Gel coat maintenance
- Thread starter Jon M
- Start date
firecadet613
Well-Known Member
- May 10, 2007
- 5,253
- Boat Info
- SOLD - 2007 Four Winns V358
- Engines
- Twin VP 5.7GXi V-Drive / ZF63s
Quite a bit of info here if you search...it seems the latest and greatest is Smoove and Starke Yacht Care Products. I have used Starbrite Premium Marine Polish for years...but switched to Smoove last year.
Strypes
Well-Known Member
- Dec 10, 2015
- 1,283
- Boat Info
- Sea Ray 400 Sedan Bridge
Boston Whaler 235 Conquest
- Engines
- Twin Caterpillar 3116
Mercury Verado 225 4-Stroke
I've had great results with this!
- Jun 2, 2008
- 5,024
- Boat Info
- 1998 450 Sundancer, Achilles dinghy w/15hp
- Engines
- 3126 Cat's
BillK2632
Well-Known Member
I've tried about everything over the years and have settled on:
Polish: Buff Magic
Cleaner Wax: Star Brite Cleaner Wax
Wax: Mequiars Flagship
Touchup in between: Meguiars spray wax. Same process as my cars, spray it on wet after a wash, then dry.
My boat is stored indoors, so the annual waxing is the Starbrite cleaner wax followed by Flagship. Rarely need anything more.
Don't laugh, but I also hit the bottom once in awhile - being dry stored, the lifts leaves rash marks on the bottom.
I did invest in a nice random orbital buffer which makes a huge difference. But even on a 20ft boat, the annual waxing is a job!
Polish: Buff Magic
Cleaner Wax: Star Brite Cleaner Wax
Wax: Mequiars Flagship
Touchup in between: Meguiars spray wax. Same process as my cars, spray it on wet after a wash, then dry.
My boat is stored indoors, so the annual waxing is the Starbrite cleaner wax followed by Flagship. Rarely need anything more.
Don't laugh, but I also hit the bottom once in awhile - being dry stored, the lifts leaves rash marks on the bottom.
I did invest in a nice random orbital buffer which makes a huge difference. But even on a 20ft boat, the annual waxing is a job!
Nater Potater
Well-Known Member
- Oct 19, 2020
- 2,646
- Boat Info
- 1992 300DA Sundancer
- Engines
- Twin Merc Alpha I Gen II I/O's with 5.7 V8's
"Vibration Free"; Don't make me laugh!
Little Ducky
Well-Known Member
- Jun 5, 2017
- 2,655
- Boat Info
- 1998 290 Sundancer
- Engines
- Twin EFI 5.0L w/Alphas
Kohler 4kW
Or check book.
This is my vote as well.
sbw1
Well-Known Member
- Oct 10, 2006
- 8,186
- Boat Info
- This is listed in my signature
- Engines
- This is listed in my signature
The finer the grit, the greater the gloss. I always used Finesse It by 3m with a rotary buffer and a clean wool pad. Keep your RPMs around 1500 to eliminate burns in the gel coat. 3M may have discontinued Finesse It but any fine rubbing compound will give you gloss if you keep the gel coat clean and unoxidized. Colonite wax lasts a long time. Washing your boat with Woodys keeps the shine and eliminates the need to rewax during the middle of the season.