Boat detailing

I got the Milwaukee cordless buffer to do the job myself. I'm going to use 3M restorer and wax combo. What's better to use, a wool pad or the orange sponge pads. I found both but don't know what one is better for beginners. Thanks.
 
$30 a foot in Chattanooga for a compound and wax waterline to roof. They do the inside of the cockpit and bridge and the dingy or waverunner on the back as well. $15 a foot for above the rubrail...
 
That's a good price Carter. Paying closer to $40 in FL for similar, does not include tender.
 
carterchapman said:
$30 a foot in Chattanooga for a compound and wax waterline to roof. They do the inside of the cockpit and bridge and the dingy or waverunner on the back as well. $15 a foot for above the rubrail...
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That's a good price Carter. On Long Island this spring I paid $12/ft for a compound and wax waterline to rub rail and $35/ft. for a compound, FinesseIt and wax, rub rail to hard top, including detailing the bridge interior and bridge glass. They do not do the dinghy for that price.
 
FootballFan said:
That's a good price Carter. Paying closer to $40 in FL for similar, does not include tender.
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My dockmate's 58 in Cape Coral was $4K for the compound and wax, then another $1K per quarter to keep it up for the rest of the year...

We get it done in Chattanooga where Reward is undercover from May to Sept, and then it lasts through the winter sun in our uncovered slip in FL...
 
If I were 20 years younger I think I could make a fortune in the boat detailing business around here......
I’m lucky that I have the time, experience and equipment to do my own boat. I do the waterline to the deck in late March before launching and lost count of how many guys ask me for my card when I’m working on it.
The deck and up gets done at my slip once I’m in.
I’ve seen some of the detailing companies doing their thing while I’m working and I’m not all that impressed.
I try to make things easier for myself in the Spring by putting the boat away as clean as possible in the Fall (late November/early December) by giving the hull a quick once over with the Makita and a wool pad using a cleaner then topping with some Collinite Insulator Wax applied by hand.
I try to unwrap in mid March, then after a hand wash, I machine polish the sides before applying about 3 coats of Collinite by hand before she gets splashed.
Here are a few shots of a work in progress this Spring before I bottom painted.
It gets pretty chilly, hence the hoodie, wool cap and multi layers of clothes, but it’s worth it to get back in early.
The reflection of the bundled up hooded nut is me and the rest of the reflections are the boats around me:

9F2FBB0B-82CA-4D33-8BCF-5EB76989C4F6.jpeg 3A4739AA-5CF3-4E2D-B52A-051C7DED6A65.jpeg 5AAAF764-1398-4962-9E8B-C4BD2886A35B.jpeg AFA0ACE9-2256-443E-9682-C42FF302D945.jpeg 2B89084D-F76C-4564-820A-7687C81422B6.jpeg 195A00B6-981E-4D01-AF5D-CE79804FD0E3.jpeg 0B71E76F-B977-42C3-8075-0143C17DDDC9.jpeg
 
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Cost me 1 Boat Dollar to have my 400DB compounded and waxed this spring...
 
Around here (inland lake) the going rate seems to be in the $34/ft range and there's not a lot of people who will do this sort of thing. So I have spent the better part of two days doing it myself (rubrail up). Used Mequiars #67, followed by a couple of coats of Flagship wax using my trusty PC 7424 (10 years old). Pleased with the result and did not have a lot of oxidation since the boat is in a covered slip. Still need to do the arch without breaking my neck!
 
