Brown mustache

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This would make a great GIF! :)

Note to self: ponder retribution...idea #1) acquire sturgeon head from FlyWright and place in deepest, dankest, most inaccessible corner in menzies bilge.
 
A couple times a season I go around the boat in the dinghy and spay on Instant Hull cleaner. No scrubbing or even touching required. Takes about 10 minutes.

Ken
 
Lemon juice works fine. If you get some in your eyes, you won't go blind. Most of the acid products suggest goggles, gloves, masks, etc.
 
I'd avoid Barkeepers Friend ( a great product ) if you can, too abrasive. The toilet bowl cleaners are typically less so and just as effective.
 
I just walked in the door and sat down to see this post after driving home from Sidney BC an hours worth of thick fog in a lot of tight places and a lot of traffic 6 hours in total back to Vancouver .
As i left the dock this morning the crew aboard a 80 Ocean Alexander was just giving me a hand with the ropes when they asked what i did.
i make soap like lots.3000 cases a day of a mixed bag
They asked about bilge cleaner i said yes but am in charge of the more complicated stuff like brown stain remover sewage treatment and a bunch of other marine products.
Their eyes lit up and asked me to look at the bow of their ship that they just payed some detailer to clean the brown stuff off .
OMG they had stripped the wax all off. i think even cut the gel coat and to fix they had started to buff and rewax This was a sweet 3 year old ship that bastardized and still half covered with the brown stain
Suggestion to all; buy a product intended for the purpose I make a lot of toilet bpwl cleaner.
You can use it to wash your boat and to flush your engine like Salt A but would i, knowing what i do about chemicals...NOT
Would i take a chance on a 2+ mil boat...NOT
A 30 buck bottle of proper stuff lasts more than a year. How much do you spend every trip on booze. Just venting

Yup when they get back to me i will give them a free bottle with the condition they take pics before and after and tell their friends .
 
I spray on 25% solution muriatic acid (any hardware store or pool supply). Rinse off when the stain is gone. Never had a problem if it's a calm morning. Three coats of fleetwax in the spring keeps it pretty clean.
 
A gelled acid cleaner, such as Mary Kate On and Off Gel or Davis FSR, is very effective at removing the brown tannin stains and is a lot easier to use on vertical surfaces than liquids.
 
I just walked in the door and sat down to see this post after driving home from Sidney BC an hours worth of thick fog in a lot of tight places and a lot of traffic 6 hours in total back to Vancouver .
As i left the dock this morning the crew aboard a 80 Ocean Alexander was just giving me a hand with the ropes when they asked what i did.
i make soap like lots.3000 cases a day of a mixed bag
They asked about bilge cleaner i said yes but am in charge of the more complicated stuff like brown stain remover sewage treatment and a bunch of other marine products.
Their eyes lit up and asked me to look at the bow of their ship that they just payed some detailer to clean the brown stuff off .
OMG they had stripped the wax all off. i think even cut the gel coat and to fix they had started to buff and rewax This was a sweet 3 year old ship that bastardized and still half covered with the brown stain
Suggestion to all; buy a product intended for the purpose I make a lot of toilet bpwl cleaner.
You can use it to wash your boat and to flush your engine like Salt A but would i, knowing what i do about chemicals...NOT
Would i take a chance on a 2+ mil boat...NOT
A 30 buck bottle of proper stuff lasts more than a year. How much do you spend every trip on booze. Just venting

Yup when they get back to me i will give them a free bottle with the condition they take pics before and after and tell their friends .

So what's the name of the "proper stuff?"
 
A gelled acid cleaner, such as Mary Kate On and Off Gel or Davis FSR, is very effective at removing the brown tannin stains and is a lot easier to use on vertical surfaces than liquids.

You should have samples of Sea Solve
 
Hi Sea Q, I have a box of samples sitting in my office. I haven't had a chance to play with them yet. I had to reorder the Noflex.
 
I just walked in the door and sat down to see this post after driving home from Sidney BC an hours worth of thick fog in a lot of tight places and a lot of traffic 6 hours in total back to Vancouver .
As i left the dock this morning the crew aboard a 80 Ocean Alexander was just giving me a hand with the ropes when they asked what i did.
i make soap like lots.3000 cases a day of a mixed bag
They asked about bilge cleaner i said yes but am in charge of the more complicated stuff like brown stain remover sewage treatment and a bunch of other marine products.
Their eyes lit up and asked me to look at the bow of their ship that they just payed some detailer to clean the brown stuff off .
OMG they had stripped the wax all off. i think even cut the gel coat and to fix they had started to buff and rewax This was a sweet 3 year old ship that bastardized and still half covered with the brown stain
Suggestion to all; buy a product intended for the purpose I make a lot of toilet bpwl cleaner.
You can use it to wash your boat and to flush your engine like Salt A but would i, knowing what i do about chemicals...NOT
Would i take a chance on a 2+ mil boat...NOT
A 30 buck bottle of proper stuff lasts more than a year. How much do you spend every trip on booze. Just venting

Yup when they get back to me i will give them a free bottle with the condition they take pics before and after and tell their friends .

