Buff & Wax VS A Polymer polish

Pat · Mar 13, 2013

Our boat is 272LE...Grey hull. For many years we paid an auto detail firm to come to our yard space and they would wax and polish the hull beautifully for $ 200.00...usually it took one full day, but wow is all I can say...then one year we decided to use poly glow. We sat up scaffold and did it according to directions. Looked different but very good. Unfortunately, we did not know that certain deck cleaners would litterally destroy
the poly glow by leaving streaks down the side at the gunnels. It could not be filled in
just had to live with a streaked boat for about 6 years...we learned to use ivory or dreft
detergent on the topsides. So, the boat is out of the water and last spring we decided to wax and polish again...could not coerce the auto people to come back out for $ 200.00 so we came to this website for removal suggestions and decided to remove the Polyglow ourselves. The product suggested worked great and we then waxed and
polished the hull sides again. What a difference. People cannot believe it is 26 years old. For better or worse these are our experiences. Good luck to you. I really believe if you use either product and do it correctly you will be happy. Just remember not to use spic and span or strong products to clean the deck. Patrick

Keith13315 · Mar 13, 2013

my favorite is Island Girl it has worked well for me for 10 years now I put it on in the spring and it looks good all season. Componding will wear away your gel coat so after several years of that you may need to paint due to ultra thin gel coat.

AXEL · Mar 13, 2013

I have been using NuGlass (poly) for about 15 years on my '77 Catalina 30. Note in the photo the arrows pointing to the reflection of the garage door and fence. Yes you have to be carefull about using certain products to clean you boat or you can streak. I use some of those products to strip off and recoat. Over all the poly coat stays looking this good all season, no brown streaks at all....all season. Easy to put on, takes me about 2 hours to do the whole boat!

duality · Mar 13, 2013

2 words, "maine sail"

kenn · Mar 13, 2013

I have to say - a friend used NuGlass on an old O'Day 23, just wipe on and buff, and the thing looked fresh out of the factory. If I was going to buy and flip and old boat, I'd use it for sure.

However, as a form of penance for waiting 5 years to do anything to our boat's exterior, I submitted myself (and the boat) to the Maine Sail polish & wax process. Added about 2" to each bicep. Boat looks better, too.

I hear some guys use Vaseline. On the boat I mean.

alexco38 · Mar 13, 2013

Ploy glow has a remover

rpwillia · Mar 13, 2013

+1 on Maine Sail

duality said:
2 words, "maine sail"

He did a write up about this some time ago and even recommended the wax (real wax - no imitation). I followed it to the letter and the results were amazing. :wow: At one point I was trying to buff out a dull spot until I realized I was trying to buff out a reflection of the wrinkles in the plastic covered boat next to me.

Collinite is the wax.

FourPoints · Mar 13, 2013

I made a new friend in the marina last year when he came by and asked me what year my boat was. I told him 1990, 22 years old (at the time), his jaw dropped. my boat looks better than his 2004, and that was just with the previous years wax job BEFORE I waxed and polished it for the year.

I had used Maine Sail's procedure to restore my gelcoat 3 years ago, now 4 years ago.

Bob S · Mar 13, 2013

my boat looks better than his 2004, and that was just with the previous years wax job BEFORE I waxed and polished it for the year

What I noticed was it's easier each year and it does look great just being washed from the previous year.

NotCook · Mar 14, 2013

Poly Glow

We have to swear by Poly Glow. It got to be just too much work to wax and buff each year, and have it dull by mid year. After the first painless year with Poly Glow, it only takes me about two hours to do the whole boat each spring, including climbing up and down the ladder and moving it. I spend more time moving the ladder than applying the coats. No sore muscles, no polishing pads.

Scuffs and stains are easy to repair - sand with 600 grit and reapply.

For a big boat it is a lifesaver.

BobM · Mar 14, 2013

Any way you cut it, you need to clean and polish your boat before you either wax it or you use a polymer, such as polyglow. If you go with polyglow, you with need to apply about five coats the first year. Every year after that, you take a white scotchbrite pad and remove any scuffs...which thankfully are in the coating and not on your hull. Then you apply two more coats, which takes less than an hour. You can use it for five to ten years without removing it completely and replacing it (my boat is probably close to ten). Mainesail's method looks great, but Polyglow was on my boat when I got it and I really don't have the time to buff it every year. At some point I will need to strip it and reapply and that is supposed to be a pain, but I have removed it from the stern (when I changed the port of call) and it wasn't bad.

philwsailz · Mar 15, 2013

Bob S said:
What I noticed was it's easier each year and it does look great just being washed from the previous year.

