Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

[TJDave]

Well, I was getting ready to pull all my guages to re-condition my badly oxydized dash panel, and I figured I would give the Vaseline trick a try. Wow!, I don't care if I have to re-apply a few times a year. What a difference. I know for the hull, a good buff and wax is better, but for something with lots of little areas, it is less of a PITA to wipe some Vaseline on it.

Before, the dash was almost white from oxydation:

After, you can see the woodgrain came completely back and looks way better:

Just thought I would share.

 

[marine4003]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Owning a Marine Construction business for the last 22 years has had me around boats 30 hrs a week for the same period of time, also i restore Boston Whalers as a hobby,so, suffice it to say i have a tad of experience when it comes to boats - Gelcoat - fiberglass and all matters of maintenance.
My concern with all this Vaseline getting smeared over everything is, ITS NOT MADE FOR WATERCRAFT. Why? well lets compare wax or any marine coating with Vaseline, wax's and protective coatings are formulated to block UV rays and slow down the process of oxidation,resulting in longer life for materials exposed to sun/salt,I'm not denying initially it looks great, so would cooking oil if applied to the same surfaces, but what your doing,in essence is the same as lathering your skin with SPF-0 every time you went out in the sun...over a period of time ,one will contract cancer, or your skin will resemble leather, neither is a good option.
My point is : use the correct product for the specific task.spend extra and your boat will 1)-Last longer 2) have a higher resale value 3)-give you the satisfaction of taking GOOD care of your toys.
As with anything..if its harder,takes more time and cost more....its a better end result.

 

[TJDave]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

marine4003, I hear what you are saying, and I am not going to smear Vaseline all over my hull. I give it a good wax each spring. Did you notice my boat is a 1973 model? Does it look like I don't take care of it? I've always kept it covered for the 9 years I have had it. The previous owner left it uncovered out in a field for years before I bought it. Everything was pretty much fried on the poor boat.

I am not saying that Vaseline is the cure all for everything, although it has some pretty slick uses for other things.

Just showing what it did for my dash. I may take it apart this winter and do it right. But I applied the Vaseline and took the pic last night, and I will be out on the water in less than one hour. Shame on me for taking the easy way out.

 

[marine4003]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Dave,
although it came across as admonishing you for using Vaseline, i was attempting to shed some light on using "the easy way" to a newbie who read's the thread, so now he thinks Vaseline is as good as any product out there, also i never said your boat looked neglected,did i ? In fact i never once mentioned your boat, these threads are supposed to give advice to novice boaters who come here looking for the correct way to handle / maintain and use, there boats,
So lets say somebody buys a new boat..never owning one before in his life...he reads these threads,and 3 years down the road his gelcoat's failing..upholstery is cracking..dash is weathered...because he thought it was SOP to use Vaseline to protect his boats finishes. That's my point.
PS - Your boat does look great.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Once plastic is already oxydized you might as well just use vaseline.
Doing it right, in this case, is rather subjective .

I'd vaseline my whole hull but first I'd have to wash it, so forgetaboutit.

 

[TJDave]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Dave,
although it came across as admonishing you for using Vaseline, i was attempting to shed some light on using "the easy way" to a newbie who read's the thread, so now he thinks Vaseline is as good as any product out there, also i never said your boat looked neglected,did i ? In fact i never once mentioned your boat, these threads are supposed to give advice to novice boaters who come here looking for the correct way to handle / maintain and use, there boats,
So lets say somebody buys a new boat..never owning one before in his life...he reads these threads,and 3 years down the road his gelcoat's failing..upholstery is cracking..dash is weathered...because he thought it was SOP to use Vaseline to protect his boats finishes. That's my point.
PS - Your boat does look great.

Fair enough, and thank-you for the compliment.

 

[skargo]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

I disagree with the naysayers, as Vaseline is almost identical to carnuba chemically.

My hull looks BITCHIN! I did polish over top though.

 

[22E6441]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

I'd vaseline my whole hull but first I'd have to wash it, so forgetaboutit.

hahahahahahaha.......that was the best thing I've read on here in a few days....

 

[captharv]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Try: Back to black from Mothers. Made for the plastic trim on cars.
Use it like a car wax.
The binacle (dash) on my boatt was weathered from the sun. (I now have a cover). I tried the back to black on it. Came out so well, I took a pic of it to share.
BTW, its carried at most auto and Wallys world.

 

[madurodave]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Try: Back to black from Mothers. Made for the plastic trim on cars.
Use it like a car wax.
The binacle (dash) on my boatt was weathered from the sun. (I now have a cover). I tried the back to black on it. Came out so well, I took a pic of it to share.
BTW, its carried at most auto and Wallys world.

Back To Black is GREAT! Did wonders for my dash and buttons.

 

[marine4003]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

I disagree with the naysayers, as Vaseline is almost identical to carnuba chemically.

