Removing glued in pads... suggestions

[Stillwater's]

I glued in some pads with Wildwood contact cement, which went well, but... I'm finding I'd really like more coverage than the pads I cut. I can patch in a couple more pieces to do that, but would prefer to take these off and glue in two larger pieces (I like to leave a channel in the middle for water flow).
No heat gun, could borrow a hair dryer... what have you had luck with?

 

[dougd]

I glued a seat in backwards in my Rob Roy once upon a time. What a dumb arse move! I tried a lot of stuff but ended up using a hacksaw blade which I put duct tape on one end to protect my hand, yes I used a glove. I was able to bend the blade to the shape of the hull and got almost all of the seat off in one piece. I did have to scrap the little bits that were still adhered to the hull to get it clean to reglue the seat in the correct way.

 

[deerfly]

I've had success with lacquer thinner and as dougd suggested a scraper of some kind. Contact cement is pretty resilient and more so the longer it has dried. So with or without a strong solvent expect to burn some calories...

 

[Mike McCrea]

If the minicel was well installed – multiple coats of dried to tacky contact cement and heat gun activation before pressing in place – what Doug said.

I have tried to remove properly installed minicel using a sharpened metal putty knife, but that was going to take ages and leave a huge mess. A flexible saw blade, hacksaw blade with a duct tape handle or a long thin keyholes saw, makes quick and clean work of it.

If you are able to poke a putty knife under the minicel and remove it that way it wasn’t well adhered to begin with.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Try multiple hot/boiling water soaks.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

You won't be able to salvage the pads. Heat and scrape off as much of the foam as you can. Then for the remaining chunks and residue, use a combo of heat, an acetone or mineral spirits soak (try both) and more scraping. To get the acetone or mineral spirits to really soak in, you can saturate a sponge or rag with the liquid and let it sit on top of the chunk/residue for 5-10 minutes and then scrape.

 

[Abenakiregion]

Just be careful with heat/acetone/mineral spirits or you may remove more than you intended.

 

[sweeper]

WD40 or Adhesive Remover

 

[Mike McCrea]

A safe and effective contact cement residue remover is. . . . .contact cement. Brush on a liberal amount, let it get slightly tacky and mush it around with a plastic scraper. Might need more than one coat, but it will act as an eraser, softening and picking up old contact cement residue.

 

[Stillwater's]

All helpfull. I feel good about having options; think I'll save solvents for a last or final step. The Trillium will likely be up on the rack in the shed in a couple/few weeks, and temps are not so favorable for glue set up now, so will see if it's a now or in the spring thing.
I'd still cut some temporary fill in pieces for whatever days I still get out; I've been kneeling more of the time lately, and enjoying feeling that out.

 

[gumpus]

Hey stillwater's, another suggestion. Have you considered just putting a regular kneeling pad on top of your glued-in pads? I've always been perfectly happy using removable kneeling pads like the ones Northstar sells, they seem more luxurious than glued-in pads with more coverage. If you put one on top of your glued-in pads you'll get the broader coverage you want plus the extra cushioning from your glued-in pads.

 

[UCanoe_2]

You might look up the MSDS for the contact cement to determine what the solvent would be. I have a can of Weldwood contact cement; the label says it contains Petroleum Naphtha, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, and Tolulene. Make sure the solvent for the cement does not dissolve your canoe. It probably would be easier and safer to add more padding, rather than trying to subtract.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I've used acetone many times to clean the exterior and interior of various composite canoes of pond scum, stains and resin blush, and it has never caused any damage. If there's any concern about that, you could test it on a small patch up in the end of the canoe. It's hard to get all the old contact cement off without a solvent.

However, you don't really have to if you are going to cover up the old patch with a new and bigger knee pad. On my Bell Wildfire, I removed the original owner's puny knee pads and glued in a large piece of 3/8" Ensolite sleeping pad foam, gunwale-to-gunwale, so I can crawl around in front of the seat to more effectively heel, rail and pitch the canoe for turning maneuvers.



