Zep Wet-Look Floor Finish

[Randy J.]

I'm considering putting Zep on my vintage Trillium, as many of you have described. Your trailers look great! My only concern is that I am extremely sensitive to off-gassing from some finishes (usually paint or varnish). I can wear PPE while applying the stuff but am concerned about off-gassing after it's dry. I have experienced stinging eyes and other allergy-like symptoms for months after a new finish has been applied inside my home. Granted this will be outside but outside air does come inside through windows. Has anyone had any trouble after using this product, especially if you also used it inside? Does the raw product have a strong chemical smell? Does any smell linger at all once the finish is dry? If so, for how long? Thanks in advance!

[rabbit]

Strong eye irritant. I have no problem with the fumes from curing applied outside in the fresh air. Rubber gloves a necessity unless you want the best clear nail polish you've ever seen. I don't think the observations of the less sensitive are going to match the those of the hypersensitive but I would discount the probability that strong outgassing would persist more than a few day. However, my conscious awareness of lingering odor might not be as strong as yours.

jack

[Bob Miller]

You might consider showing the MSDS sheet to your alergist. I didn''t notice any odor at all within a few hours after application, but my s.o. tells me I'm somewhat insensitive, hard of listening or something like that.....

[RRJR]

Did mine in the garage (door open) but did not exp any fumes. I did wear rubber gloves tho.

Ron

[Randy J.]

Thanks for your replies, everyone. Think I'll stick with the old tried n'true Turtle Wax for now and maybe test myself with the Zep by putting it on something disposable later on. Wax isn't quite so shiny, but I think I can live with it.
Randy J.

[SeansmomSandy]

I am going to try the Zep this weekend. I am sensitive to smells, but they just bug me, I don't get sick or anything. I'll let you know how strong it smells. I am applying it outdoors, not in a garage.

[billhenry58]

I just did mine last month. Be sure and wear gloves. A respirator might be in order too if you are as sensitive as you say. Off gassing after a day or two is negligible, but then again, my sensitivity got burned out after 32 years as a firefighter. Even after reading all the forum comments, I was shocked at how great it looked after the third coat. I put on two coats of sealer first and then four coats of the finish. Now it shines like it is brand new...what a rush! Taking the MSDS to an allergist is a good idea. Good luck!

[Roy in TO]

Where in Ontario are you Randy?
Somebody near you may already have some for you to test.

If not, they can cut a small piece of paper towel (say 2"x2") wet in Zep and allowed to dry out. That can be placed in a small zip lock bag . That can be mailed for you to test.

[SeansmomSandy]

I'm in Ottawa if that helps.
Sandy

[Jared J]

I didn't notice any, but I don't have issues with it. I've worn a respirator many times working on the camper, but not for that. I would think a respirator would be a good precaution for you. I wouldn't think off gassing would be a problem after a day or two, if at all.

[Donna D.]

Hi Randy, since it is a floor polish and formulated for indoor use... I'm thinking the outgas issue would be minor even for someone with hyper sensitivity. The company wouldn't keep producing it if it was a big problem. ZEP is used in schools and commercial buildings.

But I third.. the suggestion of having your allergist look at the MSDS.

[peterh]

I just finished repairing a small ding in our fiberglass and got our local paint shop to create a spray can of paint that matches our gel-coat. It came out OK, except the paint wasn't quite as glossy as the gel-coat. I used Barkeeper's Friend to slightly improve the fade out of the paint into the gel-coat color, then used Zep to bring the gloss up a level. Worked really well.

While I was at it, I decided to the front of our trailer was looking a little abused and dingy, so I scrubbed it clean and used Zep there, too.

<sigh>

Now the front of my trailer looks all sparkly and loved and like-new, and the rest of the trailer looks dingy. I guess my next step is to scrub the rest of the trailer clean, use my new spray-paint to get some of the small screw-holes I filled with Bondo and painted with a not-quite-matching white after changing out some of the cabinets to look a little better, and Zep-wax the whole thing.

It'll be work, but it'll be worth it.

[peterh]

By the way, Zep floor wax is basically the same stuff as water-clean-up Varathane/Urethane furniture finish. If those don't get your knickers in a knot, the Zep probably won't either.

[SeansmomSandy]

I finally did theZep treatment on my Dolphin. What an improvement, more shine and deeper color. Posted pics in an album, for some reason the before pics ended up at the end.

