Tips For A Great Buff & Wax

Sep 25, 2008
992
Oday 25 Gibraltar
Maine Sail: Thanks for your tutorial on how to buff a hull. I'm about to try your techniques on my 1993 Precision 23 sailboat hull. One question - I'm not sure where I should start. The hull appears to be lightly oxidized (some reflection) so I think I am going to start with the Presta compound and skip the sanding step. How do I know if I need to sand? If I start to compound without sanding - will the need to sand become obvious in the appearance of the hull at this point?

Thanks again
Right, the sanding isn't as bad as it sounds. Gelcoat sands pretty easy and doesn't take as long as you would think.

Rich
 
Jun 19, 2010
86
Morgan classic 41 South Daytona Beach, Fl.
Maine Sail,
I'm going to be following your guidelines on buff wax for my new-to-me boat in a few weeks. A question or two: I plan on adding a large vinyl name on each rear quarter. At what point do I add these? I don't want them to peel off, is adding them after waxing going to cause an issue? I don't want to hurt them with a buffing machine either. Guidance is needed.
Also, I plan to clean and shine the deck NOT THE NON-SKID. I'm thinking follow all steps including wax on say, the vertical and clearly non non-skid areas to bring back the new feeling and look. Do you see a problem with my plan. I don't hear about many folks trying to get a good shine back on the deck or cabin-sides.
Thanks in advance for your answer, I value your opinion.
 
Jan 25, 2007
286
Cal Cal 33-2 cape cod
Impressive shine. How much rubbing compound, approx., would it take to tackle a 23 year old hull of a 33' sailboat.? Thanks.
 
Nov 9, 2004
110
Hunter Passage 420 Rock Hall, MD
I have never used the foam pads for the polishing step, but plan to this year. When do you know that they need to be cleaned ? Can they be field cleaned and if so how? When the job is done what is best way to clean them?
Thanks
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
I have never used the foam pads for the polishing step, but plan to this year. When do you know that they need to be cleaned ? Can they be field cleaned and if so how? When the job is done what is best way to clean them?
Thanks
If you've never used then them I would suggest sticking with the yellow wool. Foam can be a little tricky for a beginner at this. Field cleans are easy as you can wring them out like a sponge.

The Lake Country CCS pads are a lot more forgiving than the 3M "egg crate" but also more expensive.. Yellow wool 3M Hook-It pads will also last a lot longer than any foam. I have some that are over 12 years old and done tons of hulls still in perfect working condition. So long as you only ever use "body shop safe" products, NO silicones or waxes in them, then wool can easily do 50 to 100 hulls. Using wool with any "all in one" wax product or to apply or remove wax will ruin them in short order.
 
Feb 8, 2009
118
Sabre 34 MK-1 Annapolis, MD
Main,

This is a great tutorial. I washed, buffed, and waxed my '79 Sabre 34 when I bought her 2 years ago, and will it was an improvement, it's time for an all-out offensive -- and this looks like the battle plan.

Have you distilled this into a stand-alone downloadable document that would be appropriate for printing out and taking to the boat? I can do it myself from what you wrote, but if it exists somewhere else, that would be great.

Thanks for the great info!

Harry
Rantum Scoot
'79 Sabre 34
Luce Creek, Annapolis
 

arf145

.
Nov 4, 2010
484
Beneteau 331 Deale, MD
Thanks for the excellent instructions, MaineSail! It seems impossible that one could have any questions, yet I do--more about the equipment than the process. So I've got a nice Makita 9227c now. It comes with a 7" hook/loop backer. I want to use the compounding and polishing pads you suggest. The Superbuff for compounding looks to be its own screw-on item once you get the adapter. But the yellow wool for polishing would be hook and loop--will that work with the Makita hook and loop backer? Or do I have to spring for the special 3M hook and loop backup for another 40 or 50 bucks?
 
May 10, 2008
392
Catalina 355 Boston
Mainesail,
Do you have any recommendations for cleaning *brand new* gelcoat prior to waxing? I've tried simple green, Fantastic etc, but never really found anything that goes on my list of ideal cleaners--

On a new boat I typically get 4-5 seasons of cleaning the boat with a non-abrasive, then graduate to collinite cleaner, which is the mildest abrasive I have found. This regimen has worked on 3 boats over the years; always protected with Collinite paste (almost 20 years).
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Mainesail,
Do you have any recommendations for cleaning *brand new* gelcoat prior to waxing? I've tried simple green, Fantastic etc, but never really found anything that goes on my list of ideal cleaners--

On a new boat I typically get 4-5 seasons of cleaning the boat with a non-abrasive, then graduate to collinite cleaner, which is the mildest abrasive I have found. This regimen has worked on 3 boats over the years; always protected with Collinite paste (almost 20 years).
Wash with a good boat soap then wipe down with Naptha & many microfiber rags.. Naptha is commonly sold in hardware stores as VM&P Naptha. A mild but effective "solvent". This is my secret....;) Works wonders on Awlgrip or Awlcraft too and infact this secret came from Awlgrip tech department after a debacle with some Awlcare that had gone bad. Gets rid of the old wax and much more.
 
