Poliglow product

H

hoga10

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Jan 12, 2007
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24844
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Hi all,
I'm in the process restoring a 1973 boat with faded gel coat. I'm curious to know if anyone have success with a product call Poliglow. I was feature on Ship TV and seems pretty easy to prep and apply. I was thinking of putting this product on and then maintain the finish by waxing several times a year. Would this work? I would appreciate from some one that has use this product.

Thanks.
 
Used it on an old searay once. It looked good for a couple of months but terrible once it started to peel off. A real bear to get completely off. I would think waxes would speed up the deterioration of the poliglow. I'd never use it again unles compounding with a rotary buffer wouldn't bring the gloss back.
 
I talked to a friend that works at a marina and says the best stuff to use is buff magic. They say the use it on boats that they take on trade and it is awsome. One guy said he used it on his boat that is black and looked grey and it still shines. I have been looking into different waxes and compounds and am going to give this a try.
 
Watched them demo the Poly Glo down at the Miami Boat show a few years back. The following week I ordered a case of the stuff. Be sure to get the kit with the cleaner. I used the first kit on my old 75 Chris Craft and made the blue hull look new. You have to be sure to apply several coats to get any life out of it. When it does start looking bad, you have to use the cleaner to remove the old coat before reapplying.
An easier way is to wet sand the boat and have someone spray clear coat on the hull. Just as good and lasts for years. Same priciple
 
I used PoliGlow on my faded hull (1984 vintage) three years ago. It did improve the look significantly and have not had any peeling as Gregory reports. Stayed good looking for 2 yrs and put another two coats on last winter. It does put a bit of "yellow" into the white hull, but it is not unpleasant at all. Beats the "faded washed out" appearance I previously had, and it is not too tough to apply - warning - follow the instructions precisely. About the third coat you wonder if you've made a big mess, but by coat 5 it starts looking good. My 36' hull took anout a day and a half to do (6 coats).

Delaware Jim
 
The problem I had with it was that it didn't hold up well to washing. I wash my boat at least weekly with boat soap. The Poliglow won't hold up well to that. I can't stand a dirty boat though so this product isn't for me. If you're in to short cuts, go for it.
 
I've been using a similar product called VertGlass and have had good results with it also. Like Jim said, follow the directions carefully. Just like painting, prep. is the most important step.
Greg, I don't know much about polyglow but with Vertglass, you have to use a soap with an acidic pH. Highly alkaline cleaners like dish soap and black streak removers will cause the material to yellow and/or peel.
 
I've used Poliglow on 2 boats - one a blue hull and another a white hull. Product looked great on both. Each spring I either recoat the entire hull or do touch ups. To touch up, wash the hull & then simply spot-apply more coats of poliglow until the touched up areas blend into the rest of the hull.
The stuff is easy to work with. I can easily apply 4 coats to an entire 26' boat in about 4 hours. Gregory's problem noted above about not standing up to washing is correct. My transom gets a coating of soot that I periodically wash off. Last year I was using undiluted Simple Green. It took the soot off as well as some of the poliglow finish. As far as the rest of the boat, I find I do not have to wash it nearly as often (as compared to a wax coated hull) since the the poliglow creates such a slick finish and most dirt washes off with pressure from the dock hose.
 
I am a huge fan of Buff Magic, but on a boat from 1973 I doubt it would work to your satisfaction. I have been the vertiglass route and I can tell you also that the product does not like washings of bird droppings. Vertiglass was probably the hardest thing to get off my boat once on, their remover didn't work at all basically and I ended up going to the local marine store and trying to find things to take it off. I ended up with "fiberglass solvent remover/dewaxer" by interlux. In MY opinion, once you use these on your boat, you're commited to it for life, I NEVER want to do what I had to go through again, luckily it wasn't on my boat.
 
Poliglow, glorified acrylic floor wax at 10 times the cost!
 
Rommer is right on! Tried it on my previous vessel (dark blue stripes) and it looked terrible. It was also miserable to remove. Found later it is basically the acrylic floor caoting as rommer mentioned.
 
I'm on my fourth season with this particular application and have not had any problems. I apply four or five maint. coats per year, and wash with their soap after every outing. I will say that the flat deck on the bow starts to look a bit gray by end of season, but I just strip it in the spring and reapply six coats and I'm good for another season. I have not had a wax last that long on anything.
As for stripping it off, Rommer is correct, it is basically acrylic floor coating, so it follows that acrylic floor stripper should remove it (and it does) with very little effort and at a reasonable cost. Just visit a commercial janitorail supply company and get a bucket of the stuff cheap.
 
Think Chris and I chime in annually on this topic (Vertglas, anyway). Always the same theme.. some love it, some hate it. Starting my 4th season. Season 1 was the full deal, oxidation remover, 6 coats. Season 2, I applied 4(I think) coats. Season 3, did nothing, as it was looking good. This season.. well, may let her ride again. My application is hull only.

I think it looks as good as any compound/buff/wax job I ever did.. and as I mention every year... way, way, way (did I say way?) less effort. Now if you're a young feller, lot's of energy, vim, vigor.. what have you.. low effort may not be important.. but an old dude like me.. I have to use some discretion on how much I can do.. spead across many boating projects. Haven't tried removing yet, but will follow Scorpio's lead when the time comes and hope for the best.
 
The main reason I don't like compounding and waxing (aside form the work and the fact that it won't last a season) is that you can only compound and buff so many times before you buff thru the gel coat. At that point you have to look at a full repaint or re-gelcoat $$$$$?. You do need to remove the acrylic coating sometimes, but at lest thats all you're removing.
JMHO
 
I used the Poliglow product for a few years and went back to wax. This thread has started up several times over the past couple of months, so find those old threads for my more detailed comments. In general I found it was unable to hold a shine anywhere there was sea spray, like in the bow. Removal of the product is somewhat labor intensive, so be sure you want to do this. I disagree with the buffing comments above. You can wax and buff as many times as you want without damaging gel coat. You dont HAVE to compound the gel coat to get a good shine, even on old boats. It's the compounding that removes gel coat. Some TLC is what you need. Now note that TLC equates to several labor hours.
 
Ever buff thru the paint on a vehicle? I have, not even using any compound, just polish. I also know some folks that have gotten too agressive with their gelcoat and gone thru, it can happen especially on older, previously compounded finishes. Just be careful, thats all.
 
If you're buffing through the gelcoat, your either buffing too hard on the pad or you should leave it to a pro....
 
... or... you're doing your 7th, 8th, 10th? whatever, compound job... admittedly on a 20 year old boat (in my case). Compounding, after awhile... year over year.. is an abrasive... and is slowly, but surely, 'sanding' off the finish... as Chris pointed out. To each his own though. Some swear by the compound/wax deal.. I sure ain't gonna talk you out of it.
 
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