Spilled cetol on non-skid deck

[costaricanwannabe]

Some cetol (about 1/2 pint) was spilled on a non-skid area of my Cal 39's cabin top. Immediately after the spill I used Acetone and MEK applied with paper towels to get it off the gelcoat, but a discolored area remains. Does anyone have suggestions about how to clean the deck? Should I use compound to remove some of the gelcoat, or would the cetol already have penetrated too deeply? The boat was built in 1983, and I have owned it for two years.

[mangomadness]

West Marine: West Advisor


The blue gel FSR product is the best fiberglass cleaner I have ever used and I would be surpised if it didn't work. You have to let the gel sit on the stain for a minute then wash off, repeat until satisfied.

[KeelHaulin]

That's a tough one. I think products like FSR are for stains; not for removal of a paint. Cetol is very stubborn to remove once it has dried; it probably has gotten into the porous surface of the gelcoat. Aside from wiping with a solvent (like Xylene) I'd say you could try scrubbing it with heavy abrasive brush and a bleach based cleaner like Ajax W/Bleach. That might bleach out the color of the Cetol. Of course you will need to use caution when doing this, not scrubbing through the gelcoat color-coat and rinsing thoroughly and washing the hull to get all of the ajax off.

I'd first try a Xylene wipe; then FSR, if neither work try a scrub with Ajax.

[sailingdog]

I wouldn't use an abrasive brush... might be worth trying a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponge though.

[KeelHaulin]

Right... What I meant to say was something like a scotchbrite pad or a stiff bristle deck brush; letting the Ajax lightly scour the surface. I did this on my decks when I had an algae growth on them (would not wash off even with a pressure washer); and it worked well to kill and remove the algae. It also "re-toothed" the non-skid which helped in addition. The algae growth was some type of freshwater algae that had started growing while the boat sat on the hard for bottom work. The decks just kept getting more and more slippery. Somehow it was growing from the dew on the decks in the morning; which were totally dry in the hot afternoon sun!