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Old 20-04-2018, 16:22   #1
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Excessive prep???

Years ago someone on this forum put together what I considered the ultimate advice on compounding and waxing a boat. It helped me understand everything from buffers to which wax to use. Anyway, as a result I have used On & Off each spring to clean my topsides in the belief that I needed to remove last year's wax before compounding the hull. In my case, the gel coat is in good condition so I polish with 3M Finesse II and then hand wax. However, I think that virtually "painting" my entire topsides with On & Off may be unnecessary. I suspect a good wash and then compound and wax would be enough. What say you?
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Old 20-04-2018, 16:37   #2
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Re: Excessive prep???

On and Off is acid. I only use it to get out stains that won't come out with something less aggressive, and I dilute accordingly.

You can be almost certain that whatever wax you put on is gone within less than a year.

Polish is in fact just a very gentle form of compound. It's an abrasive. I would think that a a good scrubbing with something like Simple Green followed up by polish is going to get off any contaminants other than rust stains and you'd be good to wax.
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Old 20-04-2018, 18:26   #3
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Re: Excessive prep???

Some people are indeed fanatical about polishing and waxing regiments which always makes we wonder if they are as fastidious when it comes to far more important inspections and maintenance.

My personal experience is they are not. Some dangerously so by omitting things like filter changes, engine maintenance, through rigging inspection, etc...

Without the dreaded thread drift, I'd be interested to hear from those polish/wax aficionados regarding time spent cleaning and polishing vs. real maintenance activities.
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Old 21-04-2018, 11:41   #4
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Re: Excessive prep???

So Illusion,
if you're going to hijack the thread at least you could have the decency to answer the original question. How do you prep before buffing and waxing your hull?
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Old 21-04-2018, 11:49   #5
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Re: Excessive prep???

I stopped waxing the hul and went to Plowi Glo (however it’s spelled)
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Old 21-04-2018, 11:49   #6
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Re: Excessive prep???

Thanks Suijin,
for confirming my suspicions. I was expecting people might jump all over the topic with various theories of the perfect preparation. Sometimes just getting straight forward answers on this forum can be difficult. So thanks for the help.
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Old 21-04-2018, 11:53   #7
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Re: Excessive prep???

Sailorboy,
how many seasons have you used it?
Does anyone else like this as a was alternative?
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Old 21-04-2018, 11:58   #8
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Re: Excessive prep???

Just read the product description for Poli Glow and it takes 4 to 6 coats and needs to be redone every 12 months. So thanks, but I'll stick to waxing. I use Collinite #885 and it still beads up at the end of the season.
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Old 21-04-2018, 12:02   #9
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Re: Excessive prep???

I need to put a new coat on. So that is a quick hill wash with soap and water, let it dry. Wipe the Poli Glo on. ThAt should take 2 hours on easy work and the boat will sparkle for another 6 months.

I’ve waxed, it is 10x the labor of the poli glo and lasts longer and doesn’t wear down the gel coat.

But if you want to go old school it’s ok with me.
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Old 21-04-2018, 13:21   #10
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Re: Excessive prep???

Quote:
Originally Posted by billdre View Post
So Illusion,
if you're going to hijack the thread at least you could have the decency to answer the original question. How do you prep before buffing and waxing your hull?
As my topside is Flag Blue Awlgrip, prep is entirely different compared with prepping a typical vanilla gelcoat. There is nothing to strip and buffing/polishing is deleterious to Awlgrip if done improperly. As you didn't specify whether you want info limited to gelcoat, my comments reflected that ambiguity and offered a different perspective on substance over appearance. Next time, I won't bother responding..
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Old 21-04-2018, 13:37   #11
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Re: Excessive prep???

Hello, Bill,

Your ponderings are leading you where others have gone. The real truth is that gelcoat has microscopic bubbles in it, and if you use rubbing compound on it, it breaks through the tops of those bubbles. You fill it temporarily with wax, and as the wax wears over the course of time, they fill with dirt, some of which stains. If you are starting out with new gelcoat, I would never touch it with rubbing compound.

It depends on how bad the condition of the gelcoat is. "minaret" here on this forum in his thread "Nauticat 52 Refit", shows some re-gelcoating.

However, what SailorBoy 1 is doing is similar to how we used to use PoliGlo. We would do the acid wash (which removes rust stains) followed by a number of coats of the polymer stuff, and it looked good for about a year. We did it at haulout time, but it can be done in the water if it is very still, water splashes aren't good for it.

Now that we have paint (different boat) -- which is automotive LPU paint -- it is holding its gloss way better than the marine LPU we brushed on the cabin at the same time, and all we do is let the rain wash it off, and the occasional spot wash as needed.

If you try a CF Custom Google Search (about 6th down on the Search menu) on rubbing and waxing gelcoat, there have been many threads, and some of them have been interesting.

Ann

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Old 24-04-2018, 12:38   #12
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Re: Excessive prep???

Thanks for the supportive replies. After taking a good look at my topsides and with the info. from here and some Practical Sailor information I decided not only to skip the On & Off acid wash but also the polishing phase. I washed the hull with Simple Green, (thanks Suijin) and hand waxed the hull with Collinite #885. Absolutely sparkles.
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