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:
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: