Restoring faded colors on a poly kayak?

-- Last Updated: Mar-02-10 8:10 PM EST --

I recently purchased a 9 year old Current Designs Storm. Unfortunately it was stored outdoors in NY for 4 of those years. What used to be gold is now yellow. I have lots of experience with gelcoat, but plastic is a mystery to me. Is there any way to restore color to a faded poly boat?

First thing I would recommend is
trying some yacht wax on a small portion of the hull. What I use (a 3M product) contains a UV inhibitor, and it stays on pretty well. As you know, wax may make a chalky surface look darker.



None of my poly kayaks got that sunbleached. Maybe there is a slight haze or crazing on the surface. In that case, you could try buffing it off, or using an auto wax that has a very fine abrasive in it.



I don’t know any way to evenly coat a poly kayak with any dye, however tenacious, that would stay on long enough to be worthwhile.

A couple of things . . .
If it is so faded that there is some chalking at the surface, trying some buffing to remove the chalkiness may help. Then apply 303 Aerospace Protectant to restore color and provide UV protection.



If it is all scratched and gouged as well, you might try light-sanding it, followed by carefully going over it with a small propane torch to melt-smooth the surface. By careful, I mean really careful: use brief swirling strokes, moving along before it gets too hot below the “skin layer.”



Good luck, have fun! With a little effort and care, you might be pleasantly surprised.



BTW, before you take it into deep water, you might put it through some rugged paces in shallow water, to make sure the sun exposure has not structurally weakened the craft. Check for cracks at stress points, etc.

I’m tempted to say
are you serious?



Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!



But that would be rude.



Instead I’ll say, no, I don’t think there is anything you can do. It’s faded and it’s never coming back. On the plus side, it’s no big deal. It’s cosmetic… It doesn’t matter.

Your best bet is to just put
some 303 on it to preserve what you have now.



You won’t restore it to what it was originally.



cheers,

JackL

And 303 makes it look a little better.

Try automotive compound
Things fade in the sun but a lot of what you may have is oxidation on the surface just like glass boats get. Automotive compound with an electric buffer can polish that off. You can try a little section by hand first and then get a buffer. Wallmart has them and so do those chineese type of junk stores for as little as $20.

No
In short - UV destroyed chemical molecules that give color to your plastic. There is nothing that will restore them.



A bunch of cosmetic fixes were mentioned above.

Bummer
suiram - I am afraid you are correct. The sun damage is in the plastic, not topical. I tried some heavy-duty 3M oxidation remover, 303 and even some Barkeeper’s Friend, but none fazed the color. Just have to live with it. Luckily, the poly is still soft and pliable, not petrified.

Just
Paddle the boat and enjoy it. Look at it this way it’s a like less likely to get stolen if it’s not to pretty.

When
the CD Storm was new …it WAS Yellow. At least they all looked yellow



best way to restore color is to paddle…restores pink color to the cheeks in wind and spray.



might not be able to turn it “Golden”…



Best Wishes

Roy

I’ll ask…
Ok I’ll ask the inane question esp. since HA,Ha rude dude is in such good humor.



Why not just paint the friggin thing?



Krylon Fusion Paint for Plastic no good ?

(I don’t know never tried it)



What do Auto body places use ?

They certainly must have to paint plastic when they make repairs.

After a few years
If you value paddling for the sake of paddling it will not matter. If your paddling is done on P-net it will. Just paint it, and hang it from the rafters in a barn where you can value its aesthetics but not see the paint begin to flake off.

Per Cliff’s suggestion
If you live in the Southern Tier, paddle Pine Creek and the Susquehanna and the Upper Delaware.

After you scratch the bottom enough launching and landing and negotiating rock gardens, the color won’t matter as much.

Kaps

perhaps
I’m assuming then that paint on plastic will flake off ?

The concept of painting a boat is not new, but whether paint adhering to plastic might still be unperfected. If not you could snaz up any old beater boat.

Glad to know some people have a barn to hang their boats though… should help with the drying process.

cd storm
i have a 99 cd breeze, fadded,looks great when wet! use it!

Dont
Make it such a process like others have advised. Using buffing compounds and blow torches on a poly boat is craziness. You may make your problems much serious if you try using a torch in attempt to melt away some scratches!



Take a look at the abuse the poly hulls on whitewater boats endure. Don’t worry about the scratches.

paint
Since no one answered, all plastic isn’t the same. Yes you can paint some plastics and it’ll work fine, not poly that the kayak is made of. The paint won’t stick, or worse, it’ll stick on the baddly abraded areas and not anwhere else and look much worse.



Bill H.