Boating How-To’s - Oxidation please help!!

im new to boating this year, i bought a 1991 255 sundowner. a few weeks ago i rubbed, polished, and waxed it by hand, im now REGRETING IT!! a few days ago i noticed a cloudy dull look to it when the sun was shinning on it. so i threw a light on it and sure enough the entire hull is cloudy and dull looking. i never noticed this before since it looked shinny for the last 2 weeks or so i feel stupid for not noticing it. i went to an auto parts store and they gave me a grease and wax remover, will this work? if i do this then do i start all over with a buffer?

thanks dan

Try and get some pics up. Pics will help us help you. If the boat is oxidized, in my opinion, wet sanding it will be your best option.

That being said, a more aggresive compound or just compounding again may get rid of the "cloudyness".

What kind of compound did you use?

Remember this, the shine will be acheived before you wax, wax is only a protectant.

You acheive a shine by wet sanding old gel coat or compounding/polishing
it.


There are so many different products that work, that it will be hard to give you an opinion without pics or knowing what your using and how you applied it or worked the surface. The degreaser may be good to remove the wax but will be worthless as far as acheiving a shine.

Get some acetone, whipe the hull before you start anything. This will remove any residual wax or dirt biuld up and sometimes removes oxidation. Using acetone before wet sanding, compounding/polishing or waxing gives those products the oportunity to do there job to the best of there abilities. If not acetoned first, the process may take longer because you are having to cut through extra junk to get to the gelcoat.

im new to boating this year, i bought a 1991 255 sundowner. a few weeks ago i rubbed, polished, and waxed it by hand, im now REGRETING IT!! a few days ago i noticed a cloudy dull look to it when the sun was shinning on it. so i threw a light on it and sure enough the entire hull is cloudy and dull looking. i never noticed this before since it looked shinny for the last 2 weeks or so i feel stupid for not noticing it. i went to an auto parts store and they gave me a grease and wax remover, will this work? if i do this then do i start all over with a buffer?

thanks dan

The gelcoat needs to be redone by a professional. It takes a high speed buffer and the correct cutting compounds to get the shine back. Someone in the business will know what to do. No one here can really give definitive advise without seeing the hull. If you have never used a buffer before it can be a handful. There is a sharp learning curve.

Don't listen to the nay sayers, I have never used a buffer to restore gelcoat. It can be used yes, but you can get oxidation removed by hand compounding or wet sanding.

Buffers work and they save time, but you can get the same results by hand.

You can also look into "Film" discs. These can be used on a DA (random orbital sander). They can be used dry or wet and work great.

i used a medium rubbing compound on it, then used meqiers polishing compound then flagship wax.the only reason why this worries me is because it looks great untill you throw a light on it and it really looks bad like i said i dodnt even notice it untill 2 weeks later, ill try to post pics. and it dosent have a chalky feeling it just looks cloudy. ill think ill try to remove the wax and start over with a buffer, i aint got the funds to redo the whole gel coat lol. i would be alright with it is i knew it would look good in the water fir sure but i havent ot a chance to take it out yet.

Dark color? If so,it probably isn't worth the effort it will take to get it back;tons of work! The only way to get a dark color gelcoat back is to progressively wet sand,compound,polish,and then wax,simply to protect.

Glen E is the boat cleaning king.


http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/414816-do-i-clean-my-boat-too-long.html

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/396344-oxidized-gelcoat-makeover-pics.html

pm him for information

Wet sanding with up to 1800 grit sand paper will bring the shine back. Compounds and polish will come after the sanding.

Try Flitz.

The reason you can see the (haze) now is because most brands of polishes, glazes and compounds contain fillers that fill in the tiny scratches instead of actually polishing them out. After a few washes/uses the filler is gone and the fine scratches appear again. Menzerna is one of the only polishes that I know that does not use a filler. It's quite expensive but they make the best line of polishes available.

No need to use that grease and wax remover, dawn dish soap is a degreaser and will strip all the wax for you, acetone will as well. But wash the boat in the dawn to remove all the wax and take it from there.

Yes it can be done by hand, but the buffer is much quicker and will really be able to "bite" into the oxidation. 3m super duty is an aggressive compound pretty easy to find, 3m finesse it ii as you polishing compound and then you can use the flagship once you have your hull the way you like. Dont know if it needs to be wetsanded or not.

Good Luck!

Whether you use a machine or hand apply the rubbing compound, you've got to wash it all off (Dawn works great), and dry it before applying the wax. And when you apply the wax (I'm a big Collinite fan), use a damp sponge to put it on, and "sweatshirt" rags to wipe it down.

You don't have to wash off the rubbing compound off. It should all buff off whatever doesn't you just remove with a dry rag. You don't wash it.

To do it correctly you need to use a wool/polyester blend cutting pad and a high speed buffer with some compound. I found a really good compound called Buff Magic. It breaks down as you polish and you don;t need to use a polish after compounding. If you don't want to use Menzerna then Buff Magic is the way to go. It's got a pretty strong initial cut.

Try using Ultima Paint Guard Plus instead of wax. It's much easier to apply and last much longer than wax with much better protection.

