DIY boat polishing

[dam747iam]

polishing

if using the sponge head for tcut or compound apply tcut with rag and dip sponge in water to stop it burning, messy but worth it

 

[Carols]

T Cut

I would advise against T Cut on a regular basis as it wears away the gel coat!

All Collinite cleaners are very effective and non abrasive

 

[CX54WEK]

I would advise against T Cut on a regular basis as it wears away the gel coat!

All Collinite cleaners are very effective and non abrasive

All cutting compounds and polishes "wear" away the gel coat. It is how they produce a shine!!

Cleaners are a different product altogether.

 

[Marine Reflections]

A stitch in time saves nine!

With sooooo many threads on what type of compound to use, what polish and what wax...you would forgive someone for thinking that looking after the various surfaces was really hard work and maybe, just maybe a little confusing.

You can produce fairly good results by hand, but it really depends on if you are polishing & waxing (fairly easy to do by hand) or compounding where you really need a machine for a quality job.

When restoring or protecting it really boils down to the surface profile under magnification.
An oxidised surface that feels rough and offers little reflection will rapidly become worse as the main protection from UV and water damage is the surface profile, it makes sense that a highly polished surface reflects light (of course inc UV) where as a rough surface does not.

It may help to separate the main 3 types of products used in the correction &/or enhancement/protection process.

1, Compounds: Most have microscopic diminishing particles within them that take the compound from course abrasion to medium. Compounds are used when restoring the surface profile, "cutting back" the chalky old surface to reveal the fresh surface underneath.
Only compound I use after 16 yrs trial & error: 3m high gloss

2, Polishes: There are various "cleaning types" of polishes that are available, (one-step type applications) MER etc, but when I think of using a polish it is on a clean reflective surface and used to bring more clarity into the reflection (to fine tune) prior to application of a protective finish. These contain even finer diminishing particles, so small you would never feel them between your fingers.
Polish I use: 3m Finesse-it II finishing material & Auto glym resin polish (for a cleaning polish).

3, Sealers or waxes: These should not contain any cleaning agents or polishing particles and deal only with protection and hydrophobic properties (water beading). The main reasons for using are to help water run off the surface and to take the brunt of the elements. There are many "magic waxes" that claim protection for a million years etc but the truth is that even the best will last three months at the most.
Waxes with a high content of Carnauba will offer the most protection, but a word of caution.. cheap waxes that claim to have say, 50% Carnauba are being very cheeky and are only talking of the percentage of Carnauba that makes up the total wax content of the product... not the total volume.
Truly high content Carnauba waxes are very expensive, for example Zymol Royale glaze (considered the very best) sells at a mere £8,146.00 for 1412 gramms... yes thats over 8 grand for a little tub.
The same company do sell a marine version and is very very good value.
Others I could recommend: 3m marine paste wax (at around £20 great value), also Pinnacle Souveran paste wax £70.

As others have mentioned it is still "all in the prep"

Farecla G6 & T-cut used to have ammonia in them (not sure if T-cut still does) and for this reason it's not advisable to use them long term as this will "yellow" the gelcoat over time.

If you are going to attack by hand then I would go for really good clean followed by polishing with Auto glym resin polish & a good paste wax.

 

[Scubadoo]

Interesting read "Marine Reflections", I didn't know about ammonia and yellowing - although looking on the web it would seem only Farcela G7 has ammonia these days. But you got me thinking as I have used G6 for the last few years.

Do you have know a good link to read about the 3m products, I might give that a go this year as quite afew people recommend it.

Thanks.

 

[Marine Reflections]

No I cant point you in the right direction of a good link for 3m products ..sorry.

I didn't know farecla had taken the ammonia out of G6, I guess it's due to the modern paints these days.

It's fair to point out though that there isn't a huge difference in the various products, 3m is just my first choice.

What is far more important is to take a look at your surfaces with a loupe, it will show you the real surface condition.
They are only about £10.

 

[Marine Reflections]

Take that back Scubadoo..found this one for you..

 

[gjgm]

Thanks for that MReflections.
I did get a bit carried away awhile ago looking into this, and of course its not long on the internet before you meet the USA car polish and wax mob. Now if you want to read about fanaticism, try them !
I concluded that its a balance between effort and reward. The super hard waxes probably do last longer, but my god they are almost impossible to use. And a car bonnet is alot smaller than a boat
I agree T-cut is far too aggressive; it might make light work, but at a cost.
BTW, I dont know whats in it, but someone told me Autosol(if thats what its called) is good a small areas of gel stain.
Might try some Autoglym, though I must say I ve found the Maguires great stuff to use.

 

[Marine Reflections]

Thanks for that MReflections.
I did get a bit carried away awhile ago looking into this, and of course its not long on the internet before you meet the USA car polish and wax mob. Now if you want to read about fanaticism, try them !
I concluded that its a balance between effort and reward. The super hard waxes probably do last longer, but my god they are almost impossible to use. And a car bonnet is alot smaller than a boat
I agree T-cut is far too aggressive; it might make light work, but at a cost.
BTW, I dont know whats in it, but someone told me Autosol(if thats what its called) is good a small areas of gel stain.
Might try some Autoglym, though I must say I ve found the Maguires great stuff to use.

Which ones are you using?? the waxes I use could not be more of a pleasure to apply.. they wipe on & off with real ease, it's like butter. You are possibly applying too much at once, also try using a foam applicator.

I wouldnt say T-cut was too aggressive, just have the wrong chems in for gelcoat.
Autosol is a metal cleaner and yep would prob work at removing gel stains but again the wrong chems for gelcoat.
Yes Meguires do a fantastic range, good pre-wax applications & cleaners in my kit bag from megs.

 

[SAMBAMAN]

re ; ZYMOL -as i stated earlier up the thread about zymol wax's..I use the marine wax on my targa 37....the shine is fantastic and the beading lasts for months and months.....i actually use Royale on my cars....again fantastic stuff...very expensive but you did forget to mention the refill free for life......the higher the carnuba content the harder the wax is....a lot of companys say they have a massive carnuba content...if it was as high as some companys say...you wouldnt be able to use it as it really is rock hard....

 

[Seahope]

I'll be doing mine when the weather turns and have been advised to use nothing but 3M compound and finishing products.. will be watching this thread with interest as the 3m stuff seems quite expensive

A stupid newbie question. For polishing on the water is there anyway to do it other than to use a small dingy? I'm sure that this would be fairly precarious and make a good spectator sport in a very public marina.

 

[Marine Reflections]

Zymol

re ; ZYMOL -as i stated earlier up the thread about zymol wax's..I use the marine wax on my targa 37....the shine is fantastic and the beading lasts for months and months.....i actually use Royale on my cars....again fantastic stuff...very expensive but you did forget to mention the refill free for life......the higher the carnuba content the harder the wax is....a lot of companys say they have a massive carnuba content...if it was as high as some companys say...you wouldnt be able to use it as it really is rock hard....

Yep free refill for life.. If you feel the urge to lose whats left in your supply before your refill, you will let me know wont you...

 

[CX54WEK]

A stupid newbie question. For polishing on the water is there anyway to do it other than to use a small dingy? I'm sure that this would be fairly precarious and make a good spectator sport in a very public marina.

We didnt do the whole of ours in the water. We did the top and part of the hull. It involved lying down in some uncomfortable positions, aiming at a moving target and lots of swearing.

It is easier to turn the boat around to get to the other side.

We plan on giving ours a once over when it is out of the water at the end of this month. Much easier out of the water, assuming the weather plays ball of course.