They just got back to me and told me the detailers used Muriatic acid
What a mess now it has to be buffed out and waxed a few times
 
Gonna be hard to wax that area of the the boat in the water however.

These make it much easier to wax/clean the waterline while floating in the dinghy, just attach them to the hull and hang on.
 

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These make it much easier to wax/clean the waterline while floating in the dinghy, just attach them to the hull and hang on.


That's a good idea
 
These make it much easier to wax/clean the waterline while floating in the dinghy, just attach them to the hull and hang on.

I like these better. Stronger grip and you can tie off to them.
 

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I like these better. Stronger grip and you can tie off to them.

That's the ticket right there. Very useful items such as moving recalcitrant seldom used sliding windows, glass replacement (of course), instant cleat for when a lot of friends show up for a dinghy party, helping carry odd shaped items and so on.
 
But do they float on their own? We had a set similar to the ones RTF posted. They sink, not fast, but my reflexes are too slow. :facepalm:

Hmm...haven't dropped one into the water yet. But I don't think they float.

You could easily attach a float of some kind to them I would think.
 
Greetings,
Mr. LM. I posted no suction devices in THIS thread but I may have in past other threads. I bought a pair at Harbor Freight and as yet have managed to keep them as a result of always having a line tied to them when they let go.
 
I'm kinda partial to brown mustaches :whistling:
Well I'm not so fond of the one I've got. You can have mine. ARGH. Nobody tells little girls this stuff. The doggone eyebrows are migrating south. Heck, everything is migrating.

Wood bleach works well for the waterline scum. Ditto phosphoric acid.

I put it in a spray container. The new bottles from Clorox are easy to refill and get all the way to the bottom of the container. I have one of those mesh plastic scrubbies with the handle handy too.

Spray around the water line, circling the boat. When finished take the scrubber and scrub anything left. Spray one more time for final recalcitrant spots then rinse. Done.

Takes 15 or 20 minutes on Seaweed.
 
Compas Marine has a "how to remove the stain" on their web page.
 
These [Post 44] make it much easier to wax/clean the waterline while floating in the dinghy, just attach them to the hull and hang on.
I used those, in the water scrubbing the waterline. The vacuum cap attachment to the hull is stronger than the handle/suction cap connection, the handle comes free of the cap. The other ones with levers on the suction caps could be better.
 
Mustache wars....

Being plagued with this issue due to our Tannin and Brackish waters I thought I'd try some of the recommendations. Previously I had used some On and Off, but at $20/bottle it's a bit pricey.

Ordered some Oxalic acid, and ran across some "Works" at lowes..

Works: <$4 for 2 bottles
Oxalic acid: <$9 for 2 lbs.

Mixed 1/4 cup acid in 25 ounces, used the works straight:

20150914_113330-vi.jpg


Tried both, and the winner is: Oxalic acid!
Simple squirt, light brushing, mustache gone. The works had little success on my brand of stain.

You can make a gazillion gallons of this mix for virtually no money. Sprayed on the front here with a light brushing and hosing:

20150914_130609-vi.jpg


I'm sold.....Carry on!
 
do you need to come in after the cleaning and wax the area? I'd expect the acid to remove any wax
 
do you need to come in after the cleaning and wax the area? I'd expect the acid to remove any wax

I suppose you would but I couldn't tell you for sure. There is no wax on my boat. Was in the water when I bought it last winter, so not easy to do well. That was to be this winter's project but I've decided to paint. With 28 yr. old Porus Gelcoat, it likely wouldn't matter anyway. Next season she'll have a shiny coat of Awlcraft on the hull and I likely won't have to worry about this at all...
 
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Yes the acid will remove wax. You're better off removing the stain, polishing then coating with Rejex or something like it then recoating with a true wax product.
 
Yes the acid will remove wax. You're better off removing the stain, polishing then coating with Rejex or something like it then recoating with a true wax product.

Yeah, seems odd you'd go through all the bother of cleaning it off but not do something to keep it from reappearing pronto.
 

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