How to remove mat adhesive from hull

[FlyboyX]

I just ordered a set of replacement aftermarket mats for my swim platform and hood. the jacked up oem version has left a nasty yellowish brown residue on the gel coat. I am looking for advice on how to get rid of this in the best way? i did a search thinking someone would have asked this question already, but had no luck with the results.

 

[whitewheels]

I used this one and a similar w solid rubber. Tidous but it worked. Think I used up like 3 or 4

 

[eyethautunew]

I used lots of Goo gone and acetone but I was repainting my boat after, so using the acetone did not matter. Still took me lots of elbow grease but the products got it done.

 

[noviceskier]

This stuff made it extremely easy to remove, no eraser wheel or tedious scrubbing

 

[FlyboyX]

thank you guys. i bought the rubber eraser and the panel/adhesive cleaner. i will report back with results!

 

[noviceskier]

thank you guys. i bought the rubber eraser and the panel/adhesive cleaner. i will report back with results!

when using the panel adhesive I went throw a lot of shop towels since when they got dirty/"clogged up" it would start to smear. just a heads up.

 

[FlyboyX]

ok, so my son and i tackled this project this afternoon. i used a hybrid of both noviceskier's and whitewheels' ideas to get the job done.

this is one total suck job by the way. it was a lot of hard work. the original seadoo adhesive is really hard and the panel cleaner does a good job of softening it up. once it has been soaked, the erasing wheel will take a good portion of it off. i made a little movie for your viewing pleasure.

the wheel doesn't really seem capable of taking it all off however. i made scrapers out of 1/2" birch plywood. the 90 degree edge also does a pretty good job of scraping off the softened glue also and they are soft enough not to scratch the gel coat. in the end, there will be small amounts of residue that neither of those methods will remove. by this point, it will be a matter of wetting a rag with panel cleaner, rubbing and rubbing until the work surface is finally clean.





i am very happy with the result, but as i said above, it was not an easy job. perhaps we spent about 1.5 hours getting it nice and clean. now...if those darn mats would just arrive in the mail....

 

[FlyboyX]

project....complete!

 

[noviceskier]

awesome! graphics look mint too

 

[FlyboyX]

thank you, and also thank you for your help. the graphics have a few minor scratches here and there, but they are much too nice to strip off the boat.

 

[Ckrawiec]

I JUST saw this thread....sorry, LATE to the party. I've heard good things about LACQUER THINNER....still requires the 'ol elbow grease tho!

I wonder if gasoline or kerosene would do the job.

When I was a youngster (50+years ago)....my dad used to get this stuff from work.....CARBON TETRACHLORIDE (carbontet, for short), that stuff would take ANYTHING sticky off with a wipe, would take your head off too if you worked indoors......AHHHHH, the good old days (nasty nasty stuff but it worked like magic.....)