Cleaning, Waxing, Polishing, and Maintaining

First Born

New Member
PLATINUM Sponsor
Oct 3, 2006
3,900
Charlotte, N.C.
Boat Info
2006 185 Sport
Engines
4.3 L 190 HP
As promised here is the posting that 280SeaRay made on SRO which I adopted and thought I would share.

Many people are not aware (and many others don't care) but I run by a 5 step cycle for surface care.

1) Wash
2) Clean
3) Polish
4) Wax
5) Maintain

Wash - Often and thourough. Keeping a boat clean helps to keep the boat looking great and reduces wear due to dirt on various boat surfaces. The west marine stuff is more aggressive which is great for getting dirt off...but also helps to strip the wax off faster. The mequiars soap is very nice...but much more gentle (exteded wax life). I perform surface care ritual every 50 hours so I can get away with the more aggressive soap.

Clean - This is cleaning the gel coat of surface imperfections, oxidation, basically getting rid of all the junk that has built up on the get coat. This is where some will notice my process has evolved. I clean all gel coat with the meguiars #44 Color Restorer. I used to use this product in spot use only but have since found that using it on the gel coat prior to polish will provide even better results than I have seen in the past. I keep my boat in better than new condition so the mild #44 is best for my application. I apply the #44 with a Meguiars 8006 polishing pad at 2 speed setting on my Porter Cable DA. Try to always use the least agressive product which will attain the results you are looking for. Each boat is very different I would suggest you perform a detailed evaluation of your boats surface condition prior to buying products.

Polish - This step is where you obtain the shine. I personally use Meguiars #45 Boat/RV polish for this step applied with the same 8006 polishing pad and porter cable DA at speed #3 for the first pass. I then perform a second pass with a 9006 finishing pad. At this point in the process the gel coat should (I am not kidding) feel as smooth as a babies behind or glass...so smooth it is hard to believe.

Wax - Finally the protection. I have used Meguars #56 Pure Wax exclusively up until this point. This wax is more of a natural wax. I used the Meguiars Flagship Premium wax (synthetic) when it first came out...and was not impressed...during a recent call to Meguiars I learned that this item has been re-formulated so I will be giving it another shot in 15 boating hours. The Pure Wax is a fabulous product. I ushually apply the wax by hand 3 thin coats. At least 2 thin coats are recommended for even application.

Maintain - I added this step recently to keep the boat looking 100% between washes...and between waxes. this summer I began using the Mequiars #52 Quick Clean marine...very much like the Meguiars Quick Detailer for you auto guys out there...does a great job of getting any dirt or minerals off after you run fro the day. As soon as I pull the boat out (I trailer) I do a spray and wipe with this stuff. For between waxing...after every wash I now utilize the Meguiars #59 Quik Wax Marine which seems to supplement the protection on the surface between the 50 hour waxes...the concept of the spray wax never did much for me (in my head)...but it truly works well.

Surface care certainly can be tough if neglected...but if properly maintained it is a very small bit of effort...better for you than sitting in front of the TV...and frankly makes the boat look alot nicer. Everyone experiences a couple of rainy days during the winter...a great time to care for the boats surface...I personally like meguiars products...there is no "best" product int he marina...my advise is to find something you like and use it often.

:thumbsup:
 
Presentation - the list is Jeremy's and according to him every 50 hours. I did it at the beginning of last year when I bought the boat and am in the process of doing it again. We only have 38 hours on the boat. In Jeremy's case it was every 50 hours because he used his 220 more than we did. Hope that answers your question... :huh:

Wesley
 
Great post, and timely. BoatUS has an insert about surface protection that I have read 3 times now.

Question: is the DA that much better than by hand? Forgive my ignorant question, but I haven't ever used a buffer!

Thanks!
 
I forget the exact number of RPMS per minute the polisher turns but I am sure it is faster than the arm strong method. I did an experiment on my car hood. Half using the arm strong method and half using the PC Polisher. You could see and feel the differnce. My wife noticed immeaditly that the finishes looked different and I did not let her know what I was up to.

Best polishing money I ever spent was getting the Porter Cable and some pads. With a boat your size you will thrilled you avoided the arm strong method, the four advil day, and got a great looking shine as a bonus.
 
Have to agree with SearayPaul. The Porter Cable random orbit is great for just about any waxing or polishing. I even used mine on the kitchen granite. My wife thinks i am nuts but it (the polisher) works well :thumbsup: . (I'm retired so according to her I do not work at all!! :smt021 )
 
If you can adjust RPMs stay at 1500 and you can lean on the tough spots a bit without causing damage. Just don't stay too long in one spot and let the area stay cool. Fine compound gives you the best shine. The coarse compound is good for heavy oxidation, but needs to be finished with fine compound to get rid of the scratches left by the heavy duty compound. A good wax hides all the fine compounding scratches and protects the shine from UV radiation.
 
