Cleaning/Polishing/Waxing 'Treaded' Areas

[chulboy]

I recently bought my second boat (3 months after buying my first boat...quick case of 5 footitis) - a 1991 Bayliner 2255. While I wouldn't say the gel coat has been neglected, the previous owners certainly didn't spend the majority of their time waxing it. After power washing and using 3M marine polish (light duty rubbing compound), followed up with a few coats of paste wax, I have one side looking pretty good. What has me stumped though, is how to clean up and protect the 'treaded' areas - i.e., the fiberglass areas with a diamond pattern meant for traction. Swim platform, walk around ledge, and the bow area over the cabin are the main areas of concern. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to clean these areas up? If I try to use the polish, I'm afraid I'll burn through the high spots without touching the low areas. When it comes to waxing, I think I'm going to have a terrible time getting the wax out of the cracks - especially as hard as it is to clean off of unpolished gelcoat. Ironically, these are the areas I am most interested in protecting, as they will be walked on and most likely to get dirty/stained.

How do you all handle these types of areas?

Thanks,

Chad

 

[QC]

Re: Cleaning/Polishing/Waxing 'Treaded' Areas

Brushes for all three jobs . . . I'd use a semi soft bristle, but I don't think you can hurt it.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Cleaning/Polishing/Waxing 'Treaded' Areas

i hear yer concerns man. my whole deck is a non skid surface. it's hopeless to try waxing. just like ya said, it gets down in the low spots and is impossible to remove.
so far. i don't do anything to mine other than use a scrub brush w/water and boat soap to clean it. that's all i do. there's a product called woody wax http://www.woody-wax.com/. designed for such purposes as we have. pricey stuff or i'd have tried it. i've read good things about it...
hum, just went to that site. guess they have a few products. i'll assume the one for non skid surface is the one i read about...
sure wish i had some spare bread. i really wanna try this stuff. others have raved about it..

 

[kregars]

Re: Cleaning/Polishing/Waxing 'Treaded' Areas

Another option is starbrite non-skid deck cleaner...I have some of that that worked pretty good on the deck of my boat...I've not tried the Woody-wax but had planned on trying it next season to see if it was any better than the star brite stuff....if not, I'll return to the cheaper stuff.