help with waxing

C

Cobalt 25

Member
exMember
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
RO Number
471
Messages
361
Each year, including this past spring, I usually get someone asking if our boat is new. It is a 10 year old Formula.

Today, when starting my usual process of waxing for winter lay up, I noticed that the surface looked awful in certain light conditions. I expect that if I were to look at it under different lighting or from farther away it would look fine. But it bothers me that it looks so bad close up.

I tried a WM product that said it was a cleaner/waxer with negative results. What should I do to bring back a cleaner look from close up before I wax? Actually, what is the current thinking- wax or polymer?

thanks, Peter
 
Your Formula has Imron paint as well as gelcote.

Which one looks bad?
 
The gelcoat on the deck looks bad. The paint still looks fine. It seems that I can't notice the bad stuff on the (white) sides and hull of the boat as much as the foredeck. Does this make sense?
 
Sounds like you need to give it a good buff. Everyone has they favorite products for buffing... I use Aquabuff 2000 with a Harbor Freight buffer, then wax... Comes out like new... I usually buff every other season, then just wax the next season.
 
Foredeck is gel coat, or non skid?
Any surface facing upward, i.e., horizontally, gets more uv damage.
If it's gel coat, it probably needs an oxidation removing compound before waxing. Cleaner/waxes work well only if oxidation is minimal.
If it's Imron, don't compound it.
Buzz
 
Buff Magic and a rotary buffer. follow with Rejex. not on the painted surfaces though.
 
Some products availability make it hard to shop for. Of all the boat stores that were in Portland, Or., and there were many, never saw Buff Magic, Propolish, Aquabuff, Rejex. So you had to either order online and pay haz mat shipping charges, or buy local, which was Meguiar's, 3M, and a few others.
Most will give good results if done correctly.
 
We have a 1986 Regal, 32 LOA, in the saltwater (Piscataqua River/New Castle, NH) May - October. Original gelcoat, heck, original everything!

one word: Collonite. The Collonite Cleaner/ is the BEST, it has a very mild abrasive and actually cleans anything in its way and gives a great base for the wax. The Collonite wax is the next best.

Try it, it works wonders!
 
Foredeck is both non-skid and gel coat. Non-skid is fine. I'm assuming that the deck is gel coat, not painted, right?

So- rotary buffer and either Buff Magic or Aquabuff?

Then should I go with Collinite or Rejex? Last fall I did half the deck with Collinite and half with Rejex. But it didn't matter that I stupidly forgot which was which this summer because they both looked about the same!
 
quote:
Originally posted by Cobalt 25

Foredeck is both non-skid and gel coat. Non-skid is fine. I'm assuming that the deck is gel coat, not painted, right?
Click to expand...
The deck (vertical surfaces) would be buffable/polishable gelcoat.

quote:
Originally posted by Cobalt 25

So- rotary buffer and either Buff Magic or Aquabuff?

Then should I go with Collinite or Rejex?
Click to expand...
Whether you use Buff Magic or Aqua Buff, you should re-seal the gelcoat, preferably with a polymer polish such as Yacht Brites's Pro-Polish or Gel-Coat Labs Micro Polish. You could then follow up with a wax step (I prefer a polymer based wax as well, Mequiars Premium Flagship).

Hopefully next season, you can get away with just the Pro Polish or equal and a waxing.

Greg
 
GripB,

I did some research and found that Pro Polish is described as a polymer wax. Are you saying that I need to put something like Meguiars premium Flagship over the Pro Polish?

Peter
 
quote:
Originally posted by Cobalt 25

GripB,

I did some research and found that Pro Polish is described as a polymer wax. Are you saying that I need to put something like Meguiars premium Flagship over the Pro Polish?

Peter

Click to expand...
You don't "have" to Peter, but I do because it really deepens the shine and adds a wax layer. I use a Mequiars spray polymer wax through-out the season as well to maintain protection.

It's a bit of work in the Spring, but the compliments through-out the season make it worth while :D.

My thought is, it's a big investment, protect it.

Greg
 
My boat is starting to show it's age as well. I have not been too pleased with the price v. quality of the "professionals" around central VA, so it looks like yours truly is going to have to tackle the job this time.

Y'all are going to laugh but I saw it on the internet so it's gotta be true. I also actually called the fiberglass repair company to make sure it wasn't a joke.

1. Gobs (Their word not mine) of Flitz.

2. A 10" orbital buffer.

3. A wool bonnet.

4. Go to town.

She told me every boat that leaves the shop gets that treatment prior to departure.

The name of the company is Gibbons Fiberglass and Aluminum Boat Repair out of Bismark, ND. Very nice folks to talk to. I have no personal or financial interest in Gibbons. I just want a shiny boat with minimum effort.
 
Initial results-

Tried Buff Magic and applied it by hand because I didn't really have a pad I felt comfortable using. You have to apply by hand to hard-to-access sections anyway. I buffed some area by hand and other places with the buff pad they recommended.

Results were mixed. Hand buffing was frustrating because it kept leaving little streaks that were difficult to buff out. Power buffing was fairly good but I believe you have to wash the pad fairly often.

I then tried a test spot of Rejex. It left the test area much worse than the surrounding buffed area! I then tried a Collinite test spot and it was fine, and it also cleaned up the previous test spot nicely. I then finished the starboard side deck using Collinite and it looks fairly nice.

Why the Buff Magic streaking? Why did Rejex make it look worse? Am I doing anything wrong?

This whole process isn't as easy or rewarding as I hoped it would be.

Peter
 
Peter,

Buff Magic should really be applied with a rotary buffer (low RPM) then hand buffed with a high quality microfiber (I prefer Dragon Fibre). You also don't need much of the product...a little goes a long way. The first time I used Buff Magic I got excellent results with the methods I mention.

Greg
 
I do my whole 30' boat (under the rubrails) with a rotary buffer in about an hour and a half. With Aquabuff as long as you use little product you hardly have to clean the pad at all. You couldn't streak it if you tried. IDK about cleaning the pad that much, I do my whole boat w/o taking the pad off, just taking a minute a couple of times to run this on it to remove the excess:

md-wool-buffing-pad-cleaning-tool.jpg


You do have to keep it moist though. (That's what she said).
 
If your gelcoat is real bad you may need to wet sand it before compounding and polishing. And gelcoat will wear out to the point that nothing will bring it back to new and then it's time to paint.

Flitz doeas work very well on gelcoat. Because it's a high quality (and high priced) polish after all.
 
Maybe I used too much product. Do you keep it moist with water?

I don't have the tool Ernesto displayed, what other tool could I use to clean up the pad?

Bill, the gelcoat is not too bad at all.

Anybody have any idea why the Collinite seemed to work better than Rejex? I've been reasonably happy with Rejex in the past.

Peter
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top