Why is this happening to my gelcoat?

[Jimmy Buoy]

Looking for suggestions as to what the heck I'm doing wrong in buffing my boat. Using Requires 67 Compound/Polish usually has yielded good results, but this year not at all.
As the photo shows, the process is leaving "hologram" type images that are very evident when the light hits the boat - ugly!

From what I've been able to research it may be that my wool pad is the culprit so I'm planning on trying an orange cutting pad with the 67.

Any other ideas? Thanks!

 

[Pirate Lady]

Not seeing it, pic looks like the sun reflecting on gelcoat.

 

[Highliner]

Sounds like swirl marks. Could be a few things - compound too aggressive and requires a follow up with polish, not working the compound enough, pad is too aggressive or contaminated. I'm not familiar with that product specifically.

I would start by replacing your pad making sure that you are using a good quality wool polishing pad, and make sure you are working the compound enough to break down the abrasives speeding up your polisher for the last pass. If that doesn't work you might need a finer polish to finish with.

 

[bmay1909]

I have found that after compounding with a wool pad the best bet is to follow up with a foam pad on a dual action polisher with a lighter compound or polish. Wools pads are designed to cut into the gel coat which is what’s giving you the swirls/halograms. Just my .02!

 

[sbw1]

I looked up the product you are using and it says it works well for heavily oxidized surfaces. If your hull is not heavily oxidized, you will get a much higher gloss finish with a fine polish. Most boats in the Great Lakes latitudes do not require heavy compounding more than once if they are properly waxed and washed on a regular schedule. I bought my boat new and never used heavy duty compounds. Always used Finesse it II and it never lost its factory shine. Followed the polish with an application of good quality wax and that was it. Boat was washed weekly with Woody Ultra Pine soap to keep the wax on the boat. Wool pads are not too aggressive but you must keep them clean. The temperature and humidity can great effect the quality of the outcome. Damp cool weather is not ideal and could explain some of the issues your pic shows. I would try a much finer polish and make sure the pad is clean and fluffy. That should get you the outcome you are after.

 

[Jimmy Buoy]

Thanks for the responses! The pic was showing the reflection of my halogen shop light used in the relatively dark storage building.

My boat was purchased new in New Jersey, transported to Florida after 3yrs for the next 4yrs, then was brought up to the Great Lakes where I purchased it. It has a bit more sun than typical Great Lakes boats and some salt water exposure as well.

I did a short video that really shows the horizontal streaks, but can't get it to load on the site. The lines seem to be a result of the lateral passes I made with the buffer, starting off at 600rpm then as the product grit was less evident went to 1200rpm until most of the product was gone. Before that I tried ending with vertical passes and the holograms were vertical lines.

The building I'm in is dirty, but bone dry and about 70 degrees. I do wash my wool pads regularly and use a spur periodically on them while spinning the pad as I work to get rid of the dry product as much as possible.

I picked up two Simoniz foam pads today. A more firm one for cutting and a softer one for polishing to see if that takes the haze (or what I see as holograms) off the boat.

Here's a closeup of the gelcoat with a reflection of the shop light in the photo. If you zoom in you can see small scratches on the surface. I'll see next week if the foam pads make a difference and try a less aggressive product too.

 

[sbw1]

It looks to my eye that the compound you are using is way too coarse. The scratches take away the shine. You should be seeing no scratches and the finish should feel like polished glass to your finger tips. I used to used a coarse compound and follow that up with finer polishes on my 1986 300 Weekender. One year I changed out the transom art to a different font and was shocked to find the name of the boat where the old decal had been was much higher than the surrounding gel coat. Had to wet sand the ghosting out to get the gel coat level. Aggressive compounds can remove a surprising amount of gel coat. Finer is better unless you are removing heavy oxidation.

 

[Shaps]

I have found that after compounding with a wool pad the best bet is to follow up with a foam pad on a dual action polisher with a lighter compound or polish. Wools pads are designed to cut into the gel coat which is what’s giving you the swirls/halograms. Just my .02!

This 100%
You need a good dual action polisher with firm pad and compound to get rid of swirl marks / holograms

 

[Jimmy Buoy]

View attachment 102066
It looks to my eye that the compound you are using is way too coarse. The scratches take away the shine. You should be seeing no scratches and the finish should feel like polished glass to your finger tips. I used to used a coarse compound and follow that up with finer polishes on my 1986 300 Weekender. One year I changed out the transom art to a different font and was shocked to find the name of the boat where the old decal had been was much higher than the surrounding gel coat. Had to wet sand the ghosting out to get the gel coat level. Aggressive compounds can remove a surprising amount of gel coat. Finer is better unless you are removing heavy oxidation.