The Porter Cable is great unless you need to clean oxidized gel coat. The PC is useless for heavy lifting. I have 45' of gelcoat experience over 5 hard days last year to back this up. The PC is great on badly oxidized gelcoat if you like popping advil and going nowhere fast. For removing oxidation in a hurry, you need a good rotary (not random orbital) polisher, a supply of wool cutting pads, and a good quality oxidation remover. Truly Blessed II was a badly oxidized and neglected mess when I bought her. I spent two days in purgatory with the Porter Cable. In desperation (boat had to be re-launched in 3 days) I called fwebster, who gave me the great advice to get a good rotary polisher, wool cutting pads, and go to it. In one day my boat's gel coat was pristine...even buffed out some light scratches using the rotary. This is not for the faint of heart, because you can damage your gel coat if you fail to pay attention to what you are doing. Once you get the gel coat clean, the PC is the absolute best answer to apply and remove polish and wax. it also does a nice job applying Meguiar's clear plastic cleaner to isenglass with no muss, no fuss, no advil, and no blisters. I can also do my Ford Expedition wax job in 45 minutes with the Porter Cable. A great tool...just the wrong tool for heavy cleaning/compounding.

regards
Skip
 
First Born said:
We only have 38 hours on the boat. Wesley

Sounds to me like some one is on the 'puter too much being a Mod.
:grin:


Good post guys.. I'm with Tacoma here in having never used a polisher/ buffer. Well.. correctly anyway.. I tried a cheapo on a car once and after the pad went flying... went back to hand. The boat is going to be too much so I will be investing in the Porter and some more reading.
 
I had never used a rotary polisher until the day I cranked it up and went at it on my new to me 420DA. The key is attention to what you are doing, beginning in a small area, and inspecting your work frequently until you get the hang of it. Now, one year later, I got the transom of the 420 lookng facotry new in about 20 minutes. Last year, a detailing outfit watned $1500 to compound and wax the 420. That buys a lot of diesel. I paid $29 for the Chicago Tools Rotary Polisher; spent another $50 on pads and Meguiars heavy duty oxidation remover, and the $129 or so on the Porter Cable. I am now set for several years of Fiberglass Maintenance....and I intend to teach my sons (5 and 2 years old) how to do this the very minute they are old enough.."boys, time to help Dad"

regards
Skip
 
Per this forum I purchased a Porter Cable a couple of weeks ago from one of the companies mentioned here at CSR. Spent yesterday hand washing from rubrail down, light wet sanding followed by an application of Star Bright Polishing Compound using the Porter Cable. Cannnot say how pleased I am with this tool. Next weekend a coat of Star Bright Teflon Polish and hull will be good for the season. 1992 hull shines like a 2007 now. Next topsides. 30 days till splash, but no one around here is counting :cool:
 
I was interested what others use to wash their boats...a deck brush or a hand mitt? I have used a mitt, but am considering a deck brush...what is you favorite brand and soft bristles?? Thanks for the input..
 
Dock brush. I don't even use a mitt on the cars anymore. Too hard to bend over time and again.
Arthritis sucks.

regards
Skip
 
Skip...Is a soft bristle best to use? It would seem the softer bristle brushes would be more gentle on the wax job. Have you used the Shurhold brand or a generic?


Jeff
 
Hey Jeff,
My brush (came with the 320 from the SR dealer) is very soft and has a real nice telescopic handle, foam grip, and big brush head with a bumper strip to prevent marring the gelcoat. I use meguiar's flagship premium marine wash:
http://www.meguiars.com/?boat-washes/Flagship-Premium-Marine-Wash

anything that does not come clean with Meguiar's wash and the brush gets Meguiars' fiberglass cleaner and wax, then a re-application of Meguiars Flagship Wax. I re-apply Flagship Wax monthly in the summer to the foredeck and transom. No big deal with the Porter Cable 7424.

The hullsides, spared direct sun, looked good after a year with no additional application.

regards
Skip
 
So anyone know where to buy Meguiars Boat products at the best price? (Internet, of course). I like what Meguiars does for my car. I'm not affraid to save a few bucks when I'll be using all their different products to see what I like.
-Mike
 
I just bought Meguiars stuff at another site - the link didn't work so I edited it - bought some electronics from byownerelectronics.com (Plug for our sponsor).
 
The boat we bought last year was severly neglected on the outside (gel-coat). Badly oxidized and there was some kind of coating of the ge-coat that now held dirt and grime. After trying a few compuonds, it did clean up, but you could see the high spots from whatever that coating was.

This past weekend I wiped the entire boat down with laquer thinner, then wet-sanded with 800 and then 1000. Then I used 3M Cleaner and Wax with the De-Walt buffer and WOW!!!!! It looks like it was just released from the mold at the factory! I can't wait to get it finished now.

I will get some pics of the before and after...
 

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