Windjammer said:
Around here (inland lake) the going rate seems to be in the $34/ft range and there's not a lot of people who will do this sort of thing. So I have spent the better part of two days doing it myself (rubrail up). Used Mequiars #67, followed by a couple of coats of Flagship wax using my trusty PC 7424 (10 years old). Pleased with the result and did not have a lot of oxidation since the boat is in a covered slip. Still need to do the arch without breaking my neck!
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It’s tough to get guys who do it around here too. Especially guys who are good at it.
The PC 7424 is a good little workhorse. I upgraded many years ago to a Flex 3401 to use on cars but still keep my PC 7424 as a backup and for other smaller tasks.
Get yourself a rotary and some wool pads for the polishing step if you really want to bring your boat to the next level. You’ll notice a big difference and the rotary will make the job go quicker.
I love my Makita 9227. It’s a workhorse and relatively light for a rotary.
But if all you’re ever going to use it for is your own boat once or twice a year there is no need to spend money on a Makita.
I’ve never used the machine that Harbor Freight sells but I’ve read posts here and on other forums by others who have used it on their boats and they’ve said they had good results with it. I think you can pick them up for under $50.00. Couple it with some good quality wool pads and you’ll be in business.
 
JVM225 said:
It’s tough to get guys who do it around here too. Especially guys who are good at it.
The PC 7424 is a good little workhorse. I upgraded many years ago to a Flex 3401 to use on cars but still keep my PC 7424 as a backup and for other smaller tasks.
Get yourself a rotary and some wool pads for the polishing step if you really want to bring your boat to the next level. You’ll notice a big difference and the rotary will make the job go quicker.
I love my Makita 9227. It’s a workhorse and relatively light for a rotary.
But if all you’re ever going to use it for is your own boat once or twice a year there is no need to spend money on a Makita.
I’ve never used the machine that Harbor Freight sells but I’ve read posts here and on other forums by others who have used it on their boats and they’ve said they had good results with it. I think you can pick them up for under $50.00. Couple it with some good quality wool pads and you’ll be in business.
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Thanks for the info on the Makita. Probably still a neophyte on some of this stuff. I actually got a Dewalt DWP849X that I picked up a couple of years ago when they were on sale, but have never used it. I also used the plain old terry cloth applicator pads which are probably not the best choice. Have heard enough horror stories about guys really damaging their gelcoat by using the wrong stuff or equipment. We may be pulling the boat later on this year, and that may provide the opportunity to use the Dewalt with some wool pads from the rubrail on down. Are all wool pads the same or should I look for a certain make/style?
 
Windjammer said:
Thanks for the info on the Makita. Probably still a neophyte on some of this stuff. I actually got a Dewalt DWP849X that I picked up a couple of years ago when they were on sale, but have never used it. I also used the plain old terry cloth applicator pads which are probably not the best choice. Have heard enough horror stories about guys really damaging their gelcoat by using the wrong stuff or equipment. We may be pulling the boat later on this year, and that may provide the opportunity to use the Dewalt with some wool pads from the rubrail on down. Are all wool pads the same or should I look for a certain make/style?
Click to expand...

Once you get the hang of the rotary you’ll love it. Hold on to that PC though for your cars. It’s really hard to hurt the Gel Coat on your boat with a rotary but an inexperienced operator can burn through the clear coat on a car really easily with one.
No, all wool pads are not the same. At least that has been my experience.
Stay away from the cheap ones or no name pads.
It sounds like your hull is in great shape so it should be fairly easy to keep it that way.
You’re probably best off with a couple of 3M wool polishing pads and have one of their wool compounding pads handy in case you come across a spot or two that needs a little more attention.
There are other good pads out there, Four Star Products comes to mind, but 3M is a name you can usually trust for quality and they’re easy to find.
Try to avoid vinyl graphics whenever possible. The heat from the pad and rotary will shorten their life span. They can be cleaned up pretty easily by hand with a decent cleaner wax (I like Garry’s) or a little of whatever polish you happen to be using.
For the Gelcoat:
Apply a little bit of polish to the wool pad and work it over a small section of the hull with the machine.
No need to apply a bunch of pressure. Let the product, pad and machine do the work.
The polish you use should have a manufacturer’s recommended RPM range somewhere on the label. Depending on the ambient temps the day you use it you may have to adjust just a little bit, but not much.
The Meguiars product you used is a good one for polishing. It wouldn’t hurt to have a more aggressive compound on hand just in case you need it in a spot or two.
I’ve been using Gel Coat Labs polish and compound the last few years and love it but last winter I heard about Presta Products somewhere on this forum. The fact that they are water based interested me.
I gave their Marine Ultra Polish a try and liked it. It was just as good as the Gel Coat Labs and Meguiars stuff but the pads clean up quickly and easily with water when you’re done. All I did to clean them was set them on the ground and wash the polish out with the pressure from a garden hose. Once dry, my pads were as good as new. Can’t beat that!
After polishing, I like to apply my wax by hand and I do multiple coats for coverage and layering with at least a day between coats .
My favorite product for the hull is Collinite Insulator Wax. It’s super easy to apply and three coats of it on the sides holds up for my early April until late November season.
It doesn’t last as long above the rubrails where the sun hits it more directly and the boat gets scrubbed down more frequently, but I usually keep up with the topsides through the season by re-waxing a section at a time when I have some time to kill.
Since you’re in a covered slip any good wax should last a lot longer than it would on a boat that is always exposed to the sun.
 