Thanks for your comments. The finish even with those small scratches is very smooth to the touch. You can feel the difference from where I've done compared to the untouched gelcoat. But it's got me thinking that the 67 is overly aggressive for the condition of the hull so I'll be trying a less aggressive polish and use a Simoniz foam pad (Yellow for compound/polish) to see if I can get the small scratches removed (which are apparently causing the holograms). I hope to then finish by sealing the gelcoat with a polymer "wax".

Last year I had the same issues and tried to apply wax over the holograms and it looked blotchy. Discouraging to work like crazy only to say "yikes" when the boat is brought out of the building into the sun. I'm determined this year to find out what is going wrong before just blindly wheeling the whole boat only to be disappointed with the results.

 

[Jimmy Buoy]

This 100%
You need a good dual action polisher with firm pad and compound to get rid of swirl marks / holograms

Thanks for your comment! Do you think I should use the same Meguiars 67 compound/polish with my new yellow Simoniz compound/polish pad or do I need that aggressive a compound at this point?

 

[Lazy Daze]

I'm wondering if that 67 just isn't breaking down enough as it's being used to turn into a true finishing compound. In other words, it's kind of like sanding wood - you start at 100 grit, then go to 220 then to 400 - each step takes out the scratches from the previous and leaves the surface smoother and smoother. Try a finshing compound such as the 3M Finesse II or if you only have access to Meguiars, then try their high gloss polish. A wool pad can provide fantastic results, so as long as you have a good quality pad, I don't think that's the issue. Also, be sure to lighten up on your pressure as the material gets used up. I'd try this second step, first - at least a small section.

 

[Shaps]

Thanks for your comment! Do you think I should use the same Meguiars 67 compound/polish with my new yellow Simoniz compound/polish pad or do I need that aggressive a compound at this point?

To my understanding, a rotary buffer, regardless of compound or pad, will leave swirl marks to varying degrees. You would not expect to be able to feel the swirlmarks in the finish by running your hand over it. The best way to tell is to hold a bright light directly in front of you, pointing straight at the hull. You will see the swirls or holograms in the finish.
I don't have any experience with the combination you are using, apologies I cant advise there.
I'm using Starke Level-R with a wool pad on my rotary and Menzerna 400 on an orange foam pad on a flex vrg 3401 forced rotation DA polisher. The single pass with the Starke is great, but to my eye, the refinement of the finish after the menzerna is really impressive.

 

[jzanthony]

What was the temperature in the building, are you in heated storage at Bridgeview. Looks like product is not getting worked enough maybe by being too cold or wool pad isn't aggressive enough. Detailer at the marina uses buffandshine.com pads they seem to do the trick.

 

[Geowh]

View attachment 102043View attachment 102044

I looked up the product you are using and it says it works well for heavily oxidized surfaces. If your hull is not heavily oxidized, you will get a much higher gloss finish with a fine polish. Most boats in the Great Lakes latitudes do not require heavy compounding more than once if they are properly waxed and washed on a regular schedule. I bought my boat new and never used heavy duty compounds. Always used Finesse it II and it never lost its factory shine. Followed the polish with an application of good quality wax and that was it. Boat was washed weekly with Woody Ultra Pine soap to keep the wax on the boat. Wool pads are not too aggressive but you must keep them clean. The temperature and humidity can great effect the quality of the outcome. Damp cool weather is not ideal and could explain some of the issues your pic shows. I would try a much finer polish and make sure the pad is clean and fluffy. That should get you the outcome you are after.

 

[Geowh]

Hull looks great. I'm getting ready to prepare for a season on Lake Erie. Can you give me some more info on your process? How do you apply the Finesse II? Buffing pad or foam ? What type? I have a rotary buffer and a Porter cable RA polisher. Then, the wax you use? Like you, I don't want to use anything too abrasive as my gel coat seems to be in good shape. Trying to get this seasonal prep procedure down to a 2 step process, after washing the boat. As much detail in your procedure as possible would be much appreciated!

