Marine A Glaze

[DougH]

Be interested to see what A Glaze have to say if they are watching this forum

From the number of boats being treated in Mallorca I doubt they need to say anything.

I would be more interested in companies such as Autoglym, 3m etc putting their products up against A Glaze.

Just try to apply wax based products in the Med sun.

There was a 90ft Sunseeker berthed in our marina over the winter that was waxed with car polish and I fully accept it looked great, but that had 4 crew that had a permanent job reapplying the polish all season.

I didn't buy a boat to polish it all year I prefer to use in for pleasure.

 

[Warpa]

This is a reflection on the hull of my sealine after a light buff with 3M finesse it and one coat of Collinite 885 as recommended by Marine Reflections .

Black streaks and dry salt just hose of easily still shining . I like the idea of being able to " top up " the wax rather than start all over again with a product like A Glaze allthough have not used it so cant make a direct comparison .
You may recognise the type of boat in the reflection .

This is my boat after 3M and 3M paste wax, used to use collinite but much prefer the 3M. Just used it on a sealine 285 and will be using it on a Hunto next week. I have more polish and waxes than i can shake a stick at, this 3M stuff which i only started using last season out performs them all for marine, cars are a different story.

 

[DougH]

I am not decrying the ability of 3m and other polishes to produce a very high shine to any boat but just stating that such systems would not last in the Med.

Wax based products cannot take the intense sunshine and uv rays.

The Spanish are not lazy in not polishing their cars with wax products because they know that it will not last and they do not like to sweat in the sun.

 

[agclive]

Hi Everyone,
Just so that we may have the right to reply to some of the interesting comments. No product, including A Glaze, is a miracle cure to gelcoat issues. Provided that the boat is prepared correctly by cutting back, if needs be, to remove any chalking or flat surfaces then the A Glaze Sealant (2 - 4 coats depending on the how porous the surface is) will give UV protection for at least 12 months, providing you maintain the boat using only the Wash 'n' Shine Shampoo as directed. This is supplied in the A Glaze kit, enough for ten washes and also supplied in litres and five litres, working out as little as 50pence per wash when bought in five litres. Using other products may cause the A Glaze protection to diminish.
A glaze is sold all over the world and is expanding rapidly - see our website news! - More importantly it is a British designed and made product exported to over 30 countries and we are appreciative of all our customers. Should you have any questions you would like clarification on please visit our website and request a call back or email clive@marineaglaze.com .

 

[Marine Reflections]

Products to one side for the moment..

Imagine if you will, protection of any kind has yet to be invented, or for some reason was not allowed.

Surface condition alone would be all you have to play with to offer protection against the elements.

What surface condition would offer the best protection?

What surface condition would offer the worse?

The apex attacker of surface condition is of course the Sun.

If the surface is highly reflective (see your own pupils in reflection) then this condition offers by far the most 'reflective' protection from the Sun.

If the surface offers a poor reflection (can just about make out facial features in reflection) then this offers very poor 'reflective' protection.

There is by far, no better, cost effective way of looking after your boat than ensuring it has the correct reflective surface condition prior to choosing a 'protect only' product.

All to often we reach for a product to do the work of preparation, this will bake off in weeks, revealing the true surface condition.

As Clive states (good to see you on here by the way) a product will not provide a miracle cure, it needs to be on a decent surface to perform.

What do I mean by perform? or said another way..
What determines a products ability to perform over another?

In no particular order:

The ability to slow down UV degrading.

To seal the surface from oxygen.

To interact with surface water via surface tension (to create a hydrophobic state).

The height or 'contact angle' of beads within hydrophobic state.

The ease of application.

The duration of above states.

The price.

Taking the above into consideration, it would be nice to see a radar arch or similar of perfect condition, masked off into multiple sections and treated with the various leading 'stand alone' protection products to see how each fair and to be scored accordingly.

I wonder just how different the results would be in different locations, here and in the Med.

Anyone up for a bit of a forum trial?

 

[DougH]

Taking the above into consideration, it would be nice to see a radar arch or similar of perfect condition, masked off into multiple sections and treated with the various leading 'stand alone' protection products to see how each fair and to be scored accordingly.

I wonder just how different the results would be in different locations, here and in the Med.

Anyone up for a bit of a forum trial?

Nope, you're not playing with my radar arch.

It could end uo looking like a zebra.

What about a sheet of flat GRP from each of the big 4 then coated in strips as you suggest and left to be exposed to the Med sun for two years.

 

[Marine Reflections]

Nope, you're not playing with my radar arch.

It could end up looking like a zebra.

What about a sheet of flat GRP from each of the big 4 then coated in strips as you suggest and left to be exposed to the Med sun for two years.

Ha! you know it will end up like a zebra!
Yes, even small, say 6" panels could be coated in sections and treated with multiple contenders.

I would be happy to polish up some panels to perfection, treat with the top four and post to a few willing to participate, a monthly report back to this thread (or another) with results / pictures?

