Machine or hand polish?

[AllanG]

Hi,

Which is your preferred method of cleaning / polishing topsides......machine or by hand?

My topsides require a light clean and polish, and previously I have done this by hand, but this time I'm considering trying an orbital polisher, and would welcome your suggestions.

I normally use MER polish, but now considering using a combined cleaner / wax, but don't know what sort of result I would get...........any recommendations welcome.

Cheers, Allan

 

[pheran]

I thought cleaning/polishing a 15 metre boat would be too much of a job - so I bought an electric polisher, proper professional job, 10 speeds, multiple heads etc. But when cleaning the vertical surfaces eg the hull, it soon proved to be too heavy for comfort. So I'm back where I started - and with getting a much smaller boat seemingly the only practical answer to my problem (or waiting for Bob-a-Job week )

 

[BlueChip]

I thought cleaning/polishing a 15 metre boat would be too much of a job - so I bought an electric polisher, proper professional job, 10 speeds, multiple heads etc. But when cleaning the vertical surfaces eg the hull, it soon proved to be too heavy for comfort. So I'm back where I started - and with getting a much smaller boat seemingly the only practical answer to my problem (or waiting for Bob-a-Job week )

On our yacht we hang the polisher by several strands of bungee cord from the main hallard, this takes most of the weight but leaves enough stretch so that the polisher can be pulled down to cover most of the top sides without readjustment.
It makes a huge difference to the effort required to use the polisher.

 

[aquatom]

I would recomend a Rupes polishing machine as they are good quality and very light.

With regards to hand or machine it depends how bad the gelcoat is.

 

[gjgm]

Hi,

Which is your preferred method of cleaning / polishing topsides......machine or by hand?

My topsides require a light clean and polish, and previously I have done this by hand, but this time I'm considering trying an orbital polisher, and would welcome your suggestions.

I normally use MER polish, but now considering using a combined cleaner / wax, but don't know what sort of result I would get...........any recommendations welcome.

Cheers, Allan

Just so we are clear, the polish has cleaning/cutting properties, so I d recommend a polisher, as to remove the surface grime is going to take some effort. Of course if the gelcoat is more seriously faded, you ll need to start with a cutting compound.Autoglym resin polish has been recommended elsewhere on here. I got a litre for £10 off ebay (which will probably last me every future boat I ll own!)
Once you have a gleam with the polish, you can move onto the protective wax. This is easiest by hand. I ve found Maguires flagship wax extremely easy to put on and buff off and it seems to last. I m sure there are plenty of other recommendations.

 

[mlthomas]

We A glaze at the start of the season and then MER a couple of times through and use a machine polisher – I think boats are like the inverse of the Tardis, when you get inside they shrink and when you start to polish they grow. Like BlueChip's tip about bungees.

 

[pheran]

Seem to remember that at one time at least, Mer was reckoned to be a no-no for GRP. Something to do with its silicone content but memory's fading.........

 

[trying]

December saw me hand polishing the boat as my polisher never returned from a visit to a friend!

I will replace it before making that mistake again!!

My preferred method is to use the polisher with farecla then by hand with waxtop

Through the season (if shes lucky!) i use mer applied by by hand.

 

[ajay]

Its a real PITA cutting / polishing / waxing, used to do it twice a year to keep my boat pristine. The gelcoat is soooo much easier to maintain with no more than washing needed if you put in the time and effort one time to cut back the boat then apply marine aglaze (http://www.marineaglaze.com/) or ultraglaze (http://www.boatsheen.com/boatglaze.html)

This provides a surface sealant which is a lot more robust to marine environment than wax/polish. both cost ~ same, the ultraglaze is slightly cheaper and better of coloured gel. Both cases the glaze itself is extremely easy to apply by hand. The aglaze for example feels like petrol so just a matter of taking a drop and swiping the surface.

both sell kits including a surface prep, a light compound / cleaner which should be used first, I found both manufacturers prep pretty poor. far better to cut back the surface with falecia G10 and a machine polisher with white compounding head (also falecia or 3M) Then use their cleaner, wash off and glaze it.

Im not connected to either company, just like doing less work

(added pic - only hull done in this pic, topsides were done while on water, remember this is a 10yr old boat)

 

[GrowingLad]

I was very impressed by these guys

http://www.boatsheen.com/

No relationship with these guys other than I used their site and emails to get recommendations on materials and techniques and bought my cutting compounds and polishers from them, plus tools.

I bought the variable speed sander with polishing/buffing heads and the spongy ones too.

It's a bit weighty but if you do it in small chunks and sort out your technique the time it takes you to do the boat far outweighs doing it by hand.

Get yourself a squirty bottle as well to keep spraying on the water...helps a lot.

Think the results from two days speak for themselves...before hand it was really matt and orrible.

 

[CX54WEK]

Just polished ours again on saturday whilst it is out of the water. Machine polisher everytime. Makes the job much easier and quicker.

The results speak for themselves.

Before

After

(Still needs waxing, but will do that after another coat of antifoul. The masking tape doesnt stick to a waxed surface!!)

 

[maxcreigs]

Your boat really looks amazing now without waxing so was thinking what about after waxing.I have a problem if you can help me out.I was talking to a guy on the weekend about polishing the gelcoat on my boat because it's a bit powdery.He does this for a living, and he said that he first acid washes it, then machine cuts it and finishes with a hand cut.
Is this okay on gelcoat? I would have thought it might be a bit too harsh.

 

[catalac]

Machine or hand polishing/sanding

Hi there
I am looking for a suitable piece of kit to both sand and polish my boat. Skil used to make one, but it's discontinued.
I want to cover sanding gel coat repairs, sanding before varnishing, and polishing both boat and car.
Any recommendations/suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[CX54WEK]

Your boat really looks amazing now without waxing so was thinking what about after waxing.I have a problem if you can help me out.I was talking to a guy on the weekend about polishing the gelcoat on my boat because it's a bit powdery.He does this for a living, and he said that he first acid washes it, then machine cuts it and finishes with a hand cut.
Is this okay on gelcoat? I would have thought it might be a bit too harsh.

Finished her last weekend she looks great now

Shes back in the water now so cant wait to use her this weekend

 

[Morpheous]

Here is my result after using the 3M lot, marine finesse-it compound, marine finesse-it 2 polish with the power polisher and then performance ultra wax by hand. Hull 21 years old. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

 

[CX54WEK]

Your boat really looks amazing now without waxing so was thinking what about after waxing.I have a problem if you can help me out.I was talking to a guy on the weekend about polishing the gelcoat on my boat because it's a bit powdery.He does this for a living, and he said that he first acid washes it, then machine cuts it and finishes with a hand cut.
Is this okay on gelcoat? I would have thought it might be a bit too harsh.

Ours wasnt too bad, we have however helped a friend start to polish his 1989 Bayliner which hasnt had a polish for many a year. We started with a G3 deep cutting compound and then hit it with some T-Cut before, autoglym super resin polish and finally waxing it. Hard work and still far from finished but well worth it having seen the finish

 

[nicho]

On our yacht we hang the polisher by several strands of bungee cord from the main hallard, this takes most of the weight but leaves enough stretch so that the polisher can be pulled down to cover most of the top sides without readjustment.
It makes a huge difference to the effort required to use the polisher.

What a VERY good tip - I'll try that, and hang the bungee from the rails.

 

[AllanG]

Hi,

Thanks for all the advice.........I ended up buying an orbital polisher from Halfords and used Farecla Gelcoat Restorer with Wax, followed by MER polish........and I'm well pleased with the result!

As everyone said, it's a far easier job using a polisher.

Cheers, Allan