Stainless metal cleaning

[Ray Hughes]

An easy way to clean rust or stains from standing rigging (or deck mounted hardware) is to use Davis FSR. Brush it on with an old toothbrush, let it work overnight, then hose the residue off. When the metal is dry, spray it with Lemon Pledge or a similar product, and polish.
This works really good on threaded turnbuckles and other hard to get to stainless areas.
I detail boats in the San Diego area, and hope this info might be helpful to you. --Ray Hughes, E-29 "Capricious" Oceanside, CA.

 

[jkm]

Great suggestion

Yesterday was spent cleaning fittings with metal polish and my wife's toothbrush.

I'll give it a try-where's a good place to find the Davis product??

John

 

[Rob Hessenius]

Fsr

John- You can get FSR at West Marine. If you want to save a few $. WM has it private labeled too. Both should be close to each other. Another product that I really like is "The Miracle Cloth". Just buff out your metal needs to a shine that you can comb your hair in. Rob Hessenius

 

[rgoff]

I've used FSR for years to clean rust spots on the fiberglass. In fact, the product's full name is/was Fiberglass Stain Remover. It works great.

One time I used it to clean a large area that wasn't really rusty, just "dirty looking" and it made a big difference.

 

[Frank Langer]

Does FSR mentioned above have any negative affect on gelcoat, --i.e. if I were to use it for surface rust stains on the based of some of my stanchions, and some gets on the surrounding area? I don't want any acid-like cleaner etching the gelcoat.
thanks,
Frank.

 

[Rob Hessenius]

Frank

FSR-No worries about fiberglass. Its true purpose is to pull stains out of gel coat. It will not damage or bleach or etch in any shape or form. I'm surprised in your vast expierences, you havent dealt with FSR before. I think its great stuff, also the bomb on tough tub and shower stains. Like I said, I would save the $ and buy the WM version. Rob Hessenius

 

[Frank Langer]

Thanks, Rob. That's reassuring. The reason I haven't dealt with this before "in my vast experience" , is that with my previous boat, I kept it so pristine that I never had to remove any rust from stainless steel, and a mild concentration of Simple Green easily removed any bird poop stains, etc. from the gelcoat.

But although the Ericson I bought last spring is in really good condition, it does have some surface rust on a few stainless steel areas, which I do intend to get rid of this spring!

Thanks again for your reply.
Frank.

ps. I'll keep working on my "vast experience"!

 

[paul culver]

I tried Ray's method this weekend and was very pleased with the results. I only left the stuff on for about 3 hours instead of overnight, but the improvement was obvious.

Paul
E29 "Bear"

 

[Howard Keiper]

FSR...really good stuff. Works as advertised, EXCEPTDon't ever spray this stuff. You'll find that the rust returns with a vengence...big time. Brush the gel on exactly where you want it...use one of those aptly named 'acid brushes' with the metal handles you can get for a buck / dozen. The liquid spray wicks into the crevices in the wire, and under stantion bases, etc.
Very good to have around, really, other than that.

 

[Dan Hayes]

Stainless Steel Cleaner

I've had fantastic results using a product made by Wichard, the French stainless steel hardware company. It's a bit hard to find... it's called Wichinox. Found out about it in Don Casey's This Old Boat book.

All you do is put it on with a rag (I also use a toothbrush for the hard to get parts) and let it sit for about a half hour. No rubbing, no scrubbing - just wipe it on. Then wash the boat with soap and water, like usual, and it will come off with the soap and water. Then wipe off any water spots with a towel as usual. The stainless will - honest to Gawd - look like new.

The best thing about it is that it (according to Casey, and the manufacturer) "re-passivates" the stainless steel, making it less prone to rust in the future. It has (I think) some kind of acid in it, which restores the metal to it's original rust-resistant quality.

I think you'll be pleased with the results, and it beats the hell out of scrubbing with chrome polish.

I know you can get it from the new SailNet site, and I was shopping around for it on Froogle and got some better prices - around $14 a tube.

Good luck.

-dh

 

[P Abele]

Sorry FSR lovers, but I am forever wary of products which claim to clean with no scrubbing. I am primarily worried about them working on places I don't want cleaned, like on bedding compound or on the gelcoat where cleaners run down the side of the hull into the water.
Anyways, I got sucked into the pitch at a boat show a couple of years back for the Flitz "polishing ball" and have been using it and a micro fiber cloth for a couple of seasons now and been very pleased with the effort and results. We have really liked Flitz for years as a polishing compount but using a drill to do the grunt work has worked well in my opinion.

 

[footrope]

FSR is NOT for Stainless Steel

I think FSR is for gelcoat and painted, non-metallic surfaces, only, according to their website. It's instructions (attached) are poorly written, though, and could easily mislead you to think that you could use it on metal. It contains an acid and probably would etch stainless steel. I have used FSR on my decks and have been pleased with the result - no scrubbing and rinse thoroughly all the way out to the rail and overboard.

I used Flitz for the steel rails and have been happy, if too lazy to do it all in one sitting. I'd like to know about the "re-passivating" claim of the other stuff, though.

 

[P Abele]

Interesting to see Oxalic acid is the active ingredient in FSR. On tough stains on nonskid we occasionally use Barkeepers friend which is an abraisive powder, like Comet or Alax, but also includes some oxalic acid and works very well. You can get it at pretty much any grocery or hardware store and although it is by no means for every day use, it is cheap and works well on those "unusual" situations.

 

[jkm]

I took Ray's suggestion and tried some FSR this weekend.

It was well worth the purchase price!!!!

Thanks Ray

John