yellowing Gelcoat
 

The other day I removed some stickers from the deck and noticed that the Gelcoat underneath is whiter than the surrounding areas. Anybody have any ideas on how to get rid of the yellowing ?

Thanks,
jdelo

if its stained try FSR you can buy it at west amarine and is a blue goop that you spread on. Leave it on for liek 10-15 minutes and the stains disapear. I imagine its pretty toxic crap.

The FSR that Puder is talking about is an acidic hull cleaner. I have found it easier to use the Starbright Hull Cleaner on large areas. It is easier to apply. You just spray it on while the boat is dry and rinse off with the hose. In tight areas use a sponge soaked in it. Both these cleaners use oxalic acid as the active ingrediant. They smell the same (bad) when applied. Wear gloves with the sponge method. Both are available at West Marine.

Ron

I had those brown tea stains on my white baja....
 

tried just about everything, hull cleaners, compounding, but found the best stuff ever,, its called 0n-off, it is an acidic cleaner, but works awesome,,, spray it on and hose it off...

Read again,,, he said the area UNDER the sticker was whiter then the rest of the boat,,,,, time for some rubbing compound and a good buffer The wax!!!

As Chris 232 stated, On-Off is great stuff, however if you are cleaning a boat that is on the trailer, make sure you cover the trailer. If you have any chips on your trailer, On-Off will get under the paint and start corroding the trailer.

On&OFF worked for most of my boat there are still some areas that are stained but it worked pretty good considering the stains on my boat had not been cleaned for years. Be carefull with it, it will eat through just about anything.

It is not a stain. The area under the stickers is clean and not sun damaged ( oxidation ). What needs to be done is rubbing out the entire sides of the boat. ( rubbing compound with a buffing wheel )

In my experience, you can't do much about the yellowing described. It's caused by ultaviolet rays that change the gel pigment. Even wet sanding and buffing won't remove all of it. The good news is the area where the graphics was removed, will eventually yellow and "blend" in somewhat.

I agree with Dueclaws. My boat has yellowed significantly in areas that see the sun a lot. I have compounded the boat more than once and the areas won't come up, they just shine more. Only thing to do is paint it or spray new gel.