Teak Handrail Footprint Stain

[Eisensail]

I am in the process of replacing my teak handrails with stainless a set I am having custom fabricated.  The new handrail will not be touching the coach roof in as many places as the old teak ones. So, this requires getting off the old dirty footprints under the old handrails.  The footprint seems to be a combination of a little varnish around the edge that crept under the teak feet, and years of very stubborn dirt.  There doesn't appear to be any silicon sealer.
I have already tried various deck cleaning products with a very stiff brush and it doesn't budge (not even the dirt)! I am ready for something stronger, but don't want to hurt the grey deck paint.  Anybody been through this?  What do you suggest?

[Stu Jackson]

Brain surgery.

Really.

You will need to get something within each of those grooves.  No magic bullet here, nothing but hard, detailed work.

Each of those spots is most likely very hard, so you need to find something to soften it with, besides just water or other cleaning agents.

Are you familiar with FSR?  It's a gel.  I'd try that and cover spots up with wet rags/towels and try to soften the goop up.

Engine degreasers might also work.  Try Soapy Bubbles bathroom cleaner.  Try CLR.

The list of possibilities are endless.

I'm not trying to be flip or funny.  This really is a case of trying different things that may work.  I only recall one other skipper making this swap in the 20 years I've owned my boat and have been active here.  I don't recall a discussion like this back then.

[Noah]

Your "gray deck paint" should be gelcoat, so while it is somewhat porous, it should be able to be scrubbed prettyvigorously with variety of stain removers and a brass wire brush and but may also require a lot of hand picking with a small metal pick or screwdriver.  Also some stains may disappear/bleach out with UV expouser over time.

[mdidomenico]

you could try some soft scrub with bleach or a magic eraser

[Susan Ray]

Aloha,
Who's doing your new stainless handrail fabrication?
There's a product called Diamond Magic, that will take off those marks and not hurt the gelcoat.
Thanks, Susan

[scgunner]

     Eisensail,

          I did the same thing several years ago, it's a great upgrade, simplifies maintenance, keeps the boat drier, looks great too. The problem is even if you get it perfectly clean you'll have two different shades of gray, the one under the teak footprint and one on the deck exposed to the sun, plus you'll have the unmatched patches of the unused holes. What I did was paint the upper deck, it's pretty easy and with the new stainless rails and paint it looks awesome. I think the paint is Interlux Kingston Gray #4190 and a flattening agent. Also I didn't reinstall the teak brow either, I patched the holes and used colored stripping tape where the brow was.