Fiberglass RV - SeansmomSandy's Album: Before and after ZEP treatment

The smell was not strong at all, however I felt sick the next day, but that could have been as much from the sun as from the Zep.

A few things I learned:
- Lint free is only lint free for one coat- so have one waxing pad for each coat.
- During the 30 minute drying time any left over wax in the pan can start to get flakes in it - so start each coat with a clean empty container.
- Rubber gloves are never long enough - when doing up high the Zep will run down your arms, watch for that. Baby oil helped take it off skin.

Well worth the day we spent cleaning and waxing.

[Randy J.]

Wow, a lot of answers to this - I confess to not having checked over the winter but thanks to everyone!

So I think this is the year I try Zep. Most of you have used this stuff for a couple of years and I'm wondering how you feel about it now. Specifically: Does it need to be stripped for recoating; is it hard to strip; how do you strip it? How often do you have to recoat (yearly?). Does it leave a thick edge or peel back when you have to remove calking or decals? Can an exposed edge be rubbed and recoated with more Zep or do I have to start again? Oh, and does it better resist those infamous black streaks or at least clean up more easily?

Lots of questions but answers to any would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Randy

[jennykatz]

Ive compounded my boat to bring back shine and then waxed it. It still does not shine so good
what can you do to strip off all the wax then use zep what is the procedure

[Mikmay]

Randy once you use the zep you will never use anything else. First thing to do is strip off that turtle wax you wasted i mean put on. Then I would take 600-800 grit wet sandpaper to it then I would touch up lightly any blemishes or scratches with as close a color spray paint you can I would then apply 1-2 coats of zep sealer I prefer to use a good quality micro fibre sponge but a cloth will also work .then I would apply 3-5 coats of the high gloss floored finish tacking care to go back and check for runs as they will harden and remain although you can resand them out works better if you have 2 people to help after that your done for the year maybe 2 The only part of the trailer that will eventually peel will be the roof if it stays wet allot but you can just redo the roof again think of zep as a clear coat that car manufactures spra over the base coat rather than a wax I would bet that most of the ingredients in zep are the same in most water based enviro friendly auto clear coats. As to black streaks they will clean far easier as they will sit on top rather than soak in to the gell coat. Once you use Zep you will never regret.

[Borrego Dave]

Randy, Zep is the way to go. I read many posts before using it. Just a couple things to add to other posts. Someone here used a green colored micro fiber towel to apply the Zep and had a slight green tinge when he was done....use a white micro towel. I wrung the towel out as hard as I could before applying the Zep and never had any problems with runs. I have an SD 17 and used an 8' step ladder and started at the top and worked down. It took about 20 minutes per coat. By the time you are done with one coat, where you started is dry. After three coats it was looking pretty good but the FOURTH one was the sweet spot. But since I still had enough left in the bowl..... I did a 5th . You don't really want to do this in the sun as it dries to fast. I live in the desert, not much in the way of trees and was able to use a friends airplane hanger. I've never heard of the Zep coating bubbling but if it did I would think it would have been caused by iffy prep work. Mine is outside in the desert sun 24/7 and still looks as good as the first day.

[DaMScampers]

I used Zep last weekend w fantastic results!

[Lora]

In July '13, we cleaned our '89 Bigfoot and applied Zep. We are having the stripes redone this year, so I spent about 20 hours using blow dryer and plastic scraper to remove the old stripes. One PO had painted over the stripes. This made it more difficult to remove them.
In the first picture you can see where I removed the stripes and then used a spray-on decal remover and/or Goo-Gone to remove any remaining glue/detritus.
We also removed the Zep we applied last year. We used the Zep stripper to remove it. This took one afternoon and we made sure that the stripper was not allowed to dry before rinsing it off. In the second picture, you can see the cleaned trailer on the left and the old Zep on the right. (We had been camping the week prior and had not washed it before removing stripes and old Zep.)
In the last picture, you can see the ghost of the stripes. The shiny part is the original gelcoat and the dull is the oxidized gelcoat where the Zep was removed.
Once the stripes are reapplied, we will be recoating it with the Zep.
I have found that the black streaks are not very difficult to remove. I do use one of the eraser sponges. Do not rub too hard or you will scratch the Zep finish.