poli glow

[dorourke]

Has anyone tried Poli Glow? Does it work? My gelcoat is heavally oxidised and I want to try something other than painting this year, painting just doesn't fit the budget yet even though it will lower my maintainence in the future, the up front cost is too steep.

[Guesser]

I used it it years ago on a Santana 22. It worked great. The key is to get the surface really clean first, because anything you don't take off, gets permanently glossed over. I just remember it was a lot of work to get it prepped and then it took like 5 coats to get an even shine. But it did shine; it's sort of like a varnish for fiberglass and needs to be recoated every 6 months or so, but it really does give you a nice glossy finish.

[chris_gee]

i found it did an amazing job with just one easy coat. Someone else in another thread commented that they had trouble getting it off. Since I sold the boat I don't know the longer term.

[sailingdog]

It can be difficult to take it off... but it does work quite well. I like PoliGlow for use on older boats... On a newer boat, I would use a traditional wax until the finish was oxidized enough to need the help of PoliGlow.

[cardiacpaul]

I am in process of applying to a badly worn catalina 27. I must say, it does work as advertised. The hull really shines. I've applied 5 coats and its just starting to even out. (see where I missed) I am very pleased. (I am a non compensated, non product non reviewer) I bought the stuff 'cuz I figured I'd give it a shot, the cuban was getting cranky about "white butt". So far, so good.

As has been stated, the devil is in the details errr, prep. The surface HAS to be clean.

[Bill Mc]

The previous owner of my boat used Poly Glow religiously on the hull 2 coats every season. On my last haul and bottom job the sides of the boat looked raged and rough. My choice is to wet sand and wax. (Time and $$$$) or a light sanding is the only requirement prior to applying 2 more coats of Poly. It looks great when new, however I think its a quick fix to make a boat shine (instant gratification) and best reserved for boats as a last resort or prior to selling them. If I would know now that my hull had this stuff on it I would have negotiated the deal to have it removed and a good coat of wax put on. It Looks great when new. But after a year you have to do it again to keep up its appearance. Washing and waxing is for me.

Fair Winds,

Bill

Edit; I'm putting this off til next year and will budget for the wet sanding..

[TrueBlue]

I don't have any direct experience with the stuff, but I've heard and read about several horror stories regarding the eventual yellowing and crackled surface poliglow applications seem to degenerate to.

Coupled with this possibility, it seems that the work involved to prep and apply poliglow may be more intensive than wet sanding. At the very least, a heavy duty compounding and polish, power-buffed with a wool pad followed by a good wax, will restore most oxidized hulls to a brilliant shine for less effort.

Plus the shine can be easily renewed each season, as long as there is some gelcoat left.

[Gary M]

I would much prefer to use lots of elbow grease and get the gel coat back to a nice shine. However last spring I bought a 22 year old boat that came from salt water and had not been looked after. Polyglow saved the day.

I had already spent several days trying to clean it even using fine sand paper but after a test of three coats of Macquires there was really no shine coming up. So I tried polyglow, worked great. It comes with a cleaner that is very effective and if I had it sooner I would have saved my self some work. It is normally diluted but full strength will remove just about anything.

There are boats in my club that have been using it for 5 years and they look great. Not sure what happens eventualy with build up but the blue cleaner it comes with is supposed to take it off.
My friend who sold it to me has a scaffold set up that made putting it on very easy. Working from a ladder would be a pain since with the scaffold you could do sections about 12 foot long at one time.

Gary

[Faster]

Our boat had been poliglowed by the PO, and looked great. The finish began to wear thin, and it came to light that the hullstripes that had been painted on had been done with lousy paint, and now the blue is rubbing off on fenders and onto other rafted boats - not cool.

So my problem now is a) removing the poliglow and b) removing the old stripes to repaint. I do, however, intend to reapply poliglow afterwards as an alternative to a complete paintjob.
The lack of effort required in poliglow application is a plus (no buffing required)

Poliprep, their pre-cleaning solution is an excellent cleaner - works great.

I'm presently using Aqua-strip to get the old stripes off, working OK despite cooler than recommended temps. - found out it readily removes old poliglow as well.

So the job is half done, and we are waiting for warmer weather (will spring ever arrive??) to repaint and refinish.

FWIW Practical Sailor gave Poliglow a "glowing"(sorry) review - second only to a professional wax job in immediate result and longevity.....

[dorourke]

In September of last year I tried the rubbing compound and rejuvinator and got nothing, I got a reflective dull finish (if that makes sence.) A friend suggested I try Poli Glow just to get the boat in the water for this year, he said it would only be a bandaid to the finish of the hull, however I might be pleased with the results. Thanks for the confidence I'm getting. I will be giving it a try this year, it only costs $79.00 for the treatment as compared to $700.00 for the paint job that I will be doing myself. I'd rather be sailing this spring (whenever it gets here,) than any more refitting, I'm about tired of that. Again, thanks all for the responses.