Wash them down when required with PH neutral shampoo and test the beading results over the months, as this will show early stages of product failure, at least in the hydrophobic department, but we could also split the panels up into white gel coat and dark blue gel coat, to see the differences there also?

After two years the results will be very interesting, after this, will any of the products have survived those kind of temperatures?

Edit:
Question is... who are the top four by public vote?

 

[DougH]

I was thinking of the 4 British builders (Sunseeker, Fairline, Princess, Sealine)
supplying sample panels of their standard gel coat panels in both white and blue and for people like A Glaze to put their products forward for the test which would be carried out under agreed terms and by acceptable parties.

 

[Marine Reflections]

I was thinking of the 4 British builders (Sunseeker, Fairline, Princess, Sealine)
supplying sample panels of their standard gel coat panels in both white and blue and for people like A Glaze to put their products forward for the test which would be carried out under agreed terms and by acceptable parties.

Ah!, I see, I think that would end up to be more of a competition for production gel coat rather than protective product, even so it would still be interesting to see, if not a little more effort to organise.

I was just thinking of a panel or two with four different protective products to see how they fair here and in the Med.

 

[wazza]

There is a great article in YBW on just this subject in their summer issue.... A glaze done ok but something called 'Crystal Glo' won, being it was the best around, Protection, Shine & Ease of use, it even happened to be the cheapest

 

[DougH]

There is a great article in YBW on just this subject in their summer issue.... A glaze done ok but something called 'Crystal Glo' won, being it was the best around, Protection, Shine & Ease of use, it even happened to be the cheapest

I do'nt recall the test, but if it was done by YBW would it have included being exposed to the Med sun and tempretures, that's a real test.

Surely any product would protect against the UK sun, even car polish.

 

[Hurricane]

I do'nt recall the test, but if it was done by YBW would it have included being exposed to the Med sun and tempretures, that's a real test.

Surely any product would protect against the UK sun, even car polish.

I've been using A Glaze for about 6 or 7 years now - probably since it came out.

I dont know if your boat is like ours and white of if it has a coloured gelcoat.
But I've tried A Glaze on some friends older coloured gelcoats and it isn't the answer to the "milky" look that they are getting in the hot Med sun.
Shame, because it feels that it ought to work.
Some of the very old Sunseeker blue gelcoats go "milky" after a couple of months with either A Glaze of wax.
The only solution I've seen for these coloured gelcoats is Allgrip paint.

So, here's a challenge to A Glaze - develop something that works on the coloured gelcoats.

As I say, it doesn't affect us because we have a white boat - IMO the correct colour for the Med but if they could develope a product, I know a couple of people who would be very interested.

 

[Marine Reflections]

There is test data around with untreated and treated white, blue and black gel coat panels, which show the percentage of 'gloss' lost with 250/500/1000 hours of exposure to intense light, but this is under lab conditions, it would be interesting to see just how close it would be to actual sunshine in the Med, but to include regular washing down and with topping up over the seasons.

Also many top technical products are now available for domestic use, this is a good thing of course, but all to often I see a product being blamed for poor performance when human error was at fault.

I think the mark of a quality brand of protection, is one who is honest in the claims of their products, the ones who claim that you will never have to wash it again or top up etc, are to be avoided at all costs.

When a product test is run and price inters the room, all of a manufactures goals and achievements can go out of the window, because a product smells nice and goes on easy doesn't mean it is going to out-perform a rival product in durability or contact angle, it just means it smells nice and it goes on easy and because of this many products fail because they have not found the correct chemical make up to satisfy all of the demands of the modern protective product.

Some waxes will out-perform sealers in hot weather, that is not normal, nor does it sound right, but it is true!
It is just my opinion but a true test of all the 'stand alone' protection products would raise a few eyebrows

The real king of abilities in a product really, is the ability to maintain a hydrophobic state, under the pressures of UV, heat and water/salt interaction, but what works for you may not be the winner of a durability contest, but something that works nearly as well and does go on easy and smell nice..ahhh!

The bigger the area to be protected the less likely you are to follow a regular plan of corrective maintenance that is suffice for the surfaces needs in hotter climates, the hot is hotter, for longer and the wet wetter, when surface water is baked to hot bath temperatures the two make a lethal combination, our measily 20-25 degrees is nothing in comparison, therefore the higher your need for a stand alone protective coating, which is why in hotter climates and on bigger vessels, business in the protective coating market is doing very well.

 

[LionsDen]

Well Lions Den went back in the water @ Endeavour Quay yesterday afternoon after being cooped up in the shed for 16 days due to the rain.
Existing Antifoul was rubbed down all over - rather than where it just needs to be and 2 coats of Interspeed Ultra was applied - fantastic stuff.
Props and shafts burnished and polished afterwards and all anodes replaced.