My hull looks BITCHIN! I did polish over top though.

Without the needed ingredient's to maintain and protect gelcoat, never did i say it doesnt look good...what i'll reiterate is over a period of time it will cause more damage than it's worth, for the short term benefits.

Ive owned lots & lots of boats for a period of over 25 years, seen every trick & gimmick...trust me..there's no such thing as a easy "fool proof method".

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Saaaaay...

Isn't it known as Naval Jelly???

Unless it meant belly buttons

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Well, I was getting ready to pull all my guages to re-condition my badly oxydized dash panel, and I figured I would give the Vaseline trick a try. Wow!, I don't care if I have to re-apply a few times a year. What a difference. I know for the hull, a good buff and wax is better, but for something with lots of little areas, it is less of a PITA to wipe some Vaseline on it.

Before, the dash was almost white from oxydation:

After, you can see the woodgrain came completely back and looks way better:

Just thought I would share.

1973? Boat looks awesome. Would love to see more pics of her.

 

[skargo]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Without the needed ingredient's to maintain and protect gelcoat, never did i say it doesnt look good...what i'll reiterate is over a period of time it will cause more damage than it's worth, for the short term benefits.

Ive owned lots & lots of boats for a period of over 25 years, seen every trick & gimmick...trust me..there's no such thing as a easy "fool proof method".

I disagree with your assessment, did you miss where it's almost chemically identical to carnuba? I need to find the post, but someone here posted about that.

So you are saying you used Vaseline on your boat, or you are just posting an opinion?

I used 3M cleaner wax on my boat and a couple weeks later it started chalking up. I then used the vaseline, and now something like 6 weeks later no chalking. I did add a coat of PTFE polish on top.

I also doubt there will be any damage caused by using the Vaseline. Sometimes people can't accept a solution that doesn't cost them a good bit of change.

 

[bondomerchant]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

ya i agree that is an awsome looking old boat i like it tell us more about it greasy fingers hahahahaa

 

[skargo]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Saaaaay...

Isn't it known as Naval Jelly???

Unless it meant belly buttons

Naval Jelly and Vaseline are two different animals.

 

[bondomerchant]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Naval Jelly and Vaseline are two different animals.

what about KYjelly

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Back To Black is GREAT! Did wonders for my dash and buttons.

foam tire cleaner, like Black Magic or any aerosol foam tire stuff works good too on dashes and plastic stuff. let it sit for a few minutes and wipe it off after it starts dripping. I'm still confused on the vaseline thing, havent tried it yet. some say yes, some say no, some say kinda works.

 

[skargo]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

what about KYjelly

You can use that on your hull too, but one wrong move and you're in deep sh!t!






Check out this post,
http://forums.iboats.com/showpost.php?p=2211531&postcount=23

The whole question about weather Vaseline will cause any damage is bogus in my opinion. And here's why:

Oxidation of paint occurs when the protective layer on the paint, weather is the clear coat or a wax, is depleated and oxygen is allowed to attack the free radicals in the chemical structure of the paint mixture. This gives you the dull and chalky look. Adding a wax coat every so often replentishes the protective coat on the paint keeping the oxygen out. The point here is that you have to keep a protective coat on the paint. If you don't periodically re-apply wax or vaseline, the protective coat wears away and oxidation will begin occuring.

As for the chemical differences in a store bought boat wax or vaseline there's not much. Most store bought waxes contain any or all of the following in varrying proportions:

carnuba wax (derived from leaves)
bees wax (you can guess where that comes from)
kaolin (clay/filler)
isoparaffinic hydrocarbons (basically paraffin wax)


Carnuba wax itself is a very hard wax once it is fully extracted from the carnuba leaves. Therfore in order to make it into a "workable" wax, a paraffin wax or bees wax must be mixed into it.

So what is paraffin wax? Well it is a petroleum based long chain hydrocarbon with chain lengths anywhere from the C20H42 to the C40H82 range. (basically that's the number of Carbons in the molecule) Having said that, Vaseline or petroleum jelly, is a petroleum based long chain hydrocarbon with a chain length in the C25H54 range. What does that mean? Vaseline is a paraffinic wax.

So why the differing results from a carnuba type wax versus Vaseline. Like I said earlier it is because carnuba is a harder wax. As you buff it, the wax plasticizes giving it a glassy look. The softer paraffin wax like vaseline won't plasticize in the same way.

Now with all the technical crap out of the way, what's the point? The point is to keep oxidation off of you boat, periodically put some protectant on your hull. If this means you enjoy and have the time to spend hours buffing and polishing a store bought name brand wax on your boat to get a high gloss shine, do it. If you don't want to spend the time or effort buffing and polishing and you don't need to see that glossy shine, use the Vaseline. Just do something and don't let the oxidation start in the first place.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Vaseline on dash..I'll try it. pics

Vaseline is quite the product. Wonder what else it's good for? Hmmm...