Ugly sticky contact glue

[RickD]

My boat - assuming I'm going to be keeping her for the next couple of years has this old blue carpet in the floor inside. I'm sure it was ok when it was installed, but it's worn, kind ugly and well... it gets wet occasionally and so that's not good for me, but conducive to mold or mildew.

I dug around a lot and found that who ever put it in originally stuck it down with some kind of painted-on yellow contact glue.

Holds the carpet well... but is going to be a HORRIBLE mess to remove from the places I don't want it.

How do you remove this stuff from fiberglass?

[kmclemore]

Assuming you've never painted the original gelcoat on the interior, you can use Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK), but be SURE you have your cabin WELL ventilated... it's nasty stuff but it will remove the glue without damaging the fiberglass. Use a little at a time and don't leave it on for long... just long enough to get the glue off. Wear good rubber gloves and eye protection.

[Hamin' X]

Goof Off (available at HD, Lowes, Ace, etc.) works well. As Kevin indicated, ventilate well.

~Rich

[grady]

Toluene will work also and will not evaporate as quickly as MEK. You can dampen a rag and place it over the glue for a couple of minutes it will hold the vapor on the glue and soften it up so it will wipe off really easy.

[vizwhiz]

I was going to suggest trying Goo Gone also...it's a little more like mineral spirits and easier on the eyes/hands. We had something similar in our boat with some glued-down carpet, but ours was probably spray-on glue, maybe not the same as what sounds like contact cement in your case. Goo Gone worked, as did light use of mineral spirits (and doesn't evaporate as quickly as MEK). But it may not be strong enough for your glue.
I've used Goof Off also, it is a mix of light solvents like toluene and such that works well...and I've used MEK in the past when working on cars and things and it does work great! Pick your poison, but definitely ventilate well, wear the gloves and eye protection...

[RickD]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I've been doing work on the inside of the boat and we've not had a chance to get out on the water yet this year. That's ok though. We're headed for Bahamas around October it seems. A friend of mine owns a Saber 28 at Abaco, needs some work done (putting in some gauges and senors on the engine - so I volunteered to do it for him, and he said "How long would you like to stay on the boat?"

I answered "A week?"

He said, "Make it two and take your wife along...."

So I'm getting a free stay in the Bahamas for two weeks I guess (ok, not free, I gotta buy food, airline tickets and rum of course....).

Anyway, I think we will likely keep our little Venture for another year or two. Retirement is just a little more than a year off so we'll set her up for traveling across country, visiting friends and sailing in lakes near the friends.

So, I seriously need to get that old carpet out, and remove the glue. I think this stuff was actually sprayed on after pulling some carpet up and looking. It has the "splatter" marks of a sprayer.

[Catigale]

Toluene is substantially more toxic than MEK, about 10x....from the CIH in house...