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Author Topic:   Non-skid cleaning with Barkeeper's Friend

Whale1 posted 05-25-2007 02:52 PM ET (US)
Being somewhat new here, I tried out the search function due to a bad and, I'm' sure, aged staining problem with my blue non-skid.
Great reference source. The Barkeeper's Friend and a stiff scrub brush worked like a charm.

L H G posted 05-25-2007 04:37 PM ET (US)
No perfectionist Whaler owner like myself would ever use that stuff on fiberglass. The information you got amounts to bad content here unfortunately. If you don't believe me, check the cleaning recs on Whaler.com. where they say to stay away from abrasive cleaning compounds of any type.
Barkeeper's Friend is basically an ABRASIVE CONTAINING cleaning cleanser combined with powdered oxalic acid. It will take the gloss off, and dull, any shiny gelcoat. It is meant to be used on stainless steel bar sinks (and scrathes those too!) Another harsh abrasive product to be avoided is SoftScrub and plain old ordinary household cleanser, a terrible product even for home plumbing fixtures. No home should have it around.
For cleaning non-skid and other gelcoated areas, use Starbite's non-skid deck cleaner, which contains no abrasive. For yellowed hulls and other yellowing on gelcoat, use Starbrite's Instant hull cleaner (oxalic acid based), which also contains no abrasives. If those products won't clean things up for you, you have to go to polishing/buffing compounds such as Mequires #49 or #44.
I suppose if you've got an old beater Whaler, Barkeeper's won't matter, but if you've got a beautiful classic, or a post classic, forget it.
ConB posted 05-25-2007 05:23 PM ET (US)
Just finished with Starbrite non-skid cleaner on my Outrage 18. I think it does a good job.
I used to use Tilex on other boats, but the bleach is not approved by Whaler.
Con
Whale1 posted 05-26-2007 11:12 AM ET (US)
Thanks for the advice.
I'm afraid the finish on my boat was done in long before I bought it.
I'll try Starbrite non-skid cleaner for the rest of the inside of the hull and see if I can bring it back to life.
I bought the boat as a woodworking project to replace the rotted mahogany and it had been, as they say, rode hard and put away wet." There is little gloss left inside on the blue gel coat but it's serves as a nice little fishing boat and rebuilding the console and RPS were fun projects.
Tom W Clark posted 05-26-2007 11:32 AM ET (US)
Bar Keeper's Friend is an excellent cleaner especially for removing rust stains. The oxalic acid in helps eliminate the iron oxide in the surface of the gel coat.
There are many abrasive cleaners out there with varying levels of effectiveness. I have always found COMET cleanser to be the most aggressive and effective, much better than Ajax.
For non-skid (which is not shiny) abrasive cleaners are perfect. I would not use an abrasive cleaner on like-new gel coat. For dull gel coat it is fine. After all, the solution for dull gel coat is to wet-sand it.
Bon Ami cleanser is virtually abrasive free and works very well on fiberglass gel coat.
prm1177 posted 05-26-2007 02:48 PM ET (US)
I have my feet planted firmly in both camps. A little Barkeeper's Friend is good to put on a stain (rust included), but once clean, I use the Starbrite Non-Skid cleaner. It lays down a thin layer of PTFE and works well to keep the non skid clean during use.
tim79 posted 05-27-2007 02:11 AM ET (US)
LHG, it sounds like you have a little too much time on your hands to read whaler recs on cleaning non skid on a whaler. i too own a whaler clasic, however i never heard of anyone complaining their nonskid looked like it had a dull finish. i didn't know you could bring it to a shine.if you want to waste your money using starbrite non skid cleaner thats your problem. nothing cleans a deck like bar keepers friend and a cleaning product such as simple green or fantastic.
bigjohn1 posted 05-27-2007 05:51 AM ET (US)
For what its worth, I have found the following to work great in eliminating tough (non-rust) stains on both my seat cushions and the non-skid. I'm talking about stains that remain even after you try your best with non-skid cleaner. I roll the boat out of the garage and into the driveway on a clear day and let the hot Pacific sun beam down on it for the day - most all the stains are gone.