Don't listen to the nay sayers, I have never used a buffer to restore gelcoat. It can be used yes, but you can get oxidation removed by hand compounding or wet sanding.

I have NEVER been able to get the same results by hand , that I can get from my variable speed buffer. It is more obvious with a dark color hull.

With that said , I may not be as persistant as dahlbebop ( take a look at his bottom gel coat makeover ) :grin:

IMO , for the price of an inexpensive variable speed polisher ($40 from Harbour Freight ) , my time is too valuable not to pick one up.

I recently bought an older boat to try and get in to boating.

I was a auto detailer for years when I was younger, I can't even count the amount of cars I have cut or power polished.

I knew the gelcoat on my 1978 15' Peterborough was too far gone to make mirror smooth again. But just after a few minutes of polishing you can see a significant increase. Mainly a bit of reflection from trees in the gelcoat.

Check out the video in the blog post. Keep in mind, on a dark color you would notice a huge difference.

Video of polishing difference (http://koldfusion.ca/wp/2012/04/cleaning-up-the-boat/)

If I want it better I will need to wet sand or paint it.

I ended up wet sanding the top of the bow yesterday. My jaw dropped at how much better it came out than just the standard compound, polish, wax with a variable speed rotary polisher.

My boat is a very oxidized 1978 Peterborough 15 foot fibreglass.

The difference is stunning when I wet sanded first. 800 grit then 1500 grit 3M paper. Before you could not see any reflection, after just the compound with the rotary it got better. being able to see hazy trees in the reflection.
But since the wet sand you can read a book in the reflection.

Just WOW!!

I ended up wet sanding the top of the bow yesterday. My jaw dropped at how much better it came out than just the standard compound, polish, wax with a variable speed rotary polisher.

My boat is a very oxidized 1978 Peterborough 15 foot fibreglass.

The difference is stunning when I wet sanded first. 800 grit then 1500 grit 3M paper. Before you could not see any reflection, after just the compound with the rotary it got better. being able to see hazy trees in the reflection.
But since the wet sand you can read a book in the reflection.

Just WOW!!

Go and buy the Makita 9227c, its a very worthwhile investment that you will use for years, now that you invested the time int he wetsand. At a low RPM, you have very little risk of damaging anything. Wet sand and then use two stages of compound. I use the 3M super heavy duty compound, with a wool pad, and then follow if with a very light 3M called finnesse, using a softer foam pad (Lake Country). Trust me, this is the way to go, I have done it on a heavily oxidzed hull, it came out great, and I am not a pro. Like any job, you really have to put in the time. After you get it shining, use a high grade past wax, and take it off by hand. I have used collins fleetwax.

Put the Collonite away. Use Ultima Paint Guard Plus. Trust me on this one! I have gotten several people here to try it and all have switched over incuding Glen. It's the best. I also found the Metabo polishers to be better han the Makitas. They are much lighter and easier to work with. I use the Lake County pads as well.

You don't have to wash off the rubbing compound off. It should all buff off whatever doesn't you just remove with a dry rag. You don't wash it.

To do it correctly you need to use a wool/polyester blend cutting pad and a high speed buffer with some compound. I found a really good compound called Buff Magic. It breaks down as you polish and you don;t need to use a polish after compounding. If you don't want to use Menzerna then Buff Magic is the way to go. It's got a pretty strong initial cut.

Try using Ultima Paint Guard Plus instead of wax. It's much easier to apply and last much longer than wax with much better protection.

X10

I also tried a new product this year called Presta Ultra Cutting Creme. It works as a heavy rubbing compound then breaks down to a finishing polish. You can skip the Finesse-It.

Go and buy the Makita 9227c, its a very worthwhile investment that you will use for years, now that you invested the time int he wetsand. At a low RPM, you have very little risk of damaging anything. Wet sand and then use two stages of compound. I use the 3M super heavy duty compound, with a wool pad, and then follow if with a very light 3M called finnesse, using a softer foam pad (Lake Country). Trust me, this is the way to go, I have done it on a heavily oxidzed hull, it came out great, and I am not a pro. Like any job, you really have to put in the time. After you get it shining, use a high grade past wax, and take it off by hand. I have used collins fleetwax.

I bought a cheaper version of that. Actually wanted to get the DeWalt variable speed polisher. I used a Makita, Black and Decker, and a DeWalt in the past as a automotive detailer. I find the DeWalt a touch lighter thus reducing fatigue through use. But the Makita is a top notch unit as well.

I used 3M marine compound with a wool pad (Have 2 with spurs for cleaning) right after. Planing on buying a couple of Meguires foam pads for the polish, nothing too light or dense.

I have liquid marine wax, but from what I read here, paste wax is the best.

My boat is nothing to be proud of yet, but I hope I can get it there. Just trying to watch my budget to leave room for fishing and family trips this year.

I have liquid marine wax, but from what I read here, paste wax is the best.
.

Paste wax sucks! Ultima Paint Guard Plus. Said it before I'll say it again.

I live and Broker in South Florida and Bahamas.

I have seen it all.

Test some areas with compound. If that doesnt do the trick wet sanding will.

Wet Sand, Med Compound, Fine Compound ,then Wax.

Alot of the guys here use 3M products.

Good luck!