than that and the 2nd coat will end up drying out on you. Once it's dry, it'll be just like you never put it on. It took me about 8 hours to scrape and sand the entire hull. When you're done, you'll probably be surprised about how "white" it is. I actually though about not painting... but i had some glass damage that needed repair and wasn't going to mess with a new gel-coat.

I used 2 gallons and was really stretching it at the end. You'll need 3 for sure.

More tips...
1. Buy a Tyvec suit, goggles and heavy rubber gloves.
2. Use a 2" wide spackle knife, one that is pretty rigid.
3. Grind the corners off the knife so they are rounded... keeps from gouging the gel-coat.
4. Sharpen the knife on one side and one side only. Keep the unsharpened side up against the hull. Make sure you keep the knife edge very straight by sharpening the whole knife on the side of a grinder wheel. You want the whole knife edge on the wheel at once. If you dont, you'll either gouge the gel or have a stripe where the paint stays in place. I probably sharpened my knife about 8 times. You'll know when it gets dull.
5. Drink heavily... this is not a fun project.

Here's some inspiration...

Good Luck!

 

[jbowie]

Wow, the bottom looks great on your boat now! You did a great job. Thanks again for the advice Tim. Seems like you've been down the path I'm travelling now.

 

[timo14]

It did turn out really well... makes it look like a whole new boat.

It's a long path, but most of it is pretty fun. There's always someone on this board who is one step ahead of you. I've been well advised on just about everything I've done.

 

[Bust it Big]

I would consider SOda Blasting. It wont be that expensive when you consider the time and and effort you will put in it. It will also get ALL of paint off clean to gelcoat

 

[greenhabah]

I didn't go with soda blasting on my 24' because of the $1200 price tag but after 2 or 3 weekends of scraping and sanding ......$1200 didn't seem that bad.

 

[timo14]

$1200 will buy some nice goodies for the boat. I was able to do the whole bottom on saturday and sunday. Pulled it off the trailer on Friday, scraped on saturday, painted on Sunday. Put it back on the trailer on Monday afternoon. Wish I had cleaned the old black paint makrs off the rollers, but hindsight is 20/20.

The interstrip does work well if you proceed very systematically. After it's good and soaked in as I described before, it peels right off in long sheets.

 

[Workdog]

Timo got it right. Use the interstrip. It's got enough body to stick in place to the hull. Don't cheap out with the West Marine brand watery stripper. It doesn't stick nearly as well, so you end up using twice as much or more. I did it just like timo, but also used a pull scraper taped to a pole as well, under the center part of the hull (didn't like the thought of being directly under the boat for some reason. :wink:

 

[gw204]

I didn't go with soda blasting on my 24' because of the $1200 price tag but after 2 or 3 weekends of scraping and sanding ......$1200 didn't seem that bad.

Shop around when you looking for a soda blaster. I paid $450 to have my Sailfish done....

 

[Grog]

You had someone blast it for $450?

 

[gw204]

Yep. I had to take it to his shop though.

Unfortunately, he doesn't do it anymore.

 

[Grog]

Well yea, he didn't make any money doing it. Between his time, soda media and getting rid of the waste that's a GREAT price.