Amine blush removal

Just finished the final coat of sealing epoxy on my Eastport Pram. I used west system 206 hardener on the portions that are going to be painted and 207 on the rest. There was no visible blush anywhere on the boat, but to be on the safe side i followed west systems' recommendations and scrubbed everything with water then dried with paper towels. After a couple minutes when the boat fully dried you could see tons of blush everywhere. I then tried re-wetting and scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad. Every time I'd dip the pad in water i could see blush coming off. I'd dry it with clean paper towels and it would do the same as before, the blush would return. I spent about an hour scrubbing a small ~4sqft area over and over, constantly rewetting the pad and its still visible once it fully dries. Any help would be appreciated.

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RE: Amine blush removal

Has the epoxy fully cured? Washing partially cured epoxy with something mildly abrasive, even paper towels, will generate sticky, gummy bits of epoxy that can be mistaken for blush.

Laszlo

 

RE: Amine blush removal

It was fully cured. I think i figured it out. It was 2 things. #1 the paper towels i was using seemed to be spreading it around more than removing the gloss. I switched to micro fiber towels for drying and it helped alot. #2 i didn't know it was normal for the epoxy to go from a gloss finish to a matte finishing during the washing process. I thought it meant there was still blush present. I now know it is suppsoed to be matte after washing.

RE: Amine blush removal

I am hopping on this older tread as I seem to be having a very similar issue!

I am enjoying making all the epoxy mistakes on the inside surfaces of my shearwater before starting on the exterior, but am truly stumped with what I assume is a blush issue.

I've got a single coat of epoxy (and glass) on the cockpit using West System 105/206. It was (foolishly) applied on a fairly cool, reasonable humidity day (tail end of winter), but that mistake is in the past. It has fully cured: time limitations means this is basically a weekend project, so the epoxy application was over a week ago and I had a heater on during the some of the first 24hr.

I tested for blush with a quick sand, and the paper (80grit) clogged pertty quickly with balled up plasticy stuff (quite different from dust filling the paper as you might expect from sanding). So I set about scrubbing with water and a scotch-brite pad, and wiping off with paper towel, dish-cloth, rags... (I've tried a few options). I can't seem to remove the blush. I realise the epoxy will look dull after the scrubbing (as per Tom's original observation), but I'm testing for residual blush mostly using the sanding approach, and I don't seem to be makign any inroads.

Is it possible something else is going on? Do I just need more water? Have I complicated things by sanding in between, so I now have a rough surface that's holding the blush rather than letting it be wiped away in the water? Do I need some other removal technique?

Any tips appreciated! I'm feeling completely stuck :(

Rachel

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