: ...that's where Pruden lives. I thought I'd drop a line to tell
: y'all (for those who don't know) that rubbing a kayak down with
: acetone and a rag is an activity that should only be performed
: by those who can remember they basic chemistry and actually have
: fairly decent recall so that they can realize before it's too
: late that they are doing something they should most likely not
: be doing, especially when someone else's kayak is involved. Yah,
: technically, there's nothing wrong with wiping a kayak down with
: an acetone soaked rag to remove fine dust prior to doing more
: epoxy work. The acetone (non-recycled stuff) evaporates in
: well-ventilated areas almost immediately and you are left with a
: nice clean surface to work on. There is also no problem if you
: are wiping your kayak down with a red rag but not using acetone
: or some other organic solvent. The real problems begin when you
: combine acetone with a red rag and proceed to wipe down the
: kayak while not noticing (got to get my eyes checked) that a red
: residue is being left behind with each swipe of the soggy rag.
: Worse, if the surface of the kayak is at all porous, the red dye
: gets into the pores and is really hard to remove. Worse (yes, it
: gets worse) is if, after not noticing prior mistakes, you begin
: to apply epoxy to the kayak and are almost done and notice that
: the stuff you are squeegeeing along the hull is getting pinker
: the more ya shove it along the length of the hull. That did
: indeed happen to me. I have worked for 27-years in chemical labs
: and you'd think I wouldda stood back and considered that mixing
: red rags and an organic solvent was not a good idea. Not me, I
: looked at the fresh batch of epoxy in my cup, no color there,
: looked at the red outside of the cup, no color running
: there...looked at the hull, couldn't see anything there...so I
: kept working the epoxy while thinking where the hell did that
: red come from. I was too tired to think and too rushed to stop
: and think things through. What I should have done long before I
: started work that evening was to have stopped myself from
: reaching for the cheap rags I spotted on the shelf at RONA.
: Normally I use the clean lint-free cotton rags that are not dyed
: but I couldn't find any so I opted for the cheap quick solution
: on the shelf. That $$$ savings cost me more $$$ when I madly
: rushed to scrape off all the pinkened epoxy after coating
: Keith's entire hull in it. Fortunately, I got to it in time and
: managed to remove 99 % of the pinkishness from Keith's Solace
: 17. Needless to say, I was seeing red because of my near fatal
: mistake. That was a few nights ago. That night, I talked to
: Linda about my pink slip (up) and suggested that I could just
: not say anything to Keith since it was barely noticeable and
: within a year the pinkishness would disappear with UV exposure.
: She hemmed and hawed about that idea. In the end, I decided to
: tell Keith that he now had a slightly pink kayak. He laughed
: when I told him and thought a little extra color wouldn't hurt
: anything. I was tickled pink to learn that I would be allowed to
: live another day but still a bit red-faced about the obvious
: mistake.

: The moral of this story is when you see a red hot deal on cheap
: rags, don't be tickled pink that you saved a dollar because
: you'll only see red after the deal is done. And never let a dyed
: rag mixed with acetone get between you and your project.

: Robert N(ot nuts about pink kayaks) Pruden

: PS: When Keith's wife learned that a kayak could be colored pink,
: she immediately wanted one complete with Tinkerbell images
: burned all over it. Looks like Keith and I will be busy next
: winter. One man's mistake is another woman's desire. Something
: like that...

LOL...only you Robert, only you :)

Bill H.