In my Hemlock SRT, I used two 1/2" custom cut neoprene pads with a water channel through the middle because that canoe is used for tripping and whitewater. I brought the pads up high on the sides, again to facilitate heeling.



For my most recent canoe, a Nova Craft Bob Special . . .



. . . I use an $18, 1/2" x 72" x 24", textured EVA foam pad from Amazon . . .



. . . which can be cut into two 36" x 24" pads, or four 18" x 24" pads, or one 36" and two 18" pads. The 36" is good for a solo paddler and the 18 inchers are good for tandem paddlers. So far, I have not glued these pads in because this canoe is paddled both forward tandem and solo backward from the bow seat. As removable pads, this is a much less expensive solution than large commercial kneeling pads, of which the following is the least expensive of which I am aware (in three sizes):

Foam Canoe Kneeling Pad

Are you looking to buy kneeling pads online? Get the stylish Canoe kneeling pads at comfykayak.com with amazing prices & secure shipping.

comfykayak.com

 

[Clint]

When I replace the foam blocks or seat padding I generally pull or scrape what I can off the boat and seats. Then soak a rag with mineral spirts of paint thinner and lay over the leftover contact cement. Let it set for 30 minutes or so. Then wipe it out. It mat take two times of doing that. But generally gets everything.

 

[Stillwater's]

For now: I cut a simple rectangle of ensolite to fit between the pads I have installed; lo and behold it's a nice friction fit, and worked fine for me today, and I appreciated the coverage. The removable piece doubled as a luxury sit pad, and carries easily on my daypack.
I'd like a cleaner looking, fixed pad, but will go with what I have for a while, pro which means till spring, at this point; might just stay with this option though. I do get the picture now of how to remove and replace if I choose that route. My thanks for the help.

 

[Traveler]

Not directly helpful for Stilwater‘s problem I know, but would dots of thickened epoxy/g-flex be a better option for attaching things like minicell? Would be easy to clean up a hand full of small epoxy bumps on the floor with a scraper and a bit of sanding if you have to rip out the old seat/pads.

 

[Scott Free]

I glued a seat in backwards in my Rob Roy once upon a time. What a dumb arse move! I tried a lot of stuff but ended up using a hacksaw blade which I put duct tape on one end to protect my hand, yes I used a glove. I was able to bend the blade to the shape of the hull and got almost all of the seat off in one piece. I did have to scrap the little bits that were still adhered to the hull to get it clean to reglue the seat in the correct way.

I have a foam saddle glued into my Yellowstone Solo. I like it there and have no plans to remove it. That said, I've often thought that if I ever did want to remove it, I would use a hacksaw blade just as you did. It's good to know this method will work should the next owner want to reinstall the original seat.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I have a foam saddle glued into my Yellowstone Solo. I like it there and have no plans to remove it. That said, I've often thought that if I ever did want to remove it, I would use a hacksaw blade just as you did. It's good to know this method will work should the next owner want to reinstall the original seat.

Welcome to site membership, Scott Free.

 

[Scott Free]

Thank you. I recognize a lot of the names here from other paddling forums and have been helped by many (including you.)
I don't know why it took me so long to get involved here.

 

[Mike McCrea]

Not directly helpful for Stilwater‘s problem I know, but would dots of thickened epoxy/g-flex be a better option for attaching things like minicell? Would be easy to clean up a hand full of small epoxy bumps on the floor with a scraper and a bit of sanding if you have to rip out the old seat/pads.

Epoxy, even G/flex, is dang near useless to attach minicel.

A few years ago we installed a minicel platform in a friend’s composite hull; two shoebox sized pieces of minicel, carved to match the contour of the hull bottom, liberally painted with G/flex and left weighted overnight to assure good contact until the epoxy set up.

A couple months later the entire seat popped out with a gentle tug.

Epoxy or G/flex works great for a lot of things, including vinyl pad D-rings and such, provided you never want to remove them. But for minicel contact cement is the way to go; three coats on the minicel surface, one coat on the hull, all timed to just barely tacky, hit both surfaces with a heat gun, press in place and weight down or clamp, never going anywhere.