Boat wax? Oxidation?

[jwilkey84]

Wondering what some of you use to shine up your boats?...i finally got a family boat and it has a lot of hard water spots esp on the dsrk green graphics, it also has some oxidation on the rear of the boat that would have been exposed to the most sunlight while sitting on a lift. I have been using a porter cable orbital polisher/buffer and some waxes...ive tried about 4 different ones i had in the cupboard. Even tried a couple that supposedly are designed to "cut" a little and be abrasive, but im not getting the results i want. Its looking better but id like to get rid of the water spots completely. So what product should i use? Should i be using a circular polisher instead of orbital? Also wonderinf if this product called "topcoat" really works. Supposedly you wipe it on and magically all the dirt grime and waterspots are gone.

 

[Scott Danforth]

get toilet bowl cleaner from the dollar store to remove the water spots. the active ingredient in the toilet bowl cleaner is oxalic acid (also known as wood bleach)

depending on the oxidation, you may have to wet-sand the gel where it is the worst.

post a pic or two

 

[jwilkey84]

Ill try the toilet bowl cleaner. You cant really see the finish thst great in pics. Mainly im dealing with water spots on dark green decals and a few square feet of oxidation on the rear. Will the toilet bowl cleaner damage the decals or make them want to peel off

 

[H20Rat]

You need to be way more aggressive than you first expect to deal with oxidation. If it is a cleaner wax, it won't touch any degree of oxidation, you need a fairly abrasive rubbing/cutting compound for even minor cleanup. Worst case is wet sanding like scott mentioned.

(most waxes are geared towards the automotive market. Automotive clear coat would be completely destroyed by the time gel coat oxidation started to show even a hint of being removed!)

 

[Thalasso]

Polish before waxing.

Water spots? A 50/50 mixture of vinegar and distilled water. The water spots come from the chemicals and what not in the water or Comet tub and shower cleaner spray. You don't need harsh chemicals to remove water spots. Spray the area after washing and wipe off

 

[waternuts]

Wondering what some of you use to shine up your boats?...i finally got a family boat and it has a lot of hard water spots esp on the dsrk green graphics, it also has some oxidation on the rear of the boat that would have been exposed to the most sunlight while sitting on a lift. I have been using a porter cable orbital polisher/buffer and some waxes...ive tried about 4 different ones i had in the cupboard. Even tried a couple that supposedly are designed to "cut" a little and be abrasive, but im not getting the results i want. Its looking better but id like to get rid of the water spots completely. So what product should i use? Should i be using a circular polisher instead of orbital? Also wonderinf if this product called "topcoat" really works. Supposedly you wipe it on and magically all the dirt grime and waterspots are gone.

If you plan to remove gel coat oxidation with a short throw DA polisher like the Porter Cable you're going to need a really aggressive pad and compound combo like a Microfiber cutting pad and some Meguiars #49 compound. Even then it's going to take a while and several passes unless it's really light oxidation. I wouldn't bother jumping to a rotary for one little job like that though. The microfiber pad and compound would only set you back $20 or so.

 

[QBhoy]

The meguirs stuff is great....although certain boat types are sometimes beyond recovery. Might look decent for a week or two...for some reasons Maxums are horrendous for it. Even in Scotland !