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Wax or polish

21K views 58 replies 25 participants last post by  rhoudini 
#1 ·
Can anyone recommend a good polish or wax for topsides. I bought something from 3M this week that claimed to be a polish for light oxidation and a wax all in one step. I brought the bottle home and then read on the back of the bottle about all the cancer causing agents inside and the need to wear a respirator and so on and so forth. I'm looking for something to simply shine up the topsides. The stuff I bought is a little more than I am looking for.
 
#28 ·
"They also recomended sealing the wax after it was applied. "
Ah, you've got to love marketing and marketers. So, they want you to apply a synthetic sealant on top of the "natural" sealant...to seal the sealant? Let me guess, the wax coat is just there to distribute atmospheric stresses from passing jetskis, preventing the hull and the teflon sealant from delaminating.
(See? I can pitch horsepucky too!<G>)

I've got this real strong hunch that PoliGlow (however you spell it) is the same product that revolutionized the auto dealership "aftermarket" business in the US around 1980. You'd take a five dollar tube of the goo, heat it up in hot water, then wax (excuse me, polish) the car with it. And charge the customer about $300 instead of the $75 for a Simonize job, because it was so exotic.

IIRC the stuff was a decent synthetic polish, but even at $60 for the DIY market, LORD THAT'S EXPENSIVE POLISH. About 5x more than DuPont's own Gen-You-Whine Teflon products.

Until last year DuPont expressly said Teflon has to be baked on, it has no value as dust in a wax or finish. Then they introduced their own line of Teflon waxes, finishes, and polishes and even with a coupon for a free bottle or can--I didn't buy one, because there are so many different similar products, I just got sick trying to figure out which did what.

Collinite. Carnauba. Whatever! And a pox on all the "miracle product" hucksters and their houses!
 
#30 ·
I was not a believer myself until this past summer when I saw a badly oxidized 1969 Columbia with a dark blue hull restored to almost showroom condition. The hull was first de-oxidized with 400 grit hand wet sanding...and looked really ugly after is was wiped clean with mineral spirits afterwards. Then 2 coats of the magical poliglow were applied and I was amazed at how good the hull looked. I see the boat daily and it looks almost as good 6 months later. I'm sold on the benefits and ease of the product but I'm sure it will need renewing which is much easier than waxing.
 
#32 ·
This boat was done...

With one of the miracle coatings but I can't honestly remember which one. Yes they can yellow and yes they can peel. Last season I did a polish with my rotary buffer and one coat of wax in less time than the guy two boats over to my boat spent cleaning and applying Poly Glow. Contrary to popular belief it is NOT as easy or quick to apply as they market it to be.

 
#33 ·
I can't speak to long term-I'll let you know how that works out. But once you have the oxidation removed, as Cam stated, it is just as easy to apply as advertised.
The stuff really works as advertised and Practical Sailor was impressed.
The last "miracle cure" I tried that actually did work was Rain-X and that was 20 years ago.(not on the boat)
I don't know that I can get the results with it that halekai gets with wax. but I do know that, in about a month or so, I'm going to go out and wash the boat and then spend under an hour with the Poli-glo and be done for the year. You pick 'em.
 
#34 ·
BTW, my guess is that boat was done with NuGlass2, which has a rep for yellowing and being otherwise pretty nasty.
 
#36 ·
Like I said

sailingdog said:
BTW, my guess is that boat was done with NuGlass2, which has a rep for yellowing and being otherwise pretty nasty.
Like I said that could be Nu-Glass, Vert Glass or what ever I don't recall what that guy used. I have used PoliGlow on a friends Mako and it did flake. Unfortunately for him he had been using one of those "wonder waxes" with lots of silicone and teflon. Even though we cleaned his hull three times with the PoliGlow cleaner, according to the manufactureres instructions, NOTHING will completely remove silicone from a pourous surface. His lasted about 3 months before any serious flaking but even when we spot cleaned and re-applied the same spots flaked again. He went back to good old elbow grease, a wet sand, and a three step polishing phase and his Mako looked like new and never peeled again. I did not notice any yellowing with the PoliGlow but keep in mind we could not even get a year out of this stuff so it most likely had not had enough UV exposure to even begin yellowing. If you have ever used a wax with silicones or Teflon I'd advise NOT using any of the miracle coatings..
 
#37 ·
I'd agree that if you're using any of the silicone or teflon-based waxes or coatings...that Poliglow will have trouble with it.
 
#38 ·
k1vsk said:
Halekai
Have you or do you have anything written similar to the above for Awlgripped hulls?
Sorry I'm late jumping on this thread.


As Cam said, we have gotten good results from Awlwash and Awlcare. Awlgripped hulls are a lot easier to care for.

 
#39 ·
The girl in the bunny suit looks pretty unhappy.... you don't pay your crew enough. ;)
 
#41 ·
I hope chrondi not reading this. He has rather strong feelings on child labor<g>
Nice job. btw, when I can get her to quit running around my teenage daughter is a pretty fair hand with a brush too. Must be something about mid-western girls.
 
