Solvents for Boatbuilding & Composites in Namibia

A month’s honest consumption and no more — typically a 25 L drum per active lay-up team — decanted into safety cans at the bench. Larger holdings just evaporate and raise your fire load. Our depot minutes away is the storage; standing weekly top-ups beat hoarding on both cost and safety.

Acetone on clean cloths, turned constantly, immediately before laminating — fog-season moisture and salt film condense on hulls overnight, and yesterday’s wipe is today’s contamination. For epoxy work, follow Sicomin’s guidance (IPA where specified). The cloth discipline matters as much as the solvent: one dirty rag re-contaminates a metre of prep.

Sparingly and knowingly: as a viscosity trim on thickened resin in hot weather, and in specific tooling and repair recipes — always within the resin system’s stated limits, because over-styrening embrittles laminate. It is a formulation tool, not a thinner for stretching resin. Ventilate hard; styrene announces itself honestly.

Settle and reuse first: contaminated acetone left sealed drops its resin load and the decant serves for first-pass tool cleaning — halving fresh consumption. The final residue is flammable waste: sealed, labelled, and disposed through the channels your municipality or environmental consultant specifies, never down a yard drain metres from the lagoon.