Bringing back that ol' Shine

[SDSeville]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

Saw some videos on Poliglow. Looks pretty good. What did you pay for it?

 

[skargo]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

Why do people hate poliglow, penetrol, vaseline, urine, etc? Some take it personally what OTHERS do with THEIR boats.

Me, I'm frugal, and lazy. I'd rather spend my time boating, and my money on other things.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

Why do people hate poliglow, penetrol, vaseline, urine, etc? Some take it personally what OTHERS do with THEIR boats.

Me, I'm frugal, and lazy. I'd rather spend my time boating, and my money on other things.

Hello All..

Personally I dont recommend ANY additives in the finishing of Gel-Coat..We all know this by now..

The reason "I" choose to post my "opinion" is not for the sake of frugal or lazy boat owners. Its for the owners that want to know all of the options .. Ill post the pro way..others can post the quick and ez/cheap way ( which I know those out there just want a fix for now and I do respect that ).

There are reasons WHY I say what I say..

I would think that not ALL of the readers of these forums are only interested in the least labor/cost effective way of doing things..some possibly could be useing the forum for Information making sure they or there contractors are doing things the way they want it to be done.

I do not intend on making such a wave out of something small .. and I know the "joking..kinda" comment of " coughvasilinesuckscough" brought out the feelings here..

Im a professional..thats my way..thats what I do..thats what I have to offer here.. not the ez way ..

Im not going to change so please dont bash me ( too much ) for what I Truley believe..

YD.

 

[skargo]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

YD,
no one will bash you, if you don't bash those who would rather be boating, and spending their money on other ventures. IMO, your way is a waste of time and money, what some would call foolish behavior, when $2 of vaseline works just fine, as evidenced by more and more people on this very site.

My laziness crack was self deprecating BTW.

 

[60Clipper]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

I'm with YD on this one as you can probably see from my earlier post on this thread. It's not a matter of "spending my money and wearing myself out" as much as it is getting the hull into it's original condition and only having to do it ONCE. Not every year or so. Especially for a restoration. Granted wax will have to be put on annually but you have to or should do that anyway. Most of the vaseline jobs I've seen do not take care of the oxidation as much as it masks it. Still no real depth to the color from what I've seen.

I'm sure I've probably ruffled a few feathers, if so sorry, just my opinion. I do plan on having the boat on the water as much as anyone else, that's what it's made for. That's also why I'm being meticulous about it so I dont' have to tweak it all the time later.

 

[scca vette]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

I have about 85% of my boat buffed and waxed and have not had to finish the other 15% so with all these threads about Vaseline I decided to use some in the area that I had not buffed yet (about a 1 foot square area across all 3 colors on the boat).

The vaseline did make it "shinney" however did not take any of the oxidation out and I could not see any reflection in the vaseline area. I could see light reflection however there was no reflection of anything that you could make out.

I did notice that depending on how you looked at the area you could still see the chalky area under the Vaseline. It basically just looked like shinney chalk if that makes any sence.

I stood back about 20 feet and looked at it from different positions and for the most part it did not look bad from a far.

I then hit the area with the hose pretty hard and it looked like the more I hit it the duller it would look (keep in mind I did not put wax over the top of it).

I know this was not a real scientific test and I screwed up and did not get any photos. If anybody really cares I can do another spot and get some photos of this area next to the buffed and waxed area.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

We have a large cross section of people and equipment here..........

There will be no name calling and no testosterone fueled wars here.

Boat owner's have the ability to do research and do what they want to do....... it all relates directly to what Bond-o once said....... everyone is looking for an EASY BUTTON to cure their troubles.

We have seen band-aid repairs, high end repairs and everything in between.

Keep it civil here before myself or another Mod .... resort's to closing or zapping this thread.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

Saw some videos on Poliglow. Looks pretty good. What did you pay for it?

The kit runs about $55.00. Poli-ox is about $13.00 but you can use any good oxilic acid cleaner. It will wear off a little with aggresive scrubbing/washing but it is very easy to apply a few new coats to replenish the finish. I used it on my large boat (35' carver) and it lasted well over a year and I wash the boat every week.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

Vegasphotoman did not have good lasting results with Poliglow on his Sleekcraft. He pretty much had to clean all that stuff back off and redo it. I think he used 3M products the 2nd time, don't remember.

 

[saltlydawg]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

I had a distressed colored Gel coat, which was at one time deep cobalt blue and faded to a chalky white coated corn flower color. After reading the forums and doing a little research, here is what I did to restore the finish to a bright reflective luster.

1. I wet sanded the boat with 600 and then 1200 grit until the chalk color was gone. For colored areas i sanded until I saw the material suspended in the surface layer of water had a richness of color.

2. I used a product called Magic Buff, by Shurhold to buff the area out to a gloss shine. Magic Buff starts out as a rubbing compound and get finer and finer as you work in with the buffer. I applied the buffing compound with an applicator and then your it with a wool pad, repeating the process until the shine I wanted was present. (remember to work small areas like 3 foot sections and overlap)

3. After buffing I wiped the surface with a micro fiber towel to remove any gritty material.

4. I sealed my new finish with Pro Polish again buy Shurhold. This polish seals out the air, provides UV protection, and provides a deep shine.