Whale1 posted 05-27-2007 09:17 AM ET (US)
I'm going to get some StarBrite non-skid cleaner and some Bon Ami and try each on the blue interior of the old Sakonnet.
There are stains around the rail stantions.
Thanks to all.
Whale1 posted 05-29-2007 09:19 AM ET (US)
I got lazy and bought some West Rust Stain Remover in a spray bottle to clean below the railing stanchions and down the gunwales. It's a spray it on, let it sit for 2 minutes, and rinse it off. It really works well for us lazy people and there is no scrubbing so no damage to the gel coat.
It contains oxalic acid so needs to be handled carefully but it sure was easier than removing the railings and scrubbing the gunwales under them.
BQUICK posted 05-29-2007 10:19 AM ET (US)
I've tried many things but.......
I use #49 Meguirs. Apply, rub withy soft brush then wipe off immediately.
Restores color, cleans and adds shine withour the slipperiness of wax.
JayR posted 05-29-2007 06:17 PM ET (US)
I just tried every cleaner known to man on my 1977 fiberglass 32' motorhome. It has not been used in almost 3 years and was filthy. Deep stains from top to bottom.
Bar Keepers Friend did the trick where all the others failed.
It looks spotless. For a 30 year old vehicle it looks spectacular.
I used Meguiare's #7 glaze in a test spot and it shined up like brand new gelcoat. Whatever mild abrasives it contains, it is not enough to do any noticeable dulling to the surface. Nothing the #7 would not bring right back.
Bobalong posted 05-30-2007 07:57 AM ET (US)
Another product that you probably all have already is Soft Scrub. It works very well, I use the no bleach type becuase I'm tired of ruining any clothes that I splatter it on. However, with really bad stains, bleach works the best. I'm going to try following up with the Starbright cleaaner to see if if will help keep the non skid somewhat bait stain repellent.
LCnSac posted 07-30-2007 11:59 AM ET (US)
Other than EZ ON/OFF which is pretty casutic, I've found Meguiar's #68 Non-Skid Cleaner to be the best. Much better than Starbrite. It's expensive, but the convenience of spray on-brush-hose off is worth it. I don't think it contains bleach; no mention of it on the product or website.

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Author	Topic: Non-skid cleaning with Barkeeper's Friend
Whale1	posted 05-25-2007 02:52 PM ET (US) Being somewhat new here, I tried out the search function due to a bad and, I'm' sure, aged staining problem with my blue non-skid. Great reference source. The Barkeeper's Friend and a stiff scrub brush worked like a charm.
L H G	posted 05-25-2007 04:37 PM ET (US) No perfectionist Whaler owner like myself would ever use that stuff on fiberglass. The information you got amounts to bad content here unfortunately. If you don't believe me, check the cleaning recs on Whaler.com. where they say to stay away from abrasive cleaning compounds of any type. Barkeeper's Friend is basically an ABRASIVE CONTAINING cleaning cleanser combined with powdered oxalic acid. It will take the gloss off, and dull, any shiny gelcoat. It is meant to be used on stainless steel bar sinks (and scrathes those too!) Another harsh abrasive product to be avoided is SoftScrub and plain old ordinary household cleanser, a terrible product even for home plumbing fixtures. No home should have it around. For cleaning non-skid and other gelcoated areas, use Starbite's non-skid deck cleaner, which contains no abrasive. For yellowed hulls and other yellowing on gelcoat, use Starbrite's Instant hull cleaner (oxalic acid based), which also contains no abrasives. If those products won't clean things up for you, you have to go to polishing/buffing compounds such as Mequires #49 or #44. I suppose if you've got an old beater Whaler, Barkeeper's won't matter, but if you've got a beautiful classic, or a post classic, forget it.
ConB	posted 05-25-2007 05:23 PM ET (US) Just finished with Starbrite non-skid cleaner on my Outrage 18. I think it does a good job. I used to use Tilex on other boats, but the bleach is not approved by Whaler. Con
Whale1	posted 05-26-2007 11:12 AM ET (US) Thanks for the advice. I'm afraid the finish on my boat was done in long before I bought it. I'll try Starbrite non-skid cleaner for the rest of the inside of the hull and see if I can bring it back to life. I bought the boat as a woodworking project to replace the rotted mahogany and it had been, as they say, rode hard and put away wet." There is little gloss left inside on the blue gel coat but it's serves as a nice little fishing boat and rebuilding the console and RPS were fun projects.
