PoliGlow'd the boat

P

penguin

Member
Nov 15, 2009
139
Huntsville, AL
Boat Info
240 Sundancer 2000
Engines
240hp 5.0L w/ Bravo II
This weekend, I used a product called Poli Glow on the outside. It is a polymer sealer (not a wax). It's like I clear coated my fiberglass with plastic. The shine is absolutely amazing.

I applied six coats. Just wipe on and let dry. No wax on/off, no buffers, no tired arms. I'm never going to wax a boat again!

The boat is a 2000 SeaRay 240 DA

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Link to Poli Glow's website...

http://www.poliglow-int.com/
 
Looks really great.
Did it make the non-skid slippery??
The fwd deck looks so slick.
I might try it out...I hate waxing.
Thanks,
 
I don't know how slick it is going to make things. Everything is normal when dry. I.E., I can't tell a difference one way or the other. Still unknown what happens once it is wet. And I was unwilling to pour water on it to find out after investing the time to get it to shine like this, haha.

Will be boating next weekend. Should have a "how slippery when wet" report then.
 
While it may look great now and a lot less effort than buffing and waxing the simplicity is very short lived. Report back in 6 months when you're trying to remove it after t's yellowed and starting to flake.

I fell for the hype once. Once.

FYI for future reference floor wax remover or interlux fiberglass de-waxer is the only thing that will remove it. Politlow is in every aspect glorified floor wax.

I do admit it will look great for a few weeks.
 
Still...looks great.
Please report on the longevity of the shine.
:)
 
I will update on the longevity over time. I'm hoping my longevity will be longer than most as I dry stack my boat and run in fresh water (TN River). We typically only get to use the boat one day a week. Even then, it is in the water for that day and then back into the rack by night. So, 85% of the time, the boat is inside, on bottom shelf, and no where near moisture or sun. I'm hoping that combo makes it last a long time.
 
For those that tried this and it didn't last, did you try to apply another coat when things started to really dull?

Per the instructions, it says additional coats can be applied as the shine dulls. It doesn't say it has to be stripped clear back off and start over. If it lasts six months, then that basically means I can do it in the spring and then again in the fall. That would match my typical waxing windows.
 
It's an acrylic polymer. There's damned little you can do to make the stuff last. Reapplying does not restore the degraded material. You can try to keep adding UV shielding layers, but that eventually doesn't work because the layers become too thick and fail to bond chemically with lower layers.

UV will degrade it and break down the finish. Unfortunately, it takes a long time for UV to completely remove the stuff. So you end up with a boat that looks good for a small fraction of time, then looks awful for a really long, long time. Or you save a little work by skipping a waxing or two to be replaced by a long hard battle to remove the stuff.

Even if one is completely ignorant of chemistry, common sense tells that you don't get something for nothing and if it seems to good to be true, it is.
 
fc3 said:
It's an acrylic polymer. There's damned little you can do to make the stuff last. Reapplying does not restore the degraded material. You can try to keep adding UV shielding layers, but that eventually doesn't work because the layers become too thick and fail to bond chemically with lower layers.

UV will degrade it and break down the finish. Unfortunately, it takes a long time for UV to completely remove the stuff. So you end up with a boat that looks good for a small fraction of time, then looks awful for a really long, long time. Or you save a little work by skipping a waxing or two to be replaced by a long hard battle to remove the stuff.

Even if one is completely ignorant of chemistry, common sense tells that you don't get something for nothing and if it seems to good to be true, it is.
Click to expand...

With this in mind, what would you recommend the original poster do? Should he strip it now to be safe and then re-wax the old fashioned way? What is the best way to strip it?

If the guy got duped by the product then it would be nice if we could help him out so he avoids some long term damage.
 
I personally would get it the heck off now. I was removing mine in 95 degree summer heat when I would have rather been boating but I couldnt bring myself to drive a splotchy looking boat.

I think it would be easier to remove fresh than later on. Make sure you get it all off and buff and wax like normal. If you are indoors the majority of the time all you should ever require is a quick coat every 6 months or so anyway.
 
I used this about 10yrs ago on my 268 over a 5yr period of time. Here's what I found... :smt024

Looked GREAT, especially the bow's non-skid and dark green gelcoat stripe under the rub rail. :thumbsup:

But... I learned that there are some problems...:wow:

Burped gas while filling and a couple of gas trails ran down the side of the boat which disolved the "clear coat" type polyglow finish. Tried to simply recoat, but like a car's clearcoat if you damage the finish you cannot simply add another layer of clear. It really shows!! The finish had to be stripped to the next natural break (uh...that would be from the tip of the bow all the way to the stern) before it would look like it did before the fuel spill. Drag!:smt013

Bird crap left too long on the bow's non-skid caused a brown stain in the polyglow. Had to strip the affected area to get rid of the stain, but then found that the "clear coat" rule of strip it all to the next natural break took hold once again. Drag!:smt013

My boat had raised Sea Ray chrome logos on the hull sides, multiple thru-hull fittings, vents, etc. and getting the polyglow to get around all of these areas completely and with a uniform look was next to impossible. Drag!:smt013

Even with appropriate strippers, approximately 15% of the surface really, really stuck to the gelcoat. I tried to fully remove it using a buffer with an abrasive cleaner/oxidation remover, but the heat turned the remaining polyglow into a "snot" type substance that would gum up the buffing pad. Drag!:smt013

On a more positive note...