JVM225 said:
Once you get the hang of the rotary you’ll love it. Hold on to that PC though for your cars. It’s really hard to hurt the Gel Coat on your boat with a rotary but an inexperienced operator can burn through the clear coat on a car really easily with one.
No, all wool pads are not the same. At least that has been my experience.
Stay away from the cheap ones or no name pads.
It sounds like your hull is in great shape so it should be fairly easy to keep it that way.
You’re probably best off with a couple of 3M wool polishing pads and have one of their wool compounding pads handy in case you come across a spot or two that needs a little more attention.
There are other good pads out there, Four Star Products comes to mind, but 3M is a name you can usually trust for quality and they’re easy to find.
Try to avoid vinyl graphics whenever possible. The heat from the pad and rotary will shorten their life span. They can be cleaned up pretty easily by hand with a decent cleaner wax (I like Garry’s) or a little of whatever polish you happen to be using.
For the Gelcoat:
Apply a little bit of polish to the wool pad and work it over a small section of the hull with the machine.
No need to apply a bunch of pressure. Let the product, pad and machine do the work.
The polish you use should have a manufacturer’s recommended RPM range somewhere on the label. Depending on the ambient temps the day you use it you may have to adjust just a little bit, but not much.
The Meguiars product you used is a good one for polishing. It wouldn’t hurt to have a more aggressive compound on hand just in case you need it in a spot or two.
I’ve been using Gel Coat Labs polish and compound the last few years and love it but last winter I heard about Presta Products somewhere on this forum. The fact that they are water based interested me.
I gave their Marine Ultra Polish a try and liked it. It was just as good as the Gel Coat Labs and Meguiars stuff but the pads clean up quickly and easily with water when you’re done. All I did to clean them was set them on the ground and wash the polish out with the pressure from a garden hose. Once dry, my pads were as good as new. Can’t beat that!
After polishing, I like to apply my wax by hand and I do multiple coats for coverage and layering with at least a day between coats .
My favorite product for the hull is Collinite Insulator Wax. It’s super easy to apply and three coats of it on the sides holds up for my early April until late November season.
It doesn’t last as long above the rubrails where the sun hits it more directly and the boat gets scrubbed down more frequently, but I usually keep up with the topsides through the season by re-waxing a section at a time when I have some time to kill.
Since you’re in a covered slip any good wax should last a lot longer than it would on a boat that is always exposed to the sun.
Click to expand...
I'm looking to pick up a couple of good polishing pads. Presta pads have been getting a lot of good reviews but there a lot of choices; white wool, yellow blended wool med cut, green wool light cutting,
blue blended wool soft polishing. Trying to get to 2 for mainly polishing purposes before waxing. Any recommendations? Thanks
 
If using a rotary.... don’t fool around and buy 3M. White for compounding and yellow for polishing
I have double sided... look at mount they just came out with a quick disconnect... not a fan but availability might dictate it
 
Ok, to revive an older thread. What speed(s) are ya'll using on your rotary? I using Meguiars #67 compound/polish on a Dewalt 849. Have been starting at 600 rpm to spread and then bump it to 1000 to finish out. Using a wool polishing pad.
 
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