3M compounds or Buff Magic???

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foggysail

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A few years ago I followed suggestions posted here in Marine Detailing. The recommended products at that time were 3Ms stuff including Finese-it. I purchased a gallon of 3M Imperial Compound that brought back the luster my boat once had many years ago. I followed up with Fleetwax and the hull gleamed.

The next year someone at the marina where the boat sat for winter storage asked if I would mind if he tried a spot on the transom with Starbrite which I had done nothing with because I planned to change the boat's name which is now behind me.

That one spot still gleamed after two years prior to me polishing the transom, changing the name and then waxing.

Now along comes Buff Magic!

I know nothing about this stuff other than others rave about it being simple and easy to apply with excellent results. I wonder but Starbrite surprised me.

Can someone who has experience with Buff Magic and preferably experience with some other compounding products share their feelings about this product??

Thanks

Foggy
 
Buff magic is great. I spread it on by hand, ( i put it on thick), and then I take my wheel and let the wheel buff it into the hull, and wow, what a shine. You should follow it up with Pro Polish....
 
I've used 3M compound prior and tried Buff Magic at the recommendation of this board this year. I don't have history on if the results I got will hold up but it looks beautiful now and the ease of application and removal for a compound compared to 3M is night and day. Maybe I finally learned more is not better, I don't know, but sure was easy with great results.
 
A fellow at my marina had his boat detailed w/ BM/PP. I was not impressed. The hull showed a lot of swirls. Maybe the application was improper, however the detailer said he had been using it for 3 years. The owner ran over the boat with a coat of wax and that took out all the swirls. His boat looks great now. Mrs. Robinson used it and his boat looked brand new.

I have no idea what my detailer is going to use. I shall post pix. Harlan used elbow grease and a polymer. His boat looks brand new. I wish I had indoor storage like him.
 
Buff Magic and Finesse-It aren't competing products, at least in my opinion.

Buff Magic is safe and easy to use, but to eliminate the swirl marks and get that "fine point shine", I finish up with Finesse-It.
 
I used BM/PP for the first time this spring and I have to say it's the easiest detailing job I've ever done and the results were impressive. I didn't get any swirls at all but I used quality yellow wool pads for the BM and a microfiber pad to apply the PP. I followed the advice of many here and went by the saying 'you can't use too little product'.

I think the swirls some experienced may be a result of using too much PP product. When I first started with the PP application I did a small section first and I'm pretty sure I put on way too much as it was difficult to remove and did in fact get some swirl marks. I had to mist a terry cloth towel, wiped it down and then buffed it again with a dry terry towel and the swirls went away. The next section I used a LOT less product and it was super easy to remove and no swirls!

In the past I've used 3M Finesse-it II followed by different waxes (Mequiars Flagship, Cleaner Wax, Carnuba Wax) and also got good results but it took a lot more work and time to get it done. I found BM way easier and faster to use than Finesse-it II.

Hope this helps.
 
quote:
I found BM way easier and faster to use than Finesse-it II.
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No doubt - MUCH easier, but it shouldn't be faster. Finesse-It is extremely mild and shouldn't be used to remove even slight oxidation. It picks up where BM and other compounds leave off.
 
I'm on the 3rd year with our boat. It's a 2001 that sat on the hard for 2 years. It needed work. I used 3M compound, finesse it II then Flagship. Did that for 2 seasons and it looked good. This year I tested one section of the boat with BM. Followed the board's suggestion of using it sparingly. I was impressed with the result and it was eary to use. I experienced no swirl problem. I'm going to use it going forward. I'm sure BM is benefiting from the previuos work with the 3M products though. The boat was pretty clean to start.
Keith
 
Did my 1986 Silverton with Buff Magic and Pro Polish this year. I was so impressed that I will not use anything else in the future!
 
If you use BM properly you shouldn't have to ever follow up with Finesse It.

IMHO Finesse It is dangerous in the wrong hands, burns too easily.

BM in the right hands will yield new looking gelcote, provided the gelcote is decent to begin with.
 
I don't know if any of you have tried it, but my favorite is Aquabuff 2000. It always gives me an incredibly beautiful shine on the hull, and it's easy to work with, though you need to have a water sprayer at hand. I frequently get comments on the shine of my boat.

I wax with 3M Marine Paste Wax.

Just another option!

(BTW, that's on the hull below the rubrail, where I buff once a year... On the topsides, I've gone to frequent applications of Aurora Quick Shine hoping to never have to buff again, at least not in a long time, and it seems to be working).
 
quote:
If you use BM properly you shouldn't have to ever follow up with Finesse It.
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If you use Finesse-It properly, it will take your Buff Magic finish to the next level.

Yes, it's dangerous - not for beginners, but there are techniques that make it very easy to work with and safer, and cheaper, with easier clean-up.

I admit that I have a problem though. A bit narrowly-focused OCD...
 
Use Rejex after Buff Magic and you probably get to that level with one less step.
 
Probably close? But I can tell the difference between a perfect shine protected by wax or a polymer, and a near-perfect shine enhanced by such. Most people don't spend a lot of time standing next to boats, bobbing and weaving in the sun to get the perfect reflection to test the shine. I wonder if there's a medication I could take?
 
I like the way you think. I'll still be bobbing and weaving, but for a much better reason.
 
quote:
Originally posted by SLW

Probably close? But I can tell the difference between a perfect shine protected by wax or a polymer, and a near-perfect shine enhanced by such. Most people don't spend a lot of time standing next to boats, bobbing and weaving in the sun to get the perfect reflection to test the shine. I wonder if there's a medication I could take?

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Just curious....how is it you "can tell the difference between a perfect shine protected by wax or a polymer, and a near-perfect shine enhanced by such."

Is it a hobby or part of your chosen career?
 
I had good results with BM/PP this year...previously I had used 3m products. My boat stays under cover on a lift so it's not too hard to keep clean. I applied BM by hand then followed with a Mother's Powerball to rub it out. Put the PP on with an orbital buffer and removed by hand. Easier to use and better results than the 3m products that I have sworn by for years. I have been using Mequiars NXT on my cars for about two years, which is basically the car wax equivalent of PP, wow what a difference over conventional wax.
 
David, when the surface isn't fully-polished, a coating of wax or polymer can still make it shine. Fleetwax particularly excels at this, btw, which is also one of its caveats: some people apply it to an unprepared surface. The shine increases, so they think it's successful. They later find it collecting dirt like a Hoover, at which point Fleetwax, not the flawed application process gets blamed. (an unprepared surface is too porous, and holds onto too much product)

When a surface has been "short-cutted", the gloss can be high, but the sun's reflection will be too large.

In contrast, a fully-polished and protected surface will bring the sun's reflection down to a pinpoint, and the gelcoat will have "depth" that wax/polymer coatings on a less-than-prefect surface can't duplicate.

and yes, just a hobby, and no, not my only one. I also drink.
 
Bill, I've long-suspected that PP is marine equivilant to Nu Finish, if not the SAME. Not that that's a bad thing - I've always like Nu Finish.

Do you agree? How does NXT compare to Nu Finish?
 
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