Advice on boat cleaning

[Capn Ellis]

My poor ol' boat's gelcoat is really dull and attempts at restoring it have been less than successful. So, you experts out there, what products and procedures will yield the best results? Think of a graph where the lines representing dollars, effort and expense would intersect.

Thanks,
Wright

 

[AXEL]

I highly recommend NewGlass2. Do a google search. This product is perfect for old (or new) gel coat. It seals, shines, is easy to put on and lasts ALL season. Cost is about $40. I have been using it on my '77 C30 for the last 10 years and luv the stuff. Nothing sticks to it, NOTHING! Around mid season a lot of boats get that brown stain at the water line. My boat looks as good the day it's launched as it does the day I haul in the fall.

 

[Roy10289]

I agree with Axel. I used NewGlass last year and my hull still shines,although I will do a recoat of the product as advised before I splash it this year.Very easy to apply,not expensive,lasts all season and then some.

 

[sailingdog]

Just curious, have you tried Maine Sail's instructions at doing this. The process has worked on boats older than yours... with amazing results.

My poor ol' boat's gelcoat is really dull and attempts at restoring it have been less than successful. So, you experts out there, what products and procedures will yield the best results? Think of a graph where the lines representing dollars, effort and expense would intersect.

Thanks,
Wright

 

[BarryL]

Poliglow

Hello,

I am a fan of Poliglow. It will make anything shine! That is good and bad. If your topsides are clean, but just dull, Poliglow will make it very shiny. But if there are stains and oxidation you just get shiny stains.

The complete Poliglow kit includes a special cleaner to remove oxidation, the Poliglow, and the applicator.

It takes me about 3 hours to get my boat clean enough for the poliglow and another 2-3 hours to apply the Poliglow. The cleaning is the hard part. Applying the Poli is easy, just wipe it on.

It lasts a long time - over a year. I have been using it on this boat since 2007 and it has not yellowed.

The kit costs around $50.

Personally, I think wax looks better but IMHO, poliglow is way easier to apply.

The pic is of my 26 year old boat after I finished the Poli.


Good luck,
Barry

 

[FourPoints]

Just curious, have you tried Maine Sail's instructions at doing this. The process has worked on boats older than yours... with amazing results.

I agree with SD, check out Maine Sail's instructions, I just did the process myself a couple weeks ago and the results are spectacular... It's also nice knowing that what I'm seeing shine is actually the boat, and not some layer of film on the boat hiding the underlying problem below it.

Aside from the buffer which you may or may not own, or may be able to rent or borrow from someone, you're going to need the following things:

on and off - $14
1 bottle of compound - $16
1 bottle of finesse - $23
one tin of wax - $23
microfiber cloths - $15
misc items (spray bottle, painters tape, plastic etc) - $20

the buffer is about $225 to purchase from a decent hardware store, and the pads will set you back another $75 unless you can find a good deal online (I recently heard someone found them for $12 each, but don't know where from).

so it really comes down to the buffer cost, the rest is pretty affordable.

 

[MrUnix]

the buffer is about $225 to purchase from a decent hardware store, and the pads will set you back another $75 unless you can find a good deal online (I recently heard someone found them for $12 each, but don't know where from).
so it really comes down to the buffer cost, the rest is pretty affordable.

I'm in the process of doing the wet-sand/buff/polish/wax dance on my H23 as well..

I found the Makita 9227CX3 polishing kit at Amazon for $190 w/free shipping. It is basically the 9227C buffer and they throw in a wool buffing pad, wool polishing pad, two handles (the 'wrap around' one that normally comes with the unit, along with the straight handle that comes on the 9227CY model) and a nice canvas carrying bag it all fits into and has pockets on the side suitable for your bottles of compound, rags, etc... The difference between it and my previous Sears RO polisher is like night and day. Also, their free shipping is FedEx Ground, so I got mine 3 days after I ordered it!

I'm curious about the 3M pads though.. do they work with the hook-n-loop backing pad as supplied with the Makita, or do you need to purchase the 3M specific one? I would like to get a few extra pads and really don't want to fork out the extra bucks for a backing pad when I already have a perfectly good one!

Cheers,
Brad

 

[Capn Ellis]

Thanks to all.

Wright

 

[FourPoints]

I'm in the process of doing the wet-sand/buff/polish/wax dance on my H23 as well..

I found the Makita 9227CX3 polishing kit at Amazon for $190 w/free shipping. It is basically the 9227C buffer and they throw in a wool buffing pad, wool polishing pad, two handles (the 'wrap around' one that normally comes with the unit, along with the straight handle that comes on the 9227CY model) and a nice canvas carrying bag it all fits into and has pockets on the side suitable for your bottles of compound, rags, etc... The difference between it and my previous Sears RO polisher is like night and day. Also, their free shipping is FedEx Ground, so I got mine 3 days after I ordered it!

I'm curious about the 3M pads though.. do they work with the hook-n-loop backing pad as supplied with the Makita, or do you need to purchase the 3M specific one? I would like to get a few extra pads and really don't want to fork out the extra bucks for a backing pad when I already have a perfectly good one!

Cheers,
Brad

that's a good deal. I borrowed a friend's 9227, and he has the Makita hook-n-loop pads, I gather the 3m pad may do a "better" job, but as my boat shines as well (or more?) than any other boat in my marina, I'm not complaining