On 13 Mar 2005 20:11:29 -0800, "grot" wrote:

I am preparing to paint my sailboat and need to remove waxes and
polishes on the surface to get a good bond. All the paint suppliers
have their proprietary hull cleaners / dewaxers that are very
expensive.

Aren't these cleaners just mineral spirits or ??

Actually, over time, the wax tends to remove itself leaving behind
deposits of dirt and encrusted grime. The problem with using any kind
of stripper is that it's going to leave a residue itself and if not
done properly, can FUBAR the paint job.

I've seen this done on hulls that don't need a lot of repair, but are
going to be repainted and it's time consuming, but simple - namely wet
sanding with 120 grit sand paper. Depending on how big the boat is, a
couple of rolls, an orbital sander and a day or so should take care of
it if your boat isn't more than 25 feet or so. Two days at the max if
it's a little larger.

It's the only real way to strip all the left over crap from years of
waxing. It's not any more work than using a stripper either.

I did this on my first Contender which had sat for a while and
garnered a ton of dirt on the hull. Worked great, only took a day for
32' of boat and believe it or not, the shine is still there after a
couple of years - I've only washed the hull every month or so.

Good luck.

Later,

Tom