How to apply silicone antifouling (Silic One) by yourself.

For a long time we had the idea of testing Hempel’s silicone antifouling patent at the next beaching of my boat. But the work and the cost seemed too expensive to me. Until the opportunity arose, I did my numbers to see how profitable it was, and I decided to try it myself.

The following video shows my experience, how to carry out the entire process correctly, the most important points to take into account (Humidity, drying times and quantities) and the speed and durability tests that we have done on the result, I hope you like it and enjoy it. Useful.

Throughout this process we have required some materials that we mentioned in the video and to which we leave you some relevant links here:
✅ The paint scraper that I have used, a magical tool that can do anything: https://amzn.to/3NjWwVI
✅ An improved version with extra handle https://amzn.to/3GND7K1
✅ The orbital sander I bought https://amzn.to/3NiiTL9
✅ Foam adapter for my sander https://amzn.to/3GLxjko
✅ The professional they left me to move forward fast https://amzn.to/3GKMVo6
✅ Hempel’s website about Silic One https://www.hempelyacht.com/es-es/products/biocide-free/silic-one/case-1
✅ The Hempel Paint Calculator https://yachtpaintcalculator.com/
✅ Our thanks to the people at Cleanautic http://cleanautic.com/, who have helped us with advice, lending us material and lending us a hand. And that they carry many boats, painted with silicone, behind them.

We will not stop insisting on the three most important factors for this to be successful:
✅ HUMIDITY: Excess moisture must be avoided in the process, especially in the application and drying of the Tie Coat and the application of the first layer of silicone. The Tie Coat cannot get wet in the first 6 hours for anything in the world and during the entire drying process the temperature must be above 10 degrees.
✅ DRYING TIMES: The drying times must be strictly respected according to the temperature, as you can see in the following table, and between the last layer of primer and the Tie Coat, the application must be done with the primer still biting.
✅ THICKNESS OF LAYERS: Silicone needs a minimum thickness in microns to be effective, so you have to apply the recommended amount and the recommended number of coats of paint to reach said thickness.

If you follow these instructions, mainly the ones in the video, you will not have any problem and I am sure that you will be as happy as I am when I have seen that my boat has become 16% faster and that I intend not to take it out of the water. water in 3 years.