PTFE in bottom paint?

[ERTF]

Need to repaint the bottom of my skiff.

Comparing West Marine PCA Gold (rebranded Pettit) vs. Blue Water Coppershield 45. They have basically the same copper content. Neither have a real anti slime biocide. The PCA Gold has PTFE (teflon) which they represent as anti slime. I'm gonna assume this is related to anti-stick properties.

The price difference is $50, so I'm just trying to ascertain if ptfe is gonna actually add any noticeable difference?

 

[Mischief Managed]

I would recommend against any bottom paint with PTFE. If you ever want to change paint type you have to remove all the old paint. That may not be a big deal on a skiff, but still, it's a hassle for sure. I would use something that other paint will stick to.

 

[garbler]

I would recommend against any bottom paint with PTFE. If you ever want to change paint type you have to remove all the old paint. That may not be a big deal on a skiff, but still, it's a hassle for sure. I would use something that other paint will stick to.

Sound advice. I know for a fact that barnacles will attach to Teflon. So adding Teflon to antifoulant sort of sounds like a gimmick to me.

 

[jgwinks]

On the sailboats in fresh water Teflon paint is pretty popular, at least around here in Michigan. VC17 and Pettit SR21 are the common ones. West Marine sells the Pettit version under their house brand as FW21 for a bit cheaper. Pretty sure it's the exact same product. Between the three versions it's all I used on sailboats for 30 years. Works well for that purpose, can't really comment on how well it works on power boats, the higher speeds might make a difference. Correct, there is no real anti slime ingredient that I know of, the Teflon takes care of that in slime doesn't stick to it well. Boat has to move often to make that work though. I had a boat that was for sale and in the water, it didn't move all summer and at haulout in the fall the zebra mussels were an inch thick all over the hull. Came right off with the power washer though. Again the boat has to move to slough off the growth. The zebras don't have nearly the tenacity as barnacles, even with no paint they're not hard to remove.