 

[sbw1]

I used a clean white towel to apply the Finesse It to a clean hull. Just smeared it on over an area about 3x5 feet. Then I would use my rotary buffer with a clean wool pad and go over the polish back and forth and up and down until there was nothing left of it on the hull except a high shine. Would then move on to a new 3x5 area that overlapped the polished area by about a foot. Once the entire hull was polished I would apply wax with a fresh clean white towel just as as I did with polish. I would work it the same as the polish with a fresh wool pad that I used for waxing only. The last step was to use a clean white towel to remove the haze. Those wool pads clean up by tossing them in the washing machine with the dirty towels. They come out white and fluffy with just a bit of laundry detergent and using the cold water cycle. Toss them in the dryer with gentle heat and they look almost new and last for years. I used the same pads each season for 15 years. Use a soap such as Woody Ultra Pine to keep the wax on on the boat until the end of the season. Otherwise you spoil the work you just completed. I learned this from professional captains who run big boat for rich owners. Although the captains use cheap gentle soap (not detergents) and add a good amount of liquid wax to the wash bucket to save themselves money. Ultra Pine is the quick and dirty equivalent but is more costly. That’s about it.

 

[MS Tarheel1]

Best pads for my use are the Rupes Pads. Go to Autogeek.com. Check out the Rotary Foam Pads by Rupes. For my Porter Cable using 6.25 inch. I have a couple of the blue and yellow. Even though I have a 02 boat......gelcoat is in good shape. Use with the Marine 31 products or also the Shurhold Buff Magic followed by their Pro Polish. Last week...ordered the Griots G8 polished which uses 2 in or 3 in backing plate. Also Ordered the Rupes 3 inch pads for new Griots polished for use in cockpit areas. Also will be awesome on detailing 3 vehicles in garage.

All great products but for me....switching to the Rupes Pads was the "game changer". Check the Autogeek Forum out for Gelcoat Correction ideas.

 

[Geowh]

View attachment 104974
I used a clean white towel to apply the Finesse It to a clean hull. Just smeared it on over an area about 3x5 feet. Then I would use my rotary buffer with a clean wool pad and go over the polish back and forth and up and down until there was nothing left of it on the hull except a high shine. Would then move on to a new 3x5 area that overlapped the polished area by about a foot. Once the entire hull was polished I would apply wax with a fresh clean white towel just as as I did with polish. I would work it the same as the polish with a fresh wool pad that I used for waxing only. The last step was to use a clean white towel to remove the haze. Those wool pads clean up by tossing them in the washing machine with the dirty towels. They come out white and fluffy with just a bit of laundry detergent and using the cold water cycle. Toss them in the dryer with gentle heat and they look almost new and last for years. I used the same pads each season for 15 years. Use a soap such as Woody Ultra Pine to keep the wax on on the boat until the end of the season. Otherwise you spoil the work you just completed. I learned this from professional captains who run big boat for rich owners. Although the captains use cheap gentle soap (not detergents) and add a good amount of liquid wax to the wash bucket to save themselves money. Ultra Pine is the quick and dirty equivalent but is more costly. That’s about it.

So you used pads and a rotary to apply the polish and the wax? Makita? Did you use a compounding pad for polish and a polishing pad for wax? What wax did you use?

 

[Jimmy Buoy]

View attachment 104974
I used a clean white towel to apply the Finesse It to a clean hull. Just smeared it on over an area about 3x5 feet. Then I would use my rotary buffer with a clean wool pad and go over the polish back and forth and up and down until there was nothing left of it on the hull except a high shine. Would then move on to a new 3x5 area that overlapped the polished area by about a foot. Once the entire hull was polished I would apply wax with a fresh clean white towel just as as I did with polish. I would work it the same as the polish with a fresh wool pad that I used for waxing only. The last step was to use a clean white towel to remove the haze. Those wool pads clean up by tossing them in the washing machine with the dirty towels. They come out white and fluffy with just a bit of laundry detergent and using the cold water cycle. Toss them in the dryer with gentle heat and they look almost new and last for years. I used the same pads each season for 15 years. Use a soap such as Woody Ultra Pine to keep the wax on on the boat until the end of the season. Otherwise you spoil the work you just completed. I learned this from professional captains who run big boat for rich owners. Although the captains use cheap gentle soap (not detergents) and add a good amount of liquid wax to the wash bucket to save themselves money. Ultra Pine is the quick and dirty equivalent but is more costly. That’s about it.

Maybe part of my issue was applying my compound/polish directly to my wool pad then using it on the hull. I've got a new 3M double sided wool pad now and will try using your method of applying product to the hull before using the buffer. Thanks!

 

[toddh]

I used buff magic with a wool pad and a DA. Working a small area at a time. Then used a polishing pad and meguires polish, finally used meguires wax by hand. Turned out great. Lots of YouTube videos on this process.