Now for the interesting bit - we decided to try A Glaze - 3 coats of compound to remove all blemishes {3 M or similar can be used} applied all over inc under cushions etc {although not totally necessary} followed by using A Glaze SMR to remove any swirl marks then applying 8 coats of sealant in lieu of polish - wax to all surfaces until no more sealant would be absorbed into the gelcoat, with the exception of the areas where cushions are to be placed which had 6 coats applied and under the Flybridge console which had 4 as these areas would not be in direct sunlight.
End result - water just collects in droplets and runs off - the finish should last a full year if it does what it says on the tin.
I will keep you all updated on a monthly basis over the next year.

Planned maintenance - wash off the boat after each trip with just tap water and do a weekly shampoo all over with a professional wash off on a monthly basis inc the winter using only A Glaze products.

N.B. If anyone is not happy with his or her existing valeter send me a pm and I will put you in touch with my guy who used to valet for Princess and has now set up on his own at the beginning of this month.

I will post a couple of photographs when down on the boat next.

 

[scubaman]

Marine Reflections of this forum did a superb detailing job on my boat before it was shipped to Finland last May. I then decided to do a little test with A-Glaze and applied it to the starboard side of the boat and left the port side as it was. I applied two coats and followed the instructions closely. During the season, I washed the boat down every few weeks with the A-glaze shampoo (no salt to worry about here).

To be honest, I must say that I didn't notice any difference between the sides during or after the season. The stains were equally easy to the get rid of at first and the shine was equally good on both sides. Towards the end of the season, removing the stains required more and more work, but again, the same on both sides. Upon inspecting the surface a couple of weeks ago, there is no telling which side was which. Not by the shine left, nor by the cleanliness of the surface.

My personal experience is that while A-glaze is easy to use, applying two coats of it is no less work than one coat of polish. So, for the coming season I'm probably going to focus my efforts on doing a mid season polish instead.

 

[Switch]

Marine Reflections of this forum did a superb detailing job on my boat before it was shipped to Finland last May. I then decided to do a little test with A-Glaze and applied it to the starboard side of the boat and left the port side as it was. I applied two coats and followed the instructions closely. During the season, I washed the boat down every few weeks with the A-glaze shampoo (no salt to worry about here).

To be honest, I must say that I didn't notice any difference between the sides during or after the season. The stains were equally easy to the get rid of at first and the shine was equally good on both sides. Towards the end of the season, removing the stains required more and more work, but again, the same on both sides. Upon inspecting the surface a couple of weeks ago, there is no telling which side was which. Not by the shine left, nor by the cleanliness of the surface.

My personal experience is that while A-glaze is easy to use, applying two coats of it is no less work than one coat of polish. So, for the coming season I'm probably going to focus my efforts on doing a mid season polish instead.

Do you happen to know how many coats/applications of sealant they used? I've heard some people put 3 or 4 or even more to get a longer lasting benefit.

 

[Whopper]

Marine Reflections of this forum did a superb detailing job on my boat before it was shipped to Finland last May. I then decided to do a little test with A-Glaze and applied it to the starboard side of the boat and left the port side as it was. I applied two coats and followed the instructions closely. During the season, I washed the boat down every few weeks with the A-glaze shampoo (no salt to worry about here).

To be honest, I must say that I didn't notice any difference between the sides during or after the season. The stains were equally easy to the get rid of at first and the shine was equally good on both sides. Towards the end of the season, removing the stains required more and more work, but again, the same on both sides. Upon inspecting the surface a couple of weeks ago, there is no telling which side was which. Not by the shine left, nor by the cleanliness of the surface.

My personal experience is that while A-glaze is easy to use, applying two coats of it is no less work than one coat of polish. So, for the coming season I'm probably going to focus my efforts on doing a mid season polish instead.

Rather than a mid season polish would you not try a mid season wax? I re-waxed the top-sides of my fathers cruiser last season and it protected the shine untill the end of the season pretty well.

 

[scubaman]

Sorry, I should have been clearer, I put on the sealant myself after having had the detailing done by MR.

 

[scubaman]

Rather than a mid season polish would you not try a mid season wax? I re-waxed the top-sides of my fathers cruiser last season and it protected the shine untill the end of the season pretty well.

I've used 3M Finesse it for the final touch and have been very happy with the result. The same would work for the mid season job as well.

 

[henryf]

Finesse it is a very mild cutting compound designed to remove swirl marks. It doesn't have any wax protection. You would build up a protection after using finesse it. Certainly the light brown stuff is.


I've been following this thread with interest. When Terry (Lions Den) had his boat done last year it really did look stunning, I mean brand new boat stunning but to some extent that just meant the guy doing the valet did a good job. The proof in the pudding was going to be seeing how it lasted, that was the job of the products.

I, and I suspect everyone else is looking for a product which makes wiping those black marks off easy. All this nanno, aerospace polymer, ionic technology stuff promises the earth but does it deliver ?

I'm sensing the answer is probably not. No more so than a decent wax costing a tenth of the price.

I'm deciding which way to go when we have the P50 out of the water for a couple of weeks during the summer. I know what I'll do re: mopping the boat to get rid of swirl marks. There are a number of products in the automotive world. The question was what to do about a wax / protection coat.

Henry