polyglow

Maine Sail · Dec 27, 2009

dennis23685 said:
Hello to all you sailers trying to get through the winter.
Was thinking about a polish job on my Catalina 22.
Has anyone ever used Polyglow? The hype makes it sound good, but I would rather get first hand reports of performance.
Thanks,
Dennisn

If you click on the "SEARCH" button at the very top of the page (third from the right with blue tabs) and type in Poliglow you'll have hours of reading..

Roger Long · Dec 27, 2009

Maine Sail said:
If you click on the "SEARCH" button at the very top of the page (third from the right with blue tabs) and type in Poliglow you'll have hours of reading..

How about an executive "Go/No Go" for those of use who trust and value your opinion. I've heard so many definitive and informed opinions both ways that my head just spins and my eyes glaze over.

Ed Schenck · Dec 27, 2009

This is one of the best reviews that I have seen: http://www.hurrikain.com/reviews.htm . See chart at bottom of article.

I have owned the complete kit since about 2000. The inventor used to be a regular pitching the product here on SBO. Maybe he still is?! All of my bottles are full except for a little cleaner that I tried once. It worked as advertised.

Maine Sail · Dec 27, 2009

Roger Long said:
How about an executive "Go/No Go" for those of use who trust and value your opinion. I've heard so many definitive and informed opinions both ways that my head just spins and my eyes glaze over.

Not for me for my own boats unless it was an absolute must. I have used it, and it can make a boat look quite good, but it is not as easy to apply or remove as they say it is.

If I was selling a boat or helping a friend get one ready to sell it can be a great product for sprucing it up. I applied it to a friends Mako about 6-7 years ago and we followed the directions to a tee. Within a month the soft inflatable mooring ball had chafed through the finish leaving it splotchy where it was worn through. He went back to buffing and waxing. If you can avoid fender rash or mooring ball chafe, and apply it per directions, I think it can be a decent approach but not one I would personally use again. PoliGlow is a coating and you are not actually shining or polishing the hull but rather coating it with an acrylic clear coat (very similar to a floor wax) so when and if it wears through you have dull underneath. If you can prevent dinghy's, mooring balls and fenders from rubbing it you're going to do ok..

Applications where I might use it.

1- Selling a boat
2- A boat where the gelcoat is wearing very thin
3- A dark colored gelcoat that just will not take a gelcoat reconditioning
4- A trailered boat that will not see fender rash or mooring ball chafe
5- Time, if you don't have the time for a buff, polish wax then Poliglow is good choice

It is what it is and has its limitations and pros/cons like anything else..

BTW PoliGlow is perhaps the best of the acrylic type coatings as shown by Practical Sailor and would be the only one I'd use..

Keith13315 · Dec 27, 2009

Island Girl

I use Island Girl and love it. It really makes the white bright. Look at the different Island Girl products. I have used Sea Glow to clean, Silken Seal to seal and Mirror hard as a final coat. I have heard mixed reviews from people who have used Poly Glow. I have a friend in the keys that is going to use it. We will see how it goes. He will be first person I know personally that will have used it the others were people I met at the marina(s)

Manny · Dec 27, 2009

I really like it. It pretty much works as advertised in my situation although as Maine pointed out it can suffer from fender rash. But I guess I would rather have that wear down than the gelcoat. Plus its easy enough to touch up those areas.
The main thing is to make sure the hull is absolutely 100% clean. Any stains, mildew, etc will be sealed in.
A bottle goes a long way (many seasons) and it's simple to apply.

Manny

wufibugs · Dec 27, 2009

According to Practical Sailor mag, the best wax, though far from the easiest, is Collinite 885. I have not tried it, and won't until after I repaint this winter.

Ken Palmer · Dec 28, 2009

I have used Polyglow for many years, on two different boats.

The first step is the most difficult; removing the old wax. This is the most important step, because if you leave any wax or marks behind, Polyglow will just cover them up with a high gloss.

The finish lasts through the whole sailing season (short as it may be here in NY). Ideally you should wash and give a couple quick coats in the fall, and the same in the spring before launch. If you let it go too long, it will start to look bad and will have to be removed completely as in the first step.

There are many of my friends that have converted from wax to Polyglow. They are all happy with it.

I would not recommend it for newer boats. I would not recommend it for deck areas because it will turn grey with foot traffic.

BobM · Dec 28, 2009

It's a life style issue

If you don't have a lot of time, after the initial pain of cleaning the boat well before applying it is a great time saver.

Last year four guys killed themselves for two days doing a decent polish and wax on a forty footer they shared. On their second day I arrived around 10am with them already hard at it. I washed my boat from the top down, let it dry, applied three coats of Poliglow (on my 30 footer the side I started on is usually dry by the time I finish the opposite side) and was done in under four hours. That included a break for lunch and a long chat with a fellow boater who also provided me with a free beer.

One of the four guys kept walking around my boat wiping the sweat out of his eyes and muttering as he admired the shine.

It does get a little streaky with age. Also, if you try to cheat and only do two maintenance coats is can also appear more streaky (learned that the hard way). Even after about five years my boat looks better than most when it comes out of the water shine-wise than they did going in. I'm not saying that a professional quality polish and shine won't look better. It likely will. Poliglow is perhaps 75% as good (in my opinion)...likely takes the same time as a good polish and wax the first year...but takes far less time to maintain over the next five plus years.

So if you are a perfectionist and have the time you should polish and wax. If you don't have a lot of time on your hands and still like your boat to shine Poliglow is a great alternative to doing nothing.

NotCook · Dec 28, 2009

PolyGlow works

Dennis, with all due respect to Mainesail, my experience is that PolyGlow works as advertised. As a few others have pointed out, the first and most important step is getting the hull clean before applying PolyGlow. It will make your hull shine! If it is dirty, you will have shiny dirt.

It also goes on very quickly. It is NOT a wax or polish, and should not be compared to wax or polish. For a few years, I spent weeks rubbing out, waxing and buffing, only to have it looking dull a month later.With PolyGlow, I can do our entire hull in one day, and it requires ZERO elbow grease. You simply wipe it on, it dries in minutes, and then you apply the next coat. You want to put 5 coats on initially, but after the second coat, it starts to get difficult to tell what is wet and what is dry, because it is so shiny.

If you do get scuffs, just lightly sand with 600 grit sandpaper, and reapply over the affected area. That is all there is to it. It also lasts from year to year.

Bottom line, it is a good product. A little expensive, but IMHO, worth every penny.

Steve Dion · Dec 28, 2009

I am with MS on when and why to use PolyGlow. If you have a trainlerable boat, there is nothing wrong in doing a compounding and wax job (unless you gelcoat is shot). Once you have the oxidation removed it is a lot easier to keep them up.

Pat · Dec 28, 2009

We have an O'Day 272 LE w/a light gray hull that we had professionally polished and waxed each year for about $ 200.00 (hull only)....it always looked so beautiful....a one-day operation...then we decided to use poly-glow...easy to apply...but quickly learned that many boat cleaners will streak the poly glow taking it right off from the deck to the waterline in streaks....

Now I need to remove it....(aargh!!) and will never re-use it....any 22 ft. boat
can be taken to a local person and polished and waxed and will look like a million dollars...