cleaning non-skid deck

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doug263

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Hey, I have a 1988 searay that the non-skid deck needs a little cleaning. I clean it about once a month with softscrub and wash it down once a week, but it just doesnt appear to be clean enough. I used FSR in the past, but I hear that may hurt the fiberglass gell coat if I keep using it. There is no shine on the glass now. I would assume that is from using strong cleaner through the years.
Is there something that will Bring the shine back on the deck without new gellcoat.

I have heard bon ami but they have several products witch one do I use.

Thanks
 
I don't think Bon Ami will make it shine again. But once you get it nice and shiny, Bon Ami is a good cleaner for maintaining the shine.
 
Is it the diamond plate molded into the fiberglass or like a beach sand in paint appearance. If the latter, I've never seen it shine. Saint Max doesn't and did not when she was on display for sale.
 
its not the diamond molded, I know what you are talking about, but it does not look like sand either. it is just ruff.
 
If it is not sand and not diamond plate it is likely a simple texture surface. It is still a gelcoat finish and cleaning won’t make the aged surface shine. What will make it shine is taking care of it the same way you care for any oxidized smooth surface although a little tricky to drive a buffer on non skid.

I have buffed the sand finish on my platform and the textured finish on bow and walk around with great success.

My recommendation is a wool pad for sand finish non skid and a foam pad for the textured non skid. I have no experience with the diamond cut finish. I used cutting pads and a diminishing value compound. I followed up with Finess-it. I then washed it with Dawn dishwashing soap to get rid of the slip finish I just applied. I finally use Sure-Step by Aurora on bow. I use nothing on my swim platform that is the sand non skid.

When buffing and cutting the oxidation on a non skid surface it may not be realistic to get a perfect job done. The pad and product heats up quickly because of friction from a rough (non skid) surface. On smooth finish I would buff to a final shine removing all product. I don’t believe that is reasonable on non skid. Therefore I buffed product in and around and gradually reduced pressure. I am running my buffer at 1500 RPM for this task. I wiped off excess used compound from surface with towel.
 
quote:
Originally posted by doug263

Hey, I have a 1988 searay that the non-skid deck needs a little cleaning. I clean it about once a month with softscrub and wash it down once a week, but it just doesnt appear to be clean enough. I used FSR in the past, but I hear that may hurt the fiberglass gell coat if I keep using it. There is no shine on the glass now. I would assume that is from using strong cleaner through the years.
Is there something that will Bring the shine back on the deck without new gellcoat.

I have heard bon ami but they have several products witch one do I use.
Click to expand...


You have been abusing the surface for several years with an abrasive cleaner. It may be that you can never bring it back to the original shine or cleanliness. More abrasives will not help.

Starbrite Non-Skid cleaner is what works well for me for cleaning non-skid gelcoat surfaces without damaging them. I suggest giving it a try. Follow the directions.
 
That pattern is actually called Spackle and it contains no sand, its simply gelcoat. It can be closely duplicated using a foam roller followed by dry rolling a ceiling texture roller thru it and then letting it kick off. Repeat about three times will yield a close copy of the origional Sea Ray pattern. I just did this to resurface my swim platform non skid. For spot repairs or total retexture appications, flexible patterns are available thru MAS epoxies and some other place I can't think of at the moment.

To the OP, if you've been scouring it for years, it will take a great deal of buffing to get any kind of shine out of it.
 
What about this woody wax I have been hearing about, will that work? If not Im thinking about just repainting the darn thing, but Im not sure how or what that will look like when Im done.
 
Just did mine, pressure washer and "Super Clean", the waxed it with Future floor wax. Super Clean is an engine degreaser bought at many automotive supply stores.
 
Bon Ami is crushed egg shells, and if you get aggressive with it, it will scratch the hell out of gel coat (ask me how I know) you must add some soap, and keep it very wet to prevent scratching.
 
Attwood non skid deck cleaner works pretty good too for cleaning.
No mixing. Just rinse the deck, squirt and use a brush till it foams up real good.
Let sit a couple minutes and rinse. About the best and cheapest I found so far.
I am not a big fan of Attwoods products cause most of what I bought from them in
the past was junk.
But the cleaner is great stuff.
 
I have used Scrubbing Bubbles foaming cleaner made for bath tubs. Spray it on, let it foam, gently scrub and rinse. I think it removes wax, but really cleans.
 
You might try some Shineola, but you better first make certain you know the difference between it and something else.

RWS
 
I use West Marine's non skid deck cleaner and find that it works pretty well. I follow up with Woody Wax which makes it look pretty good. I was never much for polishing out the non skid surface because it is difficult to do with a machine, and I'm not so sure that I want it to smooth out and get slippery.
 
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