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I know this is like asking what’s the best paper towel but I’m a complete newbie to fiberglass and I’d appreciate some old salt, young salt, qualified opinions.
Our first cleaning we found some small amount of purple stuff in a jug, used a mix of it and Dawn….it kicked ass cleaning the decks of bird shit stains. I know now it’s a powerful cleaner and not so good at keeping wax on. I’ll find something a bit gentler after I get the waxing down. I’ve NEVER waxed a boat. I’ve waxed a car, is it the same thing? What about Woody Wax, I heard it’s a good product for the non skid, and easy! It claims you can use it on just about anything. I hate that kind of advertising!
I don’t want to get too anal about this job (power compounding etc.) it being a 33 year old boat. I know how to handle an 8″ buffer grinder my 20 year old Makita is about dead after all the teak decks and wood hulls I’ve worked on. I’m looking for a simple plan for maintenance, key word, simple.Ken
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I use the Starbrite PTFE wax for the hull and cabin sides. I don’t wax
what’s left of the nonskid. The wax works just like a car – wipe on, wipe
off.Lasts a season up north. No machine required.
Bob
Pardon the brevity. I’m typing this on my phone and I hate typing on my
phone.
On Dec 10, 2013 10:11 AM, “Page Two” wrote:I know this is like asking what’s the best paper towel but I’m a complete
newbie to fiberglass and I’d appreciate some old salt, young salt,
qualified opinions.
Our first cleaning we found some small amount of purple stuff in a jug,
used a mix of it and Dawn….it kicked ass cleaning the decks of bird shit
stains. I know now it’s a powerful cleaner and not so good at keeping wax
on. I’ll find something a bit gentler after I get the waxing down. I’ve
NEVER waxed a boat. I’ve waxed a car, is it the same thing? What about
Woody Wax, I heard it’s a good product for the non skid, and easy! It
claims you can use it on just about anything. I hate that kind of
advertising!
I don’t want to get too anal about this job (power compounding etc.) it
being a 33 year old boat. I know how to handle an 8″ buffer grinder my 22
20 year old Makita is about dead after all the teak decks and wood hulls
I’ve worked on. I’m looking for a simple plan for maintenance, key word,
simple.Ken
Ken and Vicky # 91……Writing a New Chapter Page by Page in an Old Book._______________________________________________
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Sounds like the stuff you found might be Purple Power, sold at Walmart. It’s a good cleaner.
There are lots of wax products out there. I don’t wax my boat. I painted the topsides with a 2-part polyurethane. Applying a coat of paint is about as difficult as waxing with a buffer. Once the paint is applied, it has a gloss that lasts for several years. Dirt won’t stick to it. When it looks dull, I wet-sand and put a new coat of paint on. Wax would leave a residue that causes the paint to bubble. It’s hard to get off so I don’t use it. Once your gelcoat gets to the point where waxing doesn’t work, you might consider painting it. It’s not good for decks though; much too slippery.
Rich
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If you want the ultimate, no shortcuts, best wax job you can get, for a sailor with plenty of time and a touch of OCD then here’s the link to how to do it.
http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=117266
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Rich, as soon as I read your response I ran up and took a much better look at the decks topside…that might be the way we want to go on the decks and cockpit. The hull was just recently professionally done in All-grip and it is just fine. All the nonskid is a beige color that seems to have some kind of covering that was put on with a rag. No brush marks, but thin areas that the white shows through. Very, very thin what ever it is.
Ken
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I’ve used Meguiars Wax from AutoZone and it seems to do
all right. Maybe Practical Sailor has done an in-depth
comparison and rating of boat waxes.As for stains from bird droppings (or berries or leaves
or anything else organic), chlorine bleach, even
slightly diluted with water, usually makes them vanish.
(For rust stains, use phosphoric acid such as Ospho.)Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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After I reconfigured Silverheels’ chain locker (which
involved cutting out the original anchor well and
decking it over), I painted the entire deck and
in-facing toe rail area forward of the coachhouse. It’s
been a while, but believe I used a Rustoleum “marine”
(meaning it has some UV stuff in it) enamel paint from
Ace Hardware. I fussed with the color a bit to get it
as close as I could to the original gel coat since they
meet at a point even with the forward end of the
coachhouse. The color match is fair, not excellent, but
it’s not an eyesore. I don’t think you’d notice if you
weren’t looking for it. That paint has held up these
past 5 years in the tropics and still looks fine.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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I’ve used Interlux 2-part over the many years I’ve owned BlackSheep. I had her awlgripped when I bought her 27 years ago. The paint lasted about 9 years or so before it started to dull, chip and peel. A repainting job like this is somewhere around $5k or $10k which is a lot of boat gear so my wife and I took on the job of repainting her. I filled and sanded the awlgrip finish and painted over with roller and tipping brush like the instructions say. We can paint the whole topsides in a weekend. The trick with applying the paint is to get it thin enough. If you put too thick a coat on there it runs. The paint hardens to a bright gloss. Dirt doesn’t stick to the surface. It’s almost like teflon. The gloss lasts only three to five years though so the paint must be reapplied to get the gloss back. Before you go running out to paint your boat, lower your expectations a bit. Brush-strokes can be seen in the paint surface if you get close enough. It’s not as smooth as spray job. For somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 plus a couple of days work, I think it’s a good value. (If you apply this stuff over bare gelcoat, add an extra day for the primer coat)
We used the interlux process every 5 years or so, but I’m going to try Pettit next time. I’ve had better luck with Pettit deck paint and wonder if their 2-part topside paint will go on easier or last longer. I’ve used interlux 1-part deck paint. It looks good the first year but loses its gloss by the next season. Once the gloss is gone, dirt sticks to the paint surface and my decks always look dirty. I use a power washer each spring to clean the decks. If the paint doesn’t adhere well, it blows the paint off. I painted my cockpit last year with Pettit paint and it held up much better. I’ve been switching from Interlux products to Pettit for the past few years and find their stuff works better.
Rich
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I guess what I’m learning here is that once a gelcoat gets to a certain point it’s more practical to just keep it painted. Now “that” I can understand and have no problem with keeping it maintained. Screw the wax, keep it clean and painted just like wood, who would’a thunk it?
Ken
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My boat’s been in Hawai’i since new. Surprisingly, the original gel coat is still looking good. I use Collonite once or twice a year to keep a nice gloss on her. She was in day charter service before I bought her, so the paid crew probably keep her in great waxed shape.
Dan Kalinowski
Jolly Lama #135
Keehi Lagoon, O’ahu
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