Long term effect of bleach.

[552Evo]

G’day all, I’ve used watered down bleach to clean up mainly the bait board and live well tanks. In relation to dried blood, guts and squid ink It does a sterling job and I do make sure I rinse down well because I know bleach is very corrosive.
In general is it a bad idea to clean gelcoat decks or anywhere else on a fibreglass boat with this stuff as opposed to any other recommendations for cleaning? I’ve tried normal car wash, citrus orange stuff, green clean stuff, I’ve tried a deck clean product but it was no better than the other cheaper orange and green cleaners.
I’m guessing after many uses bleach could take the shine off the gelcoat surface ?
Any thoughts or experiences

Thanks



Saltwater fishing, boat mad but has a job that gets in the way.

[inveratta]

Bleach is a disinfectant not a particularly good detergent ...different animal...we used to use it in our industry but it has largely been replaced by products such as proxitane which is less problematic to use.

All I would suggest is get a small piece of polished f/g and leave it overnight in say 50:50 bleach....soon see what happens to the gelcoat in a more severe test,than how you are using it.

[Crunchy]

I have used industrial grade concentrated bleach to clean stubborn stains off flow coat, works a treat and not noticed any deleterious impact but I'm not a chemical engineer either....

[552Evo]

Bleach is a disinfectant not a particularly good detergent ...different animal...we used to use it in our industry but it has largely been replaced by products such as proxitane which is less problematic to use.

All I would suggest is get a small piece of polished f/g and leave it overnight in say 50:50 bleach....soon see what happens to the gelcoat in a more severe test,than how you are using it.

Yes that’s a great idea, pretty sure I’ve kept a few off cuts.
Originally I only meant to give the bait board the disinfectant treatment but it does remove surface stains very well,
Proxitane sounds like a chemical name is there a brand name I should try ?
Thanks Inveratta


Saltwater fishing, boat mad but has a job that gets in the way.

[Dignity]

On the occasions I've used I haven't noticed any undesirable effects but I found it hard to get rid of any odour and i do follow up with a wax though. I don't use it on my bait board nor would I use it in the live bait tank as I suspect you might kill them until it's all been cleaned out thoroughly. I'd be putting the boat in the water and flushing lots of saltwater through it first.

[GBC]

We kept 20l drums of dairychlor (basically pool chlorine) on the trawler for cleaning squid ink off fibreglass. As you can imagine we used industrial amounts in industrial strength and the fibreglass never had an issue unless you mixed it a bit too strong and the green scourer sponge melted into it.

[Brother Sharkbait]

Bleach/chlorine is used in fibreglass pools?


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[tunaticer]

Pretty sure that the damages from cleaners and bleach etc will be in the weeks after use when the gelcoat oxidises, if it does, from the use of the chemical, not immediately after a super strong test sample.

[552Evo]

On the occasions I've used I haven't noticed any undesirable effects but I found it hard to get rid of any odour and i do follow up with a wax though. I don't use it on my bait board nor would I use it in the live bait tank as I suspect you might kill them until it's all been cleaned out thoroughly. I'd be putting the boat in the water and flushing lots of saltwater through it first.

Thanks Dignity, I’ve used it a few times now and I’ve kept squid and flatties alive for hours at a time no problems.
I always flush clean with fresh water after the bleach clean because I wasn’t sure if it would damage the gelcoat.


Saltwater fishing, boat mad but has a job that gets in the way.

[552Evo]

Pretty sure that the damages from cleaners and bleach etc will be in the weeks after use when the gelcoat oxidises, if it does, from the use of the chemical, not immediately after a super strong test sample.

Thanks tunaticer that’s the sort of feedback experience I was after too.


Saltwater fishing, boat mad but has a job that gets in the way.

[ranmar850]

I used a small amount of Domestos yesterday to remove some red stains on my nice new white fibreglass nonskid deck. It can get pretty grotty looking when dirt is involved, such as when I've towed it up dusty roads for a good while, and then walked around on it. I think the stains were from gumleaves lying on a wet deck. Anyway, the normal scrubbing brush and truckwash wouldn't move it. A tiny amount of Domestos applied, scrubbed in, leave, then hose off, stain gone. So I did it on my under deck access hatches, which are Starboard, right between the seats where you get max traffic, and prone to staining. Bought them up a treat, too.
I had previously only used it for getting squid ink stains off baitboards.

[Dignity]

Ranmar, hopefully you used a mask, that stuff will eat your lungs.