Bob S, that is a mighty big wind generator for that size of a boat.... Does she heel at rest?

sesmith · Mar 15, 2013

Pat said:
Our boat is 272LE...Grey hull. For many years we paid an auto detail firm to come to our yard space and they would wax and polish the hull beautifully for $ 200.00...usually it took one full day, but wow is all I can say...then one year we decided to use poly glow. We sat up scaffold and did it according to directions. Looked different but very good. Unfortunately, we did not know that certain deck cleaners would litterally destroy
the poly glow by leaving streaks down the side at the gunnels. It could not be filled in
just had to live with a streaked boat for about 6 years...we learned to use ivory or dreft
detergent on the topsides. So, the boat is out of the water and last spring we decided to wax and polish again...could not coerce the auto people to come back out for $ 200.00 so we came to this website for removal suggestions and decided to remove the Polyglow ourselves. The product suggested worked great and we then waxed and
polished the hull sides again. What a difference. People cannot believe it is 26 years old. For better or worse these are our experiences. Good luck to you. I really believe if you use either product and do it correctly you will be happy. Just remember not to use spic and span or strong products to clean the deck. Patrick

Patrick,

What did you use to remove the polyglow? I know that polyglow has a stripper in spray cans. It's quite expensive compared to commercial acrylic wax stripper in gallon jugs.

The previous owner always used polyglow on my current boat. It does look pretty nice, but I'm planning on stripping the polyglow this spring. I still haven't decided whether I'll do the polyglow again. I've always done the buff and wax with Colinite thing and it's hard to change (and I already have a nice buffer and materials).

To the OP, I've always had good luck buffing when needed and waxing. I guess it all depends on just how much work your hull needs. Polyglow does seem to do a nice job, if it's done right. It doesn't look like a buffed and waxed hull, though, up close, if that's a concern to you. If you do end up using polyglow, do not buff or polish the hull 1st. It does have to be clean (they sell a cleaner with the kit), but the company specifically has you scuff the hull slightly with a very fine scotch bright before applying their product. Otherwise it won't stay stuck.

sesmith · Mar 15, 2013

NotCook said:
We have to swear by Poly Glow. It got to be just too much work to wax and buff each year, and have it dull by mid year. After the first painless year with Poly Glow, it only takes me about two hours to do the whole boat each spring, including climbing up and down the ladder and moving it. I spend more time moving the ladder than applying the coats. No sore muscles, no polishing pads.

Scuffs and stains are easy to repair - sand with 600 grit and reapply.

For a big boat it is a lifesaver.

These are the kind of posts that keep me waffling on whether to strip the polyglow on our new (to us) boat, and buff and wax, or just learn a new trick and use polyglow. Are you SURE you don't work for polyglow

Do you use any of their non-skid products as well?

NotCook · Mar 15, 2013

LOL

sesmith said:
Are you SURE you don't work for polyglow

Quite certain! All I know is it used to take us multiple full weekends of back breaking waxing and buffing to get the boat ready to launch, and it never lasted through the whole season. them it would look dull and cloudy the next spring. We switched to Poly Glow, and I will never go back. Keep in mind, this is a pretty big boat, which means a lot more work. But I can put 2 full coats of Poly Glow on it in a couple of hours, and it is good all season. Sure, it needs touchups where the fenders rub against it all season, but I will swear by it. As the other posts and the label comment, clean it first or you will have shiny dirt. The stuff goes a long way. I'm glad others have success with Maine's system, but I won't go back to waxing.

I don't use any non-skid products of any kind. I can't imagine using this stuff on decks. I am not familiar with their non-skid products, if they have them.

AXEL · Mar 16, 2013

For nonskid I use Sure Step (Google it). It's a wax but designed for nonskid and is not slippery. Works great. I can spill red wine on the hull and wipes off with paper towel.
As for Poly Glow or NuGlass which is what I use, think about this. Wax is a petroleum product. I use to wax the hell out of my boat only to get the first season long stain on the water line the first day of launch. Dirty marina, oil slick in water, stain on hull. It was downhill after that. Oil and wax bond together! Nothing sticks to poly. Wipes right off. Even diesel smoke soot on the stern, wipes off.

Capt Strapfoots · Mar 16, 2013

Red max Pro same as polyglow but cheaper and you can use stripper to get it off. Get it at Lowes.

sesmith said:
Patrick,

What did you use to remove the polyglow? I know that polyglow has a stripper in spray cans. It's quite expensive compared to commercial acrylic wax stripper in gallon jugs.

The previous owner always used polyglow on my current boat. It does look pretty nice, but I'm planning on stripping the polyglow this spring. I still haven't decided whether I'll do the polyglow again. I've always done the buff and wax with Colinite thing and it's hard to change (and I already have a nice buffer and materials).

To the OP, I've always had good luck buffing when needed and waxing. I guess it all depends on just how much work your hull needs. Polyglow does seem to do a nice job, if it's done right. It doesn't look like a buffed and waxed hull, though, up close, if that's a concern to you. If you do end up using polyglow, do not buff or polish the hull 1st. It does have to be clean (they sell a cleaner with the kit), but the company specifically has you scuff the hull slightly with a very fine scotch bright before applying their product. Otherwise it won't stay stuck.

Steve Dion · Mar 16, 2013

Has anyone ever tried straight ammonia to remove the finishes.?

Buff & Wax VS A Polymer polish

.

.

.

.

Attachments

.

.

.

.

.

.

Attachments

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.