I have also used the 3M Products in the past with good results as well. The key is to remove the oxidation and expose the virgin color surface underneath. I added a quick before and after shot for your review.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

Vegasphotoman did not have good lasting results with Poliglow on his Sleekcraft. He pretty much had to clean all that stuff back off and redo it. I think he used 3M products the 2nd time, don't remember.

EZ,

All I can say is it worked well for me. Gave a great deep shine. You do have to prep the surface well which is why you use the poli-ox. But really that is only once. After that you can just over lay a few coats every so often. Super easy to apply also. Really no effort at all and it drys in minutes so you can just keep right on adding the coats.

Oh well to each his own. I know this is a screwy discussion topic. I love reading all the rants and raves about all the different stuff.

 

[109jb]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

I am also with Yacht Dr. on this one. On my Sea Ray I gave the vaseline a try and was not at all happy with the results. Maybe I'm more picky than others, but the shine from the vaseline was something I would compare to wiping vaseline on a flat paint finish on an interior wall of my house. Sure it will make it shine for a while but the shine is coming from the vaseline and the flat painted wall is still underneath. If that's good enough for you then by all means have at it. I for one would rather make the actual gel coat shine and I did mine by sanding and buffing. It didn't take all that long and was worth the extra time as far as I am concerned.

As for YD posting his opinion, I see absolutely no problem with someone posting an opinion whatever their opinion is. Its an even better post if it is in line with mine

 

[bigredinohio]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

I am also with Yacht Dr. on this one. On my Sea Ray I gave the vaseline a try and was not at all happy with the results. Maybe I'm more picky than others, but the shine from the vaseline was something I would compare to wiping vaseline on a flat paint finish on an interior wall of my house. Sure it will make it shine for a while but the shine is coming from the vaseline and the flat painted wall is still underneath. If that's good enough for you then by all means have at it. I for one would rather make the actual gel coat shine and I did mine by sanding and buffing. It didn't take all that long and was worth the extra time as far as I am concerned.

As for YD posting his opinion, I see absolutely no problem with someone posting an opinion whatever their opinion is. Its an even better post if it is in line with mine

I couldn't agree more.

Take WD-40 and spray into a stainless sink. You'll get shine for sure and it'll look brand new...until you run the water. You can achieve the same effect by using a scratch pad and it'll last much longer, even after water has been used. My point being...

The achievement you desire won't last, if it works at all...
you're probably wasting more time and money doing it wrong to begin with.

You wouldn't but vasoline on a nice and/or expensive boat rather you would used a proper product/technique made specific for the repair such as wet sanding, Aqua-Buff, 3-M Products, etc. If you're going to the effert to wipe the stuff on your boat, then wipe it off then wax...why not use 3M's Restorer and Wax? It costed me $7.69 at Meijers and to me, it's still a cop out to wet sanding but it did involve less work to achieves a better outcome to that of vasoline.

Additionally, vasoline doesn't do anything except clog the pores of the gelcoat for the "shine" effect. It has no abrasive properties to knock down oxidation. In my opinion, adding a petroleum based product to gelcoat can't be good for the gelcoat and I wouldn't want to be the one to find out.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

Red, you are welcome to post your ideas without putting down other's ideas. I have already had to remove one unhelpful argument from this thread. Next I will just close it.

 

[RichRab]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

I am shocked that Vaseline would help a boat but used Collinite products and one time bought 3M to finish because that was all that was avail. and side by side the Collinite beaded water better and looked cleaner.

 

[thedanimal]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

if you check my origional post........you should really use a good fiberglass restorer first, like the 3m heavy oxidation stuff.....it probably has less to do with the product and more to do with the elbow grease........it takes a lot of it...the 3m stuff starts out abrasive, then smooths out until it gets dry/slippery, like a good wax job. it is supposed to be its own wax, but after about 2 weeks of boating, the oxidation started coming back..that is when i cleaned the hull and applied the vaseline.... like i said, leave it set in the sunlight for a couple of days, rub off with clean dry paper towels, do not wash off with soap, just "buff" it dry with the paper towels, then apply a good wax.... its working great for me.

 

[18WCmerc]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

good info here...this is the last stage of my webbcraft restoration project..

minus the idiots here arguing eachother....

will try the 3m products. after all, they dont make boats, they make boats better

 

[skargo]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

good info here...this is the last stage of my webbcraft restoration project..

minus the idiots here arguing eachother....

will try the 3m products. after all, they dont make boats, they make boats better

Did you miss the part where the name calling was not allowed here? Maybe read up and learn before bashing people.

 

[JBF 1962]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

Interesting (ahem) arguments here. The discussion prompted some further research and it all comes back to what we probably already know, a good product (eg. 3M) time, hard work and some beer is the way to go.

 

[fat fanny]

Re: Bringing back that ol' Shine

Man this get's better every time it get's brought up. The only real reality here with this issue is that no matter how you slice it vasiline, compounds,wet sanding and waxes ect it all involves elbow grease the only sure fire way seems to be just getting to the next layer of gel under the oxidation and staring with a good couple of cats of wax for protection.