Re: Can I Polish and Wax a Aluminium boat?
My new pontoon boat started to oxidize immediately upon being built last Summer. I got on all the boat and auto detailing websites to figure out how to keep it looking new.
I bought a Porter Cable dual action sander/polisher and a 6" wool bonnet. Then, I found White Diamond metal polish at Advance Auto Parts. (Mothers Aluminum Polish is simply crap.)
First make sure there's no bottom grunge or bathtub ring on the boat. If there is, you'll have to clean the bottom with an acid based aluminum cleaner or NAPA aluminum cleaner and flush it heavily with water. It'll leave a very dull finish, but will be clean.
I put two dime size dollups of White Diamond on the wool bonnet. Then, I put the bonnet on the aluminum pontoon and hit the switch on the polisher. Moving the polisher up and down, right and left on a 2'x2' area, I polished the area for about 90 seconds. A bunch of black oxide came off on the bonnet, but at the end it turned to powder and mostly disappeared. I wipe the toon with a dry towel, and the shine has been restored to like new.
The only other way to polish aluminum is with a rouge and a cotton wheel on a regular polisher like car detailers use. You can get swirls and gouges out of one of these polishers, and many professionals use dual action polishers that are safer to use and not such a handful.
