Post Pollish Sealant ?

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fireball

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Having spent all weekend with my arms at or above head height, wielding an anglegrinder type pollisher, I now have topsides that you could eat your dinner off - well, actually you can't because the dinner would fall off - but that's a different issue! ...

Anyhow - SWMBO and I spent ages getting the boat up to a nice shine and we'd like it to stay that way for as long as possible without doing significant additional work ...
I've looked up the A-Glaze and BoatSheen products - both hugely expensive and you have to wash/prep using their products ... which we don't really want to do having spent all this time etc etc ...

So - what does anyone else do to preserve their hardwork (other than cover in a tarp and leave on the hard ...)
 
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Several coats of good quality polish like autoglym super resin polish, followed by a coat or several of their "top gloss protection".

Although Autoglym claim the super resin polish doesn't build up, my experience seems to indicate it clearly does. I usually apply 3 coats of that before the top gloss protection.

Other polishes all perform very similarly in terms of longevity, including Mer, Starbrite Teflon, Maguires, etc the list goes on and on.

I even tried Bilt Hamber, but it didn't really seem to be any better than anything else despite all the claims.

There was a stand at the NEC last month selling some super new caravan protection stuff, with great claims about "never polish again" so I asked if it worked on bare GRP and they said it was currently being evaluated and results would be published soon.

That doesn't help you much in the meantime though. All the polishes I mentioned above all need reapplying after 6 months max I would say, but if it's any consolation I wouldn't bother with A-glaze or any of the other wonder treatments, they don't seem to last much better than normal polish from what I've seen, although that's a very personal opinion and no doubt I'll be shot down in flames any minute..

There are lots of previous threads on this topic if you search back through the forum archives.
 
Trundlebug said:
Several coats of good quality polish like autoglym super resin polish, followed by a coat or several of their "top gloss protection".

Although Autoglym claim the super resin polish doesn't build up, my experience seems to indicate it clearly does. I usually apply 3 coats of that before the top gloss protection.

Other polishes all perform very similarly in terms of longevity, including Mer, Starbrite Teflon, Maguires, etc the list goes on and on.

I even tried Bilt Hamber, but it didn't really seem to be any better than anything else despite all the claims.

There was a stand at the NEC last month selling some super new caravan protection stuff, with great claims about "never polish again" so I asked if it worked on bare GRP and they said it was currently being evaluated and results would be published soon.

That doesn't help you much in the meantime though. All the polishes I mentioned above all need reapplying after 6 months max I would say, but if it's any consolation I wouldn't bother with A-glaze or any of the other wonder treatments, they don't seem to last much better than normal polish from what I've seen, although that's a very personal opinion and no doubt I'll be shot down in flames any minute..

There are lots of previous threads on this topic if you search back through the forum archives.
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Ta - so having done the polish bit seems little point in going further ....
 
fireball said:
I now have topsides that you could eat your dinner off - well, actually you can't because the dinner would fall off - but that's a different issue! ...
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You have obviously never seen my Bolognaise :D

I've tried everything over the last 30 + years with varying degrees of success but over the last 3 years I have used Maguires wax followed by their polish.

VERY pleased with the results.

My very basic understanding is that polish is an abrasive and needs the wax coat for protection.

Don't know if that's right or wrong but don't see any reason to doubt it.

Maguires do really handy applicator pads that, unlike rags, don't 'ruck-up' in your hand.
 
I've done much online research and forum-trolling on the same subject and some people advise using acrylic-polymer polishes intended for flooring (because of cost of any products with the 'marine' word included) rather than boat-hulls. However, most of the ones I've seen suggested, contained metalised compounds, which doesn't seem right to me.

Eventually, I found this site (http://www.eurochem.co.uk/index.php) and speaking by phone and explaining the purpose of the polish/sealant, I was advised to consider PolySeal Grade 12 (£13.50/ltr), which is claimed to be the base product for a number of re-badged products out in the marketplace.

I've ordered and can report accordingly, once used.
 
Hmm Looks like I need to do some more homework then ... perhaps the finish can wait till she's launched cos I don't have time to do huge amounts before then
 
SolentBoy said:
If you can afford the mortgage I have heard that this is the DB's.
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We, our berthing neighbour ( mobos) and another guy in the marina (yacht) are in the process of having a similar nano tech product by Williams F1 used as a final sealant after a good polish and wax by Ipswich Marine Valeting. The science seems plausible and we thought we’d take a punt on it despite the cost as nothing else has lasted very long up ‘till now, it will be interesting to see how it fares.
 
Polished Performers

I've always admired how aeroplanes can keep looking clean for so long. Whatever is used to polish these babies must be produced in gallons.... anyone in the aeronautical side of things care to comment?

Regards
Donald
 
claire said:
Have you tried Collinite it's used on planes and boats
www.collinite.co.uk
It outlast and out shines anything I've used before, it comes in half gallon sizes
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Will second "Collinite Marque de elegance" wax (not a polish, there is a difference one abrades the other coats), brilliant on the car and so far bearing up very well on boat.

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wax/collinite-915-marque-d-39-elegance/prod_281.html

Originally recommended by AdrianB of these fora.

Have been able to do a direct comparison of A glaze and Collinite on car as next door bought and treated their car at the same time as me, the straight wax gives a far better result (at about a 100th of the cost).

Easy to apply.

Usual caveats
 
Just as a follow-up to an earlier posting, I can now report that the PolySeal Grade 12 which I bought for bringing old, sanded & compounded GRP, back to life, hasn't achieved what I believed it would achieve, in restoring that 'wet look' finish. However, it has improved some painted surfaces from matt to at least a shine, which has also improved water dispersal on the cabin roof. I also tried a product known as Duragloss for the hull and it too has failed to do that which was advertised.

The one product which was applied to a trial panel area of the GRP hull, that has done more to restore a semi-glossy look & has withstood a fair amount of weathering & rain, was Armorall.
 
I think the only way to restore the "wet look" to gelcoat is a fine rubbing compound using a machine polisher.

Depending on the severity of the chalky look of the gelcoat, we use a Farecla Profile 200 with lambswool (more cut with lambswool), followed by 500 with lambswool, followed by 500 with a random sponge type head, followed by UV wax by hand !! All this is done at the lowest speed on the polisher, prob. about 800rpm, so no burning either.

You can skip the first stage if the gelcoat still has a bit of a shine. Not an easy task, but this process does work for light and dark colours i.e. no hologram effect.

I'd also say that it isn't just a matter of using the product and going through the stages - certain areas will require more work to achieve a consistent glass finish.


Mark
www.boatdoctorni.com
 
I once had a concours winning car and used Maguire's ...

I have some products left and they do a great job on GRP as well.

You have done the polish, now follow it up with the WAX.

GL
 
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