Soy Gel stripper remove bottom paint

landlockvasailor · #1 (**permalink**) 07-09-2008

I have read past posting as to scrapping, sanding, blasting bottom paint. Been there, paid for it. Besides I would have to pull trailable 200 miles to boat yard in Deltaville VA to have done. The bottom is dried out over three years, so I want to take down to the gelcoat, glass any blisters, and put an Interlux barrier on bottom.
Looking at Soy Gel to remove. Does anyone have experience using? I have read the Practical Sailor article from 2006, but I would rather get folks I trust give me advice. The alternative as one past post had was to get buddies give then $100 each and go to it with scrappers.

Thanks
Tom

T37Chef · #2 (**permalink**) 07-09-2008

IMO...if your going to go to the effort to barrier coat, then have it soda blasted, otherwise don't bother doing much other than a fresh coat of ablative.

Just my $.02

bubb2 · #3 (**permalink**) 07-09-2008

If you are talking about

Captain Johns Boat Brite SOY-STRIPPER Anti-Fouling Paint, Varnish & Urethane Remover

yes it works, but follow the instructions to the letter.

southerncross31 · #4 (**permalink**) 07-09-2008

I tried that stuff on my old bottom paint. It works but it is soooo messy and after a while it starts to smear the paint around. You need about 2 tons of rags, a bunch of bottles of cleaner and all of the water runoff leaves blue evidence all around. Then explain the dumpster 1/2 full of blue rags to the b.y. manager! I also questioned wether or not it was harming the gelcoat .... which is an issue with any removal process. It seemed to soften it a little in some areas!!! I was going to have it soda blasted for 1000$ but was too cheap to do it. The soda blaster operator told me it would leave the gelcoat smooth and blemish free. Instead i sanded the hull with a 5 inch dewalt. No small task on a full keel boat

I would not recomend the soy product for a large boat, it will be VERY time consuming and very messy. Soda blasting uses baking soda and they take the contaminated material away when they're done. They come in a van to your boat. Next time that is the route i will take. DO NOT USE A SANDBLASTER! It will damage the gelcoat and lead to more repairs and $.

sailingdog · #5 (**permalink**) 07-09-2008

I'd second using the sodablasting. I did that to my boat last year... worth every penny. If you figure what your time is worth, and how much time stripping and sanding the boat is going to take, sodablasting is actually a very reasonable alternative.

landlockvasailor · #6 (**permalink**) 07-09-2008

Ok, well the Soy Sauce it out. I'll have to see if one of the yards in Deltaville does Soda, I know they do sand, but what I have seen it can make a bottom worst, like Southerncross mentioned.

Thanks to All
Tom

sailingdog · #7 (**permalink**) 07-09-2008

I would recommend you look for a sodablasting company, rather than looking if the yard does it. Most sodablasting companies can come and sodablast your boat in the marina, while it is on boat stands, since they will tent the boat, blast it and remove the soda and paint.

Quote:

Originally Posted by landlockvasailor

Ok, well the Soy Sauce it out. I'll have to see if one of the yards in Deltaville does Soda, I know they do sand, but what I have seen it can make a bottom worst, like Southerncross mentioned.

Thanks to All
Tom

sailaway21 · #8 (**permalink**) 07-09-2008

Most all of the bottom paint strippers will soften the gelcoat. It's temporary and firms right back up.

BarryL · #9 (**permalink**) 07-10-2008

Hello,

I tried the Fran Mar stripper last fall. It worked a little, meaning paint came off, but did not get all of the paint off. I tried another paint stripper (Interlux), then sanding, scraping, and finally soda blasting.

Some reasons on why the Fran Mar soy stuff didn't work for me:

It was cold, 50-51F. Fran Mar stated the temp should be above 50. I think if it was warmer the stuff would have worked better
I had a LOT of paint build up. My boat is a 1986 and I think I had about 20 years of hard paint build up

As others have mentioned, the soda blaster guy will come to you with a small trailer with all his gear. It was expensive for my boat ($1800) but the guy did a great job.

If your boat is small enough, scraping will work well. A guy down at the marina scraped his O'day 31. It took a lot of time, but he did a great job and spent almost nothing on the job (besides his time).

Good luck,
Barry

T37Chef · #10 (**permalink**) 07-10-2008

The year we bought the boat we just scraped as much as we could and put a cheap ablative on to get us through the rest of the season, it was July. The following Spring I had it blasted. Blasting it will open the smaller blisters, hopefully you don't have any, but here what the result was after the guy blasted the bottom of my boat, it had years of paint build up that was flaking everywhere. Notice the residual blue paint, I still had to sand the bottom to remove all remains of paint before filling, fairing, and barrier coats.