Napa Aluminum Brightener

General boating discussion
seahawk0785
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2017 8:32 pm
7

Napa Aluminum Brightener

#1

Post by seahawk0785 »

Good evening everyone,

I'm looking to give my relatively new North River Seahawk a mild acid bath (sides below vinyl only). After reading the many threads about the importance of removing mil scale from new boats, it sounds like this should be step one to ensure a long lasting boat. Also, it seems that due to the recent wind storms we've been facing in our area, I think some chlorine made it from my neighbors pool onto the side of my boat. There are some small white specks begining to form on the surface (size of a #2 pencil tip) that look to be very mild corrosion since I can't wipe them off. In any event, I purchased some aluminum brightener in the 32oz bottles from the local Napa auto parts store. The employees weren't sure of how concentrated the off the shelf product is. I'm looking to start mild by mixing the acid and water in a all purpose chemical sprayer. Any suggestions for dilution rates? Thanks!

Also, here are the steps I plan on doing:

#1 Hot water wash with soap
#2 Dry the surface with a microfiber towel
#3 Spray on acid, let soak, re-mist any streaks
#4 Pressure was, 2500 PSI gas pressure washer
#5 Hot water wash with soap
Chaps
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Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:19 am
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Location: Seattle, WA

Re: Napa Aluminum Brightener

#2

Post by Chaps »

Start from the bottom and work up, skip the pressure washer, neutralize with mild ammonia solution applied with a soft pot brush, rinse
1987 24' LaConner pilothouse workboat, 225 Suzuki
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seahawk0785
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2017 8:32 pm
7

Re: Napa Aluminum Brightener

#3

Post by seahawk0785 »

Thank you for the information Chaps. Do you or anyone else suggest using aluminum brightener straight out of the bottle or mix it with water? I wanted to be safer than sorry and was thinking of maybe 20:1, water:acid. Any suggestions?
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