Dull Chalky Fiberglass

claire

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14 Jan 2010
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Hi

Thanks for your comments about shafts or legs very interesting I think shafts will be for us from now on!

Thanks for recommending www.shipshapenorfolkltd.co.uk they are very helpful and sent me some Collinite products. Just tried the Boat Cleaner on my fiberglass it's amazing cant wait to get on with waxing!

Great forum by the way it's great to get experienced boaters knowledge
I'm sure I will be back soon

Going for a well earned rest and a large glass of wine!
 
Just to follow up my post on your other thread. This is what can be achieved with chalky fibreglass.

Before:

before.jpg



After

after.jpg
 
Pretty amazing - did you manage to keep that shine for a length of time? What product was used?

No- unfortunately I neglected it so its starting to look a bit like picture 1 again!!! It did last a couple of years but has slowly been returning to what it was before. I could have easily extended the shine if I had bothered to wax it a couple of times a year.

It was all done with 3M products. Started with a very fine wet and dry sand, then a machine polish with a course compound, then a second Polish with a finishing compound, then a coat of wax.
 
Up until now we have managed to keep the shine on ours (8 months now) with little more than a wash every now and then.

We started with a machine polish with a G3 cutting compound (mainly to remove the scratch i managed to cause!!), followed by another polish with T-Cut, followed by a further polish with Autoglym super resin polish and finally a good coating of Carnuba Wax.

The finish has lasted much longer than the pro valet's finish when we bought the boat, but we dont expect he polished it four times!!!!

The boat is due to be lifted next month so we expect we will just have to give it a further coat of wax, which shouldnt take too long. We dont expect to have to machine polish it again unless we find some unexpected damage lurking where we have not seen it.

We have always been amazed by how bad GRP can look but still come back with a little bit of hard work.
 
Up until now we have managed to keep the shine on ours (8 months now) with little more than a wash every now and then.

We started with a machine polish with a G3 cutting compound (mainly to remove the scratch i managed to cause!!), followed by another polish with T-Cut, followed by a further polish with Autoglym super resin polish and finally a good coating of Carnuba Wax.

The finish has lasted much longer than the pro valet's finish when we bought the boat, but we dont expect he polished it four times!!!!

The boat is due to be lifted next month so we expect we will just have to give it a further coat of wax, which shouldnt take too long. We dont expect to have to machine polish it again unless we find some unexpected damage lurking where we have not seen it.

We have always been amazed by how bad GRP can look but still come back with a little bit of hard work.


Absolutely agree. It needs ALL traces of chalkiness removed and that can take a number of attempts.
 
My hull isnt too bad just looks tired, as soon as the weather improves a bit I am going to get stuck in and get her looking as good as new. I replaced all the plastic skin fittings with stainless steel ones at the weekend, now it just makes the hull look even duller!
 
I was impressed recently by the results, and ease of use, of the Meguiars, diamond cut compound 2, on a moderate to badly, oxidized surface.
After starting with the Ferecula G3, and found it sticky and hard to remove (leaving residue), with both lambswool and foam pads, switched to the diamond cut.
Finished off with the Autoglym Radiant Wax, which will be re-applied (by hand) periodically, to prolong time between cuts.

When washing the boat down, mostly just use water fed brush, but if a wash product is required to move dirt etc.. only use one with a wax included.
 
If you wax it up well you dont need any cleaning product for the majority of the time, just clean water. The dirt just runs off.
 
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