Aug 2, 2011
12
Hunter 356 Oceanport, NJ
I followed this tutorial today to do about three-quarters of my 2003 35 foot boat. Wow. Seriously wow. She had never been waxed previously, and now she looks like a new boat. (I started with the compounding step) Thanks so much for creating this post, I never would have such a good job without it.
 
May 10, 2008
392
Catalina 355 Boston
Wash with a good boat soap then wipe down with Naptha & many microfiber rags.. Naptha is commonly sold in hardware stores as VM&P Naptha. A mild but effective "solvent". This is my secret....;) Works wonders on Awlgrip or Awlcraft too and infact this secret came from Awlgrip tech department after a debacle with some Awlcare that had gone bad. Gets rid of the old wax and much more.
Thanks for the great tip! One additional question, once I wipe down with the Naptha, do I have to rinse the solvent off with water before waxing?
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Thanks for the great tip! One additional question, once I wipe down with the Naptha, do I have to rinse the solvent off with water before waxing?
No all that necessary it should evaporate before you begin waxing.
 
Sep 2, 2011
1,041
Hunter 27 Cherubini Alum Creek State Park
Hi Maine Sail.

Thanks for the wonderful tutorial. I plan to follow it for my hull.

I have one question first.

I am going to repaint my bootstripe and top stripe a new color. Should I do that first, before compounding, and polishing the hull, or wait until I've finished the hull and then paint the stripes and polish them by hand?

I'm concerned that fresh paint will bleed into the hull while compounding/polishing.
 
Sep 2, 2011
1,041
Hunter 27 Cherubini Alum Creek State Park
Nevermind.

Found the answer in another thread:

Compound, polish, wax, and then paint new stripes.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Nevermind.

Found the answer in another thread:

Compound, polish, wax, and then paint new stripes.
Are the current stripes gelcoat? If they are you may consider keeping them...? When you buff with painted single part paint stripes you can tape over them then buff away..
 
Sep 2, 2011
1,041
Hunter 27 Cherubini Alum Creek State Park
I just finished polishing one side, and didn't have any problems with the stripes. I suspect they are the original gel coat. I intend to use a one-part enamel to change the color, but I'll wait until I'm done finishing the hull first, then I'll do the stripes by hand after they've dried for a few weeks.

Thanks
 
Dec 24, 2011
81
Hunter 33C Chesapeake
Deck Gelcoat

What parts of this tutorial could/should I use for restoring the deck gelcoat. My topsides now look fantastic but the deck is very oxidized, the dirt loves all those pores!

I'm just not sure what to do about the non slip? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Warren.
 

Gunni

.
Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
Followed Maine Sails instructions using Presta products (compounding, polish, and pads) - the results are shown on the attached photo. The boat has NEVER looked this good. And it looked this good prior to applying the wax. Note: This is a blue GELCOAT hull, not paint.
Some observations:

  • When Maine says don't let it dry on the hull or it will be a bear to remove he is not kidding. Especially the Presta Cutting Creme, that stuff is tuff to remove even with the application of water and a polish.
  • A little gelcoat compound goes a long way. Same with the Cutting Creme. Spritz with water to keep the buff progressing. Keep wetting until it looks right.
  • Use the proper Presta wool buff pad, and wash it out often to keep the compound removal / polish going. A handy bucket of clean water helps.
  • Microfiber cloth is amazing. I never understood what microfiber cloth offered. Well, it has an incredible ability to remove polishing compound and applied wax. One cloth easily buffed out an entire side of our 41 ft. boat. That would have required a bucket full of cotton terry cloth and the results would not have been equal. Really.
  • The Makita variable speed buffer is the tool. I gravitate to Makita tools, but really, Maine picked it - this buffer makes the job possible.
Looking forward to buffing out the topsides now that the boat is in the water. Thanks Maine Sail for insight on how a real shine is applied (and maintained).
 

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Oct 6, 2011
678
CM 32 USA
I have a 32' boat. Made in 1976 Pushing 40 years old.

Heavy oxidation. I found someone experienced in wet sanding and polishing. He is a body man in the car business. He will take my boat as a side job on a weekend for $400.

While I think this sticky is full of great advice, a pro level sander in the hands of a novice, could be like handing a big firecracker to a little kid and counting fingers after the big bang.

It is very possible to ruin a boat, not having any experience, pushing on the hull with a powerful sander. Not something I wish to try.

Getting a great price, on a professional polish job, is the route I am going to take. I will post the after pics once the job is done. Boat is at the diesel mech now.

Small patch is the sought after color, from another boat shop that wanted $3500 to wet sand her and polish.

 

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