Tom W Clark	posted 05-26-2007 11:32 AM ET (US) Bar Keeper's Friend is an excellent cleaner especially for removing rust stains. The oxalic acid in helps eliminate the iron oxide in the surface of the gel coat. There are many abrasive cleaners out there with varying levels of effectiveness. I have always found COMET cleanser to be the most aggressive and effective, much better than Ajax. For non-skid (which is not shiny) abrasive cleaners are perfect. I would not use an abrasive cleaner on like-new gel coat. For dull gel coat it is fine. After all, the solution for dull gel coat is to wet-sand it. Bon Ami cleanser is virtually abrasive free and works very well on fiberglass gel coat.
prm1177	posted 05-26-2007 02:48 PM ET (US) I have my feet planted firmly in both camps. A little Barkeeper's Friend is good to put on a stain (rust included), but once clean, I use the Starbrite Non-Skid cleaner. It lays down a thin layer of PTFE and works well to keep the non skid clean during use.
tim79	posted 05-27-2007 02:11 AM ET (US) LHG, it sounds like you have a little too much time on your hands to read whaler recs on cleaning non skid on a whaler. i too own a whaler clasic, however i never heard of anyone complaining their nonskid looked like it had a dull finish. i didn't know you could bring it to a shine.if you want to waste your money using starbrite non skid cleaner thats your problem. nothing cleans a deck like bar keepers friend and a cleaning product such as simple green or fantastic.
bigjohn1	posted 05-27-2007 05:51 AM ET (US) For what its worth, I have found the following to work great in eliminating tough (non-rust) stains on both my seat cushions and the non-skid. I'm talking about stains that remain even after you try your best with non-skid cleaner. I roll the boat out of the garage and into the driveway on a clear day and let the hot Pacific sun beam down on it for the day - most all the stains are gone.
Whale1	posted 05-27-2007 09:17 AM ET (US) I'm going to get some StarBrite non-skid cleaner and some Bon Ami and try each on the blue interior of the old Sakonnet. There are stains around the rail stantions. Thanks to all.
Whale1	posted 05-29-2007 09:19 AM ET (US) I got lazy and bought some West Rust Stain Remover in a spray bottle to clean below the railing stanchions and down the gunwales. It's a spray it on, let it sit for 2 minutes, and rinse it off. It really works well for us lazy people and there is no scrubbing so no damage to the gel coat. It contains oxalic acid so needs to be handled carefully but it sure was easier than removing the railings and scrubbing the gunwales under them.
BQUICK	posted 05-29-2007 10:19 AM ET (US) I've tried many things but....... I use #49 Meguirs. Apply, rub withy soft brush then wipe off immediately. Restores color, cleans and adds shine withour the slipperiness of wax.
JayR	posted 05-29-2007 06:17 PM ET (US) I just tried every cleaner known to man on my 1977 fiberglass 32' motorhome. It has not been used in almost 3 years and was filthy. Deep stains from top to bottom. Bar Keepers Friend did the trick where all the others failed. It looks spotless. For a 30 year old vehicle it looks spectacular. I used Meguiare's #7 glaze in a test spot and it shined up like brand new gelcoat. Whatever mild abrasives it contains, it is not enough to do any noticeable dulling to the surface. Nothing the #7 would not bring right back.
Bobalong	posted 05-30-2007 07:57 AM ET (US) Another product that you probably all have already is Soft Scrub. It works very well, I use the no bleach type becuase I'm tired of ruining any clothes that I splatter it on. However, with really bad stains, bleach works the best. I'm going to try following up with the Starbright cleaaner to see if if will help keep the non skid somewhat bait stain repellent.
LCnSac	posted 07-30-2007 11:59 AM ET (US) Other than EZ ON/OFF which is pretty casutic, I've found Meguiar's #68 Non-Skid Cleaner to be the best. Much better than Starbrite. It's expensive, but the convenience of spray on-brush-hose off is worth it. I don't think it contains bleach; no mention of it on the product or website.