#44 · (Edited)
Yes you can wash them..

Yes you can wash them in a washing machine however a front loader is preffered and is kinder and gentler on your pads. Fill a 5 gal bucket with cold water and rinse them in there by hand first to get as much residue off as you can then toss them in the washer with Woolite and wash on cold. DO NOT dry these pads in a dryer you wil ruin them or at the least turn a polishing grade pad into a buffing grade pad, or a buffing pad into a very coarse wool pad. Remember these pads are made of wool and need to be washed in cold and air dried. At the boat yard I use a 5 gal bucket to rinse build up out and then "spin it" in the bucket with the pad below the bucket sides so you don't wear all the water that is spun out of the pad. Even after spinning it on the highest speed, for about a minute, it will still be to wet for compounding so I use towels to dry it as best I can.

I personally don't use wool much any more and have switched to a brand of pad called CCS or Collapsed Cell Structure pads. There is nothing wrong with wool I just find the CCS pads to be more predictable with the results I am looking for but then again I'm a picky bastard. As the wool pads become saturated with moisture, from the compound or polish, they change their cutting characteristics slightly and the CCS pads don't. CCS pads are a collapsed cell foam pad and come in many grades. I buy them from AutoGeek.com and below is a link to the CCS pads page from Autogeek. If these pads are safe enough to use on my wifes convertable then they are more than safe for gelcoat. These pads are hi tech stuff but wool is fine if properly cared for!
http://www.autogeek.net/lc-ccs-foam-pads.html

By the way this car has 144k miles on it and this is the original paint!

 
#45 ·
Oh hell, now I'm all confused.

Delightful discussion, and insanely informative, but....

I just bought a '76 Columbia 26K. She's been in the sun for a while, and her deck is, well, not exactly chalky (it doesn't come off on your hand like chalked paint), but it feels like it's getting there. No shine at all.

The problem is, I have no idea what products may have been used on the boat before, or even if it's gelcoat, Awlgrip, or some other coating.

So since I don't know what products have been used before (if any :) ), what should I choose as my course of action? I plan to do *above* the hull/deck joint immediately, and do waterline to the joint next spring (time budgeting).

I don't want to use the wrong product and be kicking myself in three months....
 
#46 ·
wax sealer

tonic said:
The Collinite 885 is no joke when the prep is done right. I use it, I don't get the results halekai36 does but it lasts hands down. This is a twisted bunch I love it. PEACE and happy sailing.
The 885 mentioned works great for my boat, best I have used. Used the 3M products several times with okay results. After the wax I applied Interlux Wax Sealer and UV Protector for the first time, it gave a beautiful glossy finish on a 25 year hull. For the deck I have been using Woody Wax, safe for Non Skid with fantastic results...as reported in Practical Sailor.

Gave up on those stains DEEP in the gel coat:mad:
 
#47 ·
Pmoyer...It is unlikely that your deck is anything other than gelcoat unless you can see brushmarks from a paint job. So...compound the surface of the deck in a small area and see if the oxidation looks better...then try a polish/wax routine as Halekai suggests or the Poli-glow treatment discussed earlier.
 
#48 ·
PM-
There are a lot of good products out there, but in the interest of easy availability, non-chandlery prices, and good tech support from a one-stop shop? I'd call 3M's toll-free number and ask them for specifics about using their fiberglass polishes and products on it. I'm sure you can find their automotive products division on the web, that'll get you started. They are great about getting you to the right department, for ANY product they make, if you call.

Their fiberglass products are used in the auto body shop industry as well as marine and other users. They'll probably tell you to lightly compound the deck (to remove the chalky gelcoat) and then polish it and seal it after a solvent cleaning (i.e. "Prep Solve") to remove all materials that were used on it before. Plain solvents will remove wax--the specialty prep solvents will remove most of the synthetics, silicones, etc. as well.

There are also anti-skid deck waxes, I don't know if 3M makes them, but I'd apply that as the last step to any flat deck surface that you're going to polish.<G>
 
#50 ·
hailing up the sailing vessel Acustic

Halekia36,
How long did you wait between coats of nu finish?
Thanks for the post by the way, I hope I don't get mugged anytime soon,
there's no way I'm getting my hands over my head:mad: :D

Chef,
how did you apply the woody wax did you put over the whole top sde or just on the non skid?
 
#51 ·
The only times..

I use Nu-Finish is when a boat is in the hot south and I apply two coats about three days apart. Again work small areas because this stuff can become dificult to remove if you let it sit to long. It lasts a decent amount of time but does not give the same results as Colinite on a boat up North. Unfortunately carnuba's don't hold up well in very hot climates or even on darker hulls up North. The dark hulls absorb to much heat and will shorten the life of a carnuba based wax. Meguires NXT paste wax is another great auto product that holds up well on boats even in warmer climates. Link below!

Meguiars NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste is a synthetic polymer wax with excellent shine and durability.
 
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