Hi Everyone. I want to refinish the deck on my 'woodie'. There is some horrible sticky residue from deck patches. What's the best solvent for removing this?

Thanks Ian.

3M make a sticker remover kit and also an adhesive remover. An alternative would be Rid A Gum - meant for removing chewing gum but very effective on sticky stuff! Google them. 

I use white spirit on a piece of kitchen towel.

 

Acetone. If you cannot source it, then use nail varnish remover. The nail varnish remover pads are needed. NB These materials also remove inked-on sail numbers.

Acetone on GRP is NOT a good idea, as it softens the cured resin

Hi Ian,

On yachts where I don't want the acetone to attack paint I carry a bottle of Meths (methylated spirits) and kitchen towel.  It takes a little more effort than with acetone, but cleans the residue from that adhesive sailcloth we use for deck patches.  If it does not take it off directly, it causes the sticky residue to become congealed enough to remove with a finger nail.  It also removes odd remains of water so one can apply a new patch to a clean surface - another radio skipper (Mike Parkington I believe) recommended me to try it for the water removal.  I never re-apply patches, I treat them as 'consumables': I've lost significant successes due to water getting at the radio gear after sailing with a 'reused' patch.

I use panel wipe, its a degreaser for vehicle paint preperation. It doesn't attack any surfaces. It takes a bit of rubbing where resedue is bad but eventually gets it off. Also brilliant for other degreasing and cheap. 5ltrs for just over £20 in some places which lasts years. Link