Oxalic acid or buy it in a bottle at the marine store as some aptly named gelcoat stain remover probably "boatsmart" or similar. Follow instructions and it works like a treat. Then cut badly oxidised gelcoat with a cutting compound. (Farecla #10 for badly oxidised surface). Follow up with a UV wax and polish. Following the initial heavy cut with compound the surface can be maintained with regular application of UV wax and or polish with a combined cutting wax product.
Lots of internet advice but only one sure fire method of getting a truly deep shine is the old "elbow grease" product of course and you can't buy that in a marine store.
Select to expand quotetheselkie said..
Does anyone know of a way/product for getting rust stains out of gelcoat?
Presume you mean off gelcoat. I use a product called "Metal Gleam", it's a mixture of acids. Most people use oxallic acid. Either just oxallic acid diluted in water, sometimes mixed with wallpaper glue to make a paste so it stays on the side of the boat longer. You can also use other products that contain oxallic acid. Just slop it on with a sponge or brush, leave 3 or 4 minutes and hose off.
Select to expand quotetheselkie said..
thanks frant
Is it obtainable from somewhere like Bunnings?
Do you mean the stain remover acid products, the polishing compounds or the "elbow grease". For an attractive woman elbow grease can probably be obtained in cans. Maybe a six pack of cold beer cans, but you have to make sure it is not distributed until after the work is done, otherwise absolutely no "elbow grease" will be available.
Ive used Jif cream cleanser on some stains
My old boat didnt get the attention she deserved before i bought her the previous owner was getting on in years
It removed a lot of oxidition aswell
As the stains
Congratulations HG and Sands. I have had success cleaning my toilet with Jiff also.
I,m surprised your toilet gets stained frant , I,m sure there is no odour .........
Avoid thread drift Sands. Jiff is a toilet cleaning product. Rust stains actually soak into porous gel coat and need to be removed with an acid product from within the gel coat pores.
Rubbing with a cutting compound (and Jiff is merely an overpriced household version of a fine cutting compound) merely removes the gel coat and surface stain but not the embedded stain.
To remove rust stains it is imperative to acid wash prior to cutting and application of wax.
theselkie deserves the respect of sound advice.
The Guy in the la Vagabonde sailing blog recommended a product for cleaning rust stains.
Well some where in seabreeE therws a before and after photo on my result in scubbing thr deck with Jif and there was a remarkable difference afterwards
It is after all an abrasive paste plus a bleach
As somone said when i asked the same question in seabreeze before i used it
Its all a matter of what you happen to find that works for you and your boat
I tried acid but it didnt do much
For my application
Perhaps this should be posted in the 'Romance' thread, for I am IN LOVE!!!!
Sorry HG, but I did give Jif a try and it did remove the rust from the flat surfaces but not from the in-built non-skid areas in the gelcoat.
Bought a Rust Stain Remover and, omg, it worked!!!!
I'm taking Mr RSR out for dinner tonight 
oxiylic acid in its raw form and without the massive boat price tag
www.bunnings.com.au/diggers-2kg-rust-and-stain-cleaner_p0960276
water it down a bit becase it is in its raw form.
on the subject of rust stains I bought a litre of spotless stainless rust cleaner and used it on my stanchions.
it is absolutely awesome. im still shocked at how well it works. highly recommended .just brush it on wait, don't let it dry so go around dabbing more on. then wash it off. all done and nice and shiny.
Hi bubbles,
Can you elaborate on the "spotless stainless rust cleaner " - what's it called, where did you get it, etc?
Regards,
Allan
It is called "Spotless Stainless, Rust Remover and Protector" comes in 1 pint $27.5 or 1 quart $45.65 size containters plus $13.40 shipping ...... next ....
..... ring this man ..... Peter Moore on 0406 081 171 ... he will tell you more ..... or, just go here ......http://spotlessstainless.com.au/spotless_stainless_sales.php
and it tasted like citric acid.
In very small doses just about every acid tastes like citric, it's the burn in the mouth you associate with citric, not having tasted any other acid.
I have used Peter G's Kleen-A-Hull in the pas and will do again this on my cheap Etchell that i brought earlier this year and just pulled out for a clean up and some maintenance.
Will post before and after pics.
I'll second the PeterGs Kleen a Hull. I used 250ml or 1/4 of a one litre bottle on the Adams 10 topsides. Worked a treat. Best to do when boat is slipped and being gurneyed[sp]. Wipe on with rag and wash off with fresh as you don't want the acid to stay on the topsides.
Available at Whitworths and most good chandleries.
Hey all,
Promised to post pics in this thread a while back and finally did the job using Peter G's Kleen-A-Hull.
There were rust stains all round the boat but the pic shows the worst of it and how it cleaned up. Bottle said 10:1, I probably went a bit stronger than that but for $30 for a bottle (which I used half of) the result was fantastic.
Oxalic is available in crystal form too. We used to clean leather with it before painting it. You can make your own dilution in any strength required.
Only one warning: take care not to let your antifoul come into contact with any acid when you hose it off. The acid is going to kill your antifoul in no time.
I found, phosphoric acid works better on ss.
