Re: 3M Restorer Question
You really really don't want to do this by hand.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if you have to wet sand first (something like 800, 1000, 1200, 1500) to end up with a good job.
It depends on how old the boat is, and how bad the oxidation is.
If you have a relatively new boat (lets say 5 years old or so) you can do this by hand, using Fiberglass Restorer. Light oxidation means you can run your hand on it and not much or any chalk on your palm.
When it comes to polish, its like sanding - do the bare minimum necessary to do the job. Wet sanding is The Nuclear Option, and generally only reserved for boats that are old and have oxidized to a dull light gray in color.
5 - 15 year old boats that have gotten any care at all (an occasional wash, or some application of a towel at some point) generally can be polished with a high speed machine buffer. Products I use with this approach are:
3M Super Duty compound
followed with
3M Rubbing Compound
followed with
3M Finess-It glaze
followed with
Collinite Fleetwax (in paste form)
I do this twice a year - once in the spring, and once in the fall. The first time I did it took all day due to the age of the boat (1986, and not kept up to "My Standards"), and i was very sore for days afterward.
However, a funny thing happened: Once you remove 10 years of neglect, the following fall, all I needed to do was run over it with some light compound (by hand), the Finess-It, and the wax, cutting most of my time invested. I was able to do the boat in 3 hours.
Proof? Okay. Here's the day I dragged it home...note the fading near the rear rails, thats not a shadow...thats where the original cover ended:
And when I was done with it:
