How to simply remove Rust Stains & “yellowing” on sails and surfaces including gelcoat and stainless steel .. also clean and brighten teak decks.
Removing rust stains and “yellowing” from sails, hulls and stainless steel fittings is easy .. simply apply our NEPTUNE Rust Stain Remover directly to the stain, wait a few minutes and watch the stain disappear .. rinse area with water after the stain has disappeared.
We probably all agree that unsightly rust stains mar the appearance of items in otherwise good condition .. rust stains on white sails are an obvious example. Less obvious might be the “yellowing” of non-white hulls, which appears to make the colour dull .. the same “yellowing” on white hulls is sometimes obvious to the extent of being ugly.
Owners with a little pride in their boat, often sweat both physically and mentally over rubbing products onto rust stains, some of which may even damage the surface. Often owners are concerned about the possible damage to sail fabrics .. and these concerns delay any remedial action .. so meantime the staining worsens.
But, since 1995 NEPTUNE Rust Stain Remover has been delighting our customers by making simple and easy, the job of removing unsightly rust stains and hull “yellowing”.
Rust stains on sails sometimes come from the sail resting against a rusted object, anchor tackle is a common source in small boats, but stains commonly come from a rusting cringle in the sail head, tack, or clew. Some stainless steel cringles rust quite badly and transfer the rust to other parts of the sail when wet folded. Modern sails containing “carbon fibres” in contact with sea water (even sea spray) seem to rust cringles quickly, apparently due to electrolysis. Cringle rust stains are quite easy to remove with NEPTUNE Rust Stain Remover, but repeat applications will probably be necessary.
Rust stains coming from stainless steel fittings should be thoroughly checked out. It may be that the quality of the stainless steel is not quite up to the conditions, so depending on the severity, replacement might be in order. If the rust stains persistently reoccur after treatment, then replacement of the fitting is recommended .. after all, rust is corrosion, which means that the fitting is becoming weaker. It is often a stainless steel bolt, or screw that is rusting, rather than the fitting itself.
Please inspect rusted screws, bolts and metal fittings for signs of electrolysis (corrosion) and replace them if in doubt .. this applies particularly to items under load .. you don’t want gear failure to ruin your day!