Ceramic vs Wax ??

[Dallasron]

Has anybody applied a ceramic finish over their gelcoat? I will be cutting and waxing the boat when i pull it here shortly. I Have a car in the garage that has a ceramic job on it and just wow.
You can't or aren't supposed to apply ceramic over wax as it will not bond properly nor can you wax the ceramic coating. Since I am looking at cutting the boat now would be the time. Would certainly be nice to have a finish hold up for 5yrs.

[Tetepare]

Watching this one.

We used Polyglo, a polymer. It was fabulous on the hull, no more waxing. It did not however hold up on the cabin.

Completely stripping the old wax on the hull took 32 (wo)man hours. Applying the polyglo took 1 hour. You’ll be in the same boat with ceramic. Though knowing what we know now about stripping off wax 100% we could cut that time in half.

[Dallasron]

Thanks, I have a little time so will investigate. One concern i had was the fenders working it off the topsides and then I would have to redo where with wax you just throw more at it. Also it is the coachtop I most want to do becuase of all the crooks and crannies.

[Tetepare]

Can’t say how fender effect ceramic. Polyglo held up great. And if any area on the hull did take a hit, it was easy- clean then wipe on Polyglo.

We’re using wax this year on our new to us boat. Next year was planning the big conversion to Polyglo. So I have a year for your ceramic report

[Dallasron]

I will be checking Polyglo, did you cut the wax off on the cabin top or just lay over old wax? Also know what you do now about striping the wax off the sides, any pointers?

[CaptainMarkS]

We've had limited success with PoliGlow on the topsides (lasts about a year with 4-6 coatings). Avoid use on hulls themselves, as the heavy exposure to salt water results in streaking which requires stripping to remove.

Wish someone can share their experience with ceramics! I've gotten testimonials for Ceramica from Insta-Finish: https://instafinish.com/index.php/pr...mica-ceramica/ (expensive); Hydrosilex (available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3OotEf1) and NexGen (available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Qx3Zme).