Waxing the Hull

[Seasiq]

I thought I'd try clearcoating instead of waxing, and now I can't find my damn boat.

[angelfish2]

Originally Posted by weavis

I use this stuff......
Gleams.. has the Carnauba in it.

This is what I use. It really works wonderfully! And I have tried a LOT of other products. BTW, I use arm-power...no buffer. I can do our entire IP32 in 4 afternoons.

[D.D.]

Just FYI...Woody wax is for Non-Skid...It does NOT make the non-skid slippery.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Come on people and confess up. I'm sure not everyone breaks out the buffer and some use the the wash/wax stuff.

I will confess to breaking out the checkbook. Buffing and waxing boats is young man's work. At my age I tend to pay for labor intensive non or semi-skilled work. That poor guy labored for three days in the hot southern sun compounding and waxing my boat. He did a good job though.

[JPA Cate]

Gelcoat is porous, it is composed of tiny little bubbles close together. Each time you use rubbing compound (called cutting compound in Oz), you open the top layer of bubbles more. The now large pores that are open tend to accumulate grime.

If your boat has already been rubbed, just keep on with the procedure, and eventually you will eat through the gelcoat.

Gelcoat can be repaired. minaret wrote about how to do that on his Nauticat 51 refit thread, and I believe mainesail has also discussed it on CF.

When we had old gelcoat that was getting chalky, we rubbed it one last time, after that, we applied PolyGlow, a polymerizing liquid. It is a two part deal, where you wash the hull with a prep fluid, then lay on the polymerizing liquid with a sort of chamois applicator on a handle like a sponge mop, but it's the applicator instead of a sponge.

It lasted for about 1 year in mostly sub tropical exposure. Looked better than wax, on that hull.

I'm told there is a product in the States that does the same: TSRW [stands for This Stuff Really Works], and there may be others.

Ann

[ErikFinn]

Originally Posted by deblen

I would like some recommendations for non-slip GRP decks & for Kiwi-Grip deck areas.
Do not use "hull" type wax on decks-too slippery.
So far,I have been using Starbright Deck cleaner,which claims it contains wax.Does a great cleaning job-not so sure about the wax part,but it's not too slippery.

So these have been mentionend: Starbrite Non-Skid Deck Cleaner With PTEF, and Woody Wax.

However, my challenge here in the 3rd world is that these marine special products are not readily available, so can anyone recommend a "wax/polish" product for GRP decks that is NOT a special marine product? All automotive waxes/polishes will make the GRP deck slippery? Anything I could use from the car care section of the local hardware shop??

thanks in advance

[Spirit28]

About to do my topsides next week. I use Farecla G3 as a polish on a slow speed polisher with foam pad (kept moist with water spay from a spray bottle), then apply two coats of Autoglym hardwax by hand. Both products do not contain any silicon which may be a consideration if you ever want to refinish you hull in future (think fish eyes in the new paint due to silicone that has not been cleaned off).

I get great results on dark blue topside paint. No pain, no gain...

[sailorboy1]

Still not much feedback on wash-n-wax products.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Still not much feedback on wash-n-wax products.

I think it's because they just don't work that well, especially on older boats whose Gelcoat has begun to oxidize, now on a new boat, most anything will work.
What is astonishing is just how bad Gelcoat becomes and you never realize it, take about a one foot section of your hull and hand polish with some finesse or similar polish, or actually don't because if you do, then it will bother you and cause you to spend either a lot of money or elbow grease.

[a64pilot]

What ever you do, do not use a "restorer" which is apparently a wipe on magic polymer that will bring back your Gelcoat's luster, it will sort of, but then about a year later it starts coming off, leaving dull patches, and it is very difficult to remove. Last boat, the PO apparently put that stuff on and I played Hell getting it off, and that was a little fishing boat.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I think it's because they just don't work that well, especially on older boats whose Gelcoat has begun to oxidize, now on a new boat, most anything will work.

I bet its' more that people don't want to admit using it. It's like admitting you don't change your SW impeller each year (I don't so I'm also willing to use the wash-n-wax).

[dpddj]

Last year, after I buffed and compounded a very dull pair of hulls, I applied Permanon. Permanon USA It's a liquid based on nano-technology, made in Germany. It's not cheap but you only use a little and dilute with water. Use a bottle sprayer to apply it, squeegee and wipe it off. Took me about an hour to apply to both hulls.
End of season it still looked fresh, thinking I may not need to apply this spring.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by ErikFinn

So these have been mentionend: Starbrite Non-Skid Deck Cleaner With PTEF, and Woody Wax.

However, my challenge here in the 3rd world is that these marine special products are not readily available, so can anyone recommend a "wax/polish" product for GRP decks that is NOT a special marine product? All automotive waxes/polishes will make the GRP deck slippery? Anything I could use from the car care section of the local hardware shop??

thanks in advance

I suppose you could try floor wax. Not car floors, building floors.

[zboss]

Like deblin we are using the starbrite with PTFE but we are starting to use Rejex instead of wax.

Rejex is polymer and while it requires a little work it is also the recommended for solar panels by Bruce Schwab on my Solbian solar panels because bird dodo rinses right off.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Seasiq

I thought I'd try clearcoating instead of waxing, and now I can't find my damn boat.