Products to cover up Stains on plastic stairs

[jasongreenberg]

I am in the process of doing a partial drain to lower my stabilizer levels and I'm thinking this is a great opportunity to cover up some nasty staining that I have on my plastic stair entry to the pool.
I have attached a photo showing this yellowish discolouration. I have tried to clean this but it won't come off...
I'm wondering how I can go about covering it up? Does anyone know of any products that are waterproof that can whiten or cover it?
Thanks!

 

[bobodaclown]

Have you tried a polishing compound?

 

[jasongreenberg]

I have not, nor do I really know anything about them. If you can give me any hints to push me in the right direction on how they work or what brands to look for, that would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[pooldv]

First, try to remove them. Try a vit C tablet crushed up in sock or thin towel or directly on the stain as a paste. Or try a trichlor puck if you have one or some diluted bleach/liquid chlorine.

 

[jasongreenberg]

Ok, will try all of this, thank you! The source of this discolouration seems to be glue that was used in this spot by the previous owner. I'm wondering, if all else fails, is there something that can be used to cover it up? Underwater paint or something to that extent?

 

[pooldv]

Oh, yes I see that. I sent a PM to another member who might be able to help. Also, those stairs are probably fiberglass, not plastic. Check on that. If they are fiberglass they will have a gelcoat surface and there might be some type of gelcoat repair/touchup kit available.

 

[cowboycasey]

Hey there, looks like you got some discoloration going

hmmm,, There is a rubber spray paint that will work very well underwater but it has to be 100% dry when painting it on.. if the water is down and dry you should have no problems... It can be power washed up to 2500 PSI and I have had a piece underwater for a year with no issues... With that said, these are stairs and well stairs get abused every time some goes in and out of the pool and I am afraid it would get damaged over time.... it would be less than 50 bucks to try but if it failed you would have to drain the water down again and try something else...

it is from dipyourcar.com and they have every color you would want including white if you want it... you want to do very light coat to start and then get heavier coats.. for that step I would recommend at least 10 to 15 coats for a very thick product when done... here are some video's if the process
DipYourCar.com

the more durable and long lasting and probably the correct way to do it is using gel coat repair.. it is probably not as expensive as you think if you can do it yourself or find a mobile boat repair company and they can do the repair very fast... there are 2 companies near you that would easily fix that..
Google

if you want to do it yourself here is a great video, yours would be a bigger area but the same exact concept


here is what I have used it on
Original

after dip

this is the piece that has been in the water for a year

I hope this helps