When sailing on our inland lake, I get brown stains on my white H-18 hulls. Lake Erie will return them to bright white..obviously opposite chemistry going on here. I just wanted to know if anyone has personal experience with a good product to block iron staining on gelcoat. Automotive polishes won't do it. Manufacturers all claim their product is the best..Has someone already tried them all and come up with a clear winner.

nope!

we get staining here in the gulf of mexico. All we can do is remove it... not stop it. FSR or similar is good to remove it.

I think its pollution from powerboats but not sure.

I can tell you my friend recently painted his cat with 2 part paint... and his hulls dont stain like the rest of ours...

I think the stains you're getting may be from tanin entering the Gulf from the nearby rivers that feed into T.B. and the Gulf. I was down near Sarasota a few years back and went to beach after it had rained for several days and was shocked to see the Gulf so dark and brown. It looked like coffee or tea. I asked a local what was up and he said that the Manatee River was almost 15' above flood levels and was dumping like crazy into the gulf.

Gelcoat is porous and when it oxidizes it acts like a sponge and soaks up everything. After I did the whole wet sand and polish thing my hulls don't stain anymore. Good wax helps too. Even with all that gelcoat will still absorb some stains.

You're right about FSR. It's gold!

Google a product called Poliglow, it's a clearcoat designed for fibreglass hulls with gelcoat. I just finished removing the oxidization from my '79 H16 using 800 grain waterpaper and a orbital sander. Once the original gelcoat color was restored I applied the clearcoat, it seals the gelcoat and prevents stains. The results were awesome, high gloss finish and my hulls look new.

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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