The finish did NOT yellow. It was acceptable to use on vertical smooth surfaces like the sides and stearn and kept it's shine quite well for at least one full season. Additional coat's were rather easy and quick to apply to bring the shine back. I liked the fact that the gelcoat was not being worn off with multiple annual "grinding sessions" with a buffer with oxidation remover.

Well, that's my experience with PolyGlow. Hope you have better luck. Would I use it ever again...

NO:smt009
 
If it looks okay, I guess leave it until it begins to degrade. Maybe it won't be awful since his boat is stored indoors.
 
Lots of interesting reading on acrylic coatings...http://archives.sailboatowners.com/pviewarch.htm?fno=56&sku=2006169114735.64&browse=T&g=


"All about water-based acrylic coatings!! I have had several telephone queries on this and followed up with allo of them.

Removing water-based acrylic coatings:
These coatings are related to the non-wax floor coatings pioneered by Johnson Wax.
The most cost effective way that I recommend is to purchase stripper (no jokes please!) from a janitorial supply house or good hardware store. It does contain ammonia but also some solvents. It works great and (according to what I hear) better than the kit-based stripper or ammonia and is MUCH cheaper.

On older dark- colored gelcoat, it is important to periodically remove the older coating from deep down in the pores (this is how the coating gets its adhesion, unlike IG coatings that can be applied to any age of surface). This is because, "nothing lasts forever" and the material in the pores it will eventually go grey (yellow in some cases- see below). Much scuffing and even deep wet sanding may be required with weaker stripping agents. You need to periodically remove these acrylic coatings in this way, even if you want to stay with this approach.

Peeling/Cracking: ALL the acrylic coatings will give good results in older porous gelcoat but WILL peel/flake on surfaces less than 3 years old, on painted surfaces, metal and any other surface with no physical "key" (don't wet sand that new boat!). Also, as with any paint job, thorough dewaxng is essential.

Yellowing: With regards to yellowing, all of those coatings, including poliglow, originally had this problem but mainly the days before the "internets". This problem was only alluded to in a "to be followed up" fashion by Pract Sailor but (to my knowledge) never was. Probably if you use Sea Glow to preclean and deoxidize the surface this won't happen. The owner of Poliglow is a friend of mine and I made this suggestion to him at a Miami boat show about ten years ago and gave him a sample of our sea glow. He had previously experiemented with an optical brightener called "tinopal" but this this is only for paper and related absorbent materials. Sea glow uses a different one that cannot be in the poliglow coating (the water base would make it come our of solution) but it might be in the their cleaner or they might also have optimized the anti-oxidant mix in the coatings. I know I always query people who have used poliglow recently and I can confirm that they seem to have greatly reduced or eliminated the previous yellowing problems.

Problems reported with Vertglass on this board might also be citing older experiences just like we still get complainers from 5-7 years ago resurfacing and whose complaints were the basis of many of our own improvements. Similar complaints were once cited for TSRW coatings (via Svendsens Marine) but I have never heard similar complaints about New Glass II. The original New Glass and Starbright's acrylic coating) had a poor rep due to problems with cracking/peeling (via old West Marine contacts), but this is almost certainly due to inappropriate use on newer non-porous and/or waxed gelcoat mentioned above.
For those who want to try making or modifying you own coatings "Mop and Glow is VERY cheap_ you can get anti-oxidants etc from Ciba. It's the marketing that is the (cripplingly) expensive part!

Call me anytime 1-800-441 4425) if you want advice on any cosmetic aspect of boat care. I promise I won't try to sell you anything! In over 12 years I have "been there done that" or know people who have that has not made it into print. As I posted before, Practical Sailor now refuse to test (so Mr Nouse told me) IG or any other cleaners or coatings and even lost the samples and DVDs I sent them.
In response to how he would clean 5200 from upholstery, Mr Nouse even stated that "Fantastic" was as good or better than any marine cleaner (sorry about "CU" Peggy!) and that "nothing is better than paste wax that he has always used on his own boat".

Therefore, we have have several comparative tests being done here in HI and by a old established detailing company called "Southern Waters" in Australia where they have a huge UV problems.

Sincerely

Jim W
Pres IGP"

 
Critics may be saying "I told you so" in six months; however, I'm leaving it on the boat and will enjoy the gloss while it lasts.
 
penguin said:
Critics may be saying "I told you so" in six months; however, I'm leaving it on the boat and will enjoy the gloss while it lasts.
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Don't take any of this personally or as being negative. There's no doubt that it looks great -- we're just looking out for a fellow boater and trying to offer solutions in the event you need to remove it.

I agree with you --- leave it until you have a reason to remove.
 
penguin said:
Critics may be saying "I told you so" in six months; however, I'm leaving it on the boat and will enjoy the gloss while it lasts.
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Good for you......ENJOY IT :thumbsup:
As for me??? The old fashion way:grin:
 
Seriously though for future reference, this is what I ended up having to use to remove it from my boat. The "remover" they supply barely even touched the (3) coats that I had on the boat after 2 months.

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Carver370 said:
Seriously though for future reference, this is what I ended up having to use to remove it from my boat. The "remover" they supply barely even touched the (3) coats that I had on the boat after 2 months.

pet-0095.jpg
Click to expand...

I have no idea but could there be a difference of end result of the application of poliglow among different builders? I take it you applied it to your Carver? Does anyone have knowledge of whether poliglow works better on one brand or another? I am looking into things to shine up a couple waverunners and ski boat but don't want to cause more harm than good. :huh:
 
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