Re: best products to remove oxidation
Iowa Boater,<br />I just finished the hull on my 22' Starcraft Islander (painted aluminum hull). I had the same question as you awhile back. One of the hardest things to judge if you are doing it for the first time is deciding how serious the oxidation is. I used 3M Marine Fiberglass Cleaner and Wax. It was in the Sporting Goods Dept. at Walmart (not in the Automotive Dept.) and cost a little under $ 9.00 a bottle. The local hardware store was $ 4.00 per bottle higher. The directions on the bottle said it was for "light oxidation". The boat that I was using it on had not been waxed by the previous owner for 2 yrs. I purchased 2 bottles and did the 22 1/2' boat with less than 1 bottle. After finishing with the 3M product I followed with Meguiar's Gold Glass available in the Walmart Atomotive Dept. for under $10.00 per bottle.<br /><br />Now for the scary part!! First tried my dual orbiting auto buffer but it doesn't work worth a hill of beans. I switched to a 7" power sander (the two handed version) with a 7" fleece bonnet. Just start out with light pressure until you get the feel for it. You can do it without burning the finish as long as you start with light pressure and adjust the more you get a feel of it.<br /><br />Several Tips:<br />1. If your boat has a two color finish like mine (Navy blue and white) finish one color at a time so the darker color doesn't swirl onto the lighter color. If it does, don't panic, you will be able to get it off with a little work. <br />2. Only do about a 2' x 2' or 1' x 4' section at a time.<br />3. Using a rag or applicator, place a small amount of cleaner/polisher on the boat hull (not the buffing pad unless you want to sling it everywhere), The trick is to spread it around quickly with the buffing wheel before it dries. The heat generated by the buffing wheel will dry the cleaner/policher fast enough. Just keep buffing until the cleaner/polisher is all removed. Step back and see if you've gotten a nice even shine. If not, I went back over it again with a small amount until I felt that the shine was nice and even.<br />4. Keep your buffing wheel clean. Easiest way that I know is to carry a teaspoon or and old fashion style beer/soda bottle opener in my back pocket. Periodically, with the buffer running and the pad facing down carefully touch the spoon or bottle opener to the fleece wheel and work it back and forth from center to edge and it will remove the excess material that builds up on the pad. When doing this, again start with light pressure until you get a feel for it (to much pressure and your buffer will sling the cleaning tool quite a distance, hopefully not at the jewels or you will be taking an unsheduled break).<br />5. Clean and deoxidize the complete hull before you apply the Mequiar's wax.<br /><br />My boat is a 1988 and the hull now has a mirror finish. Let us know how yours turns out for the benefit of the next person that wants to do their boat.<br />Hope this helps you out.<br />BUCK
