Chasing the elusive shine

[DonDeutsch]

........Its the same as you used to get on the old kitchen floor that you waxed over and over, and that's because Poli-glow is very similar to floor wax chemically. Possibly the same, although the manufacturers won't say boo about that. .......

Chrs- similar to which floor wax? The only one I can think of is maybe Futura.

[Chrs P]

Chrs- similar to which floor wax? The only one I can think of is maybe Futura.

I can't find the email now, but a chemist friend of mine looked into the polimers used in poliglow to find a better way to remove it than using the stripper suggested by the manufacturer when we went to apply our decals. his feedback was that we should try straight ammonia or floor stripper, that failing, turn to the oven cleaner, but be quick to remove before it did lasting damage to the gelcoat. Sorry I can't find any better info for you.

Before we used the Easy-off, I tried wetsanding the hull, and found that the Poliglow does build up little layers of wax on the FG. I agree that it is probably the best thing to use to get your gelcoat shiny again, but I would humbly suggest that you remain prepared to strip it every 5 or 10 seasons to get rid of the buildup. I think Poliglow has words to that effect on the package.

[Bruce Thomas]

I can't find the email now, but a chemist friend of mine looked into the polimers used in poliglow to find a better way to remove it than using the stripper suggested by the manufacturer when we went to apply our decals. his feedback was that we should try straight ammonia or floor stripper, that failing, turn to the oven cleaner, but be quick to remove before it did lasting damage to the gelcoat. Sorry I can't find any better info for you.

Before we used the Easy-off, I tried wetsanding the hull, and found that the Poliglow does build up little layers of wax on the FG. I agree that it is probably the best thing to use to get your gelcoat shiny again, but I would humbly suggest that you remain prepared to strip it every 5 or 10 seasons to get rid of the buildup. I think Poliglow has words to that effect on the package.

poliglow is floor wax isnt it?

[Rick Brown]

I can't find the email now, but a chemist friend of mine looked into the polimers used in poliglow to find a better way to remove it than using the stripper suggested by the manufacturer when we went to apply our decals. his feedback was that we should try straight ammonia or floor stripper, that failing, turn to the oven cleaner, but be quick to remove before it did lasting damage to the gelcoat. Sorry I can't find any better info for you.

Before we used the Easy-off, I tried wetsanding the hull, and found that the Poliglow does build up little layers of wax on the FG. I agree that it is probably the best thing to use to get your gelcoat shiny again, but I would humbly suggest that you remain prepared to strip it every 5 or 10 seasons to get rid of the buildup. I think Poliglow has words to that effect on the package.

Before and after pictures of my trailer



This is the best picture I have to show how bad it was

This is the shine after wet sanding and applying 3 coats of industrial floor finish






I have applied 1 additional coat this year and the shine is still very good, some people think it is a new trailer and when I tell them it is a 1972 they can't believe it. When I have to take it off I will use a odorless floor stripper. I run a cleaning company and have excess to all the products I need and their is almost no cost except for $15.00 for a gal of finish

[Kevin Poll]

I've just started to restore the outside of our 1975 trillium. Chalky is the best way to describe the condition the outside was in when we received it. It has since been well soaped & washed, lightly pressure washed and scrubbed with borax to get the majority of the grime off. after getting it good and clean i was anxious to see what it was going to take to get some shine happening, here is what I did:
I picked a corner and gave it a good rubbing with some gel gloss (really good for acrylic tubs and similar indoor fixtures). I then picked another spot directly beside and went at it first with some turtle wax rubbing compound, then some turtle wax polishing compound and then a bit of carnauba wax.
In both cases i got enough shine to feel like I had accomplished something, but not what i would call a deep gloss.
Not completely satisfied, I decided to try wet sanding a test spot on another corner. I started with 600 grit, then worked up to 1000, then 1500, 2000 and then some polishing compound. that is when I started to appreciate how deep the oxidation damage really is. By removing a bit more of the surface I was able to get the gelcoat really smoothed out and the difference was night and day compared to my other attempts. There are areas in the gelcoat that I thought had some microscopic black flecks added as part of the original colour. Turns out this is grime that is embedded in the pits of oxidation. After a bit of sanding, looking really close in some of these areas I could tell the surface was pitted. A bit more elbow grease and the finish looks restored.
My conclusions from this are that an oxidized trailer can be given a bit of shine by throwing a coat of wax on but if the surface quality isn't dealt with that coat of wax will see more dirt sticking to its less even surface and will have microscopic dirt in spots between it and the finish. Likely resulting in it fadeing much quicker.
Poli-glo is an option, for me I would rather try to restore the existing gelcoat first than bond a layer of (synthetic wax?) that i might have to fight to take off in the future.
I'll be buying two compounds to achieve the final polish after wet sanding: Farecla profile 300 and profile 500, this i'll be like the turtle wax polishing compound but much better quality, used in manufacturing for gelcoat products to remove any mould defects or imperfections. I have found an acrylic repair shop in town that uses and carries Farecla products.

Sorry that got a bit long winded, just eager to share my experience.

-Kevin

[Raya]

Kevin,

What you have reported echos my experience with fiberglass boats. I've found either a good compound (I used 3M, but have also used Meguiars), or wetsanding paper (about 600 to 1500 grit) to yield the best results.

With the compound, I also found that I need to use a good strong buffer, something like a big Milwaukee. When I did my first boat, I first tried a "homeowner" buffer from Home Depot -- no go. Once I rented the big metal Milwaukee (used a 3M Superbuff type pad on it), I got some real gloss going

Raya

[Tom Haberski]

I've recently purchased a 1996 Casita 16' LD that has lived it's life in Texas & the Southwest. The gel coat is certainly highly oxidized. I diddled with several polishing & rubbing compounds (3M & Turtle Wax) and was not impressed with the results given the effort. Reading this thread I recalled that 5 years or so ago I had Poli-prepped & Poli-Glowed my Precision 18 sailboat. I tried the Poly-Prep cleaner and it worked much better than the paste polishes or compounds for restoring the gelcoat. If the weather holds out, I'll continue this cleaning.

I endorse and recommend the Poli-Glow product based on past and current experience. I have no connection with this outfit, just saying their stuff works for me compared to other products on highly oxidized gelcoat.

[AKSCAMP]

Thanks to this great thread, I just ordered my Poli Glow kit. Can't wait.

[sfoss]

POLY GLO IS SUCH A GREAT PRODUCT. iT TOOK OUR 2001 TO A 2012 IN NO TIME. OURS WAS A REALLY CHALKY FINISH BEFORE AND NOW IT HAS A BEAUTIFUL SHINE. yOUR BIGFOOT LOOKS LIKE NEW NOW!

[AKSCAMP]

Originally Posted by sfoss

POLY GLO IS SUCH A GREAT PRODUCT. iT TOOK OUR 2001 TO A 2012 IN NO TIME. OURS WAS A REALLY CHALKY FINISH BEFORE AND NOW IT HAS A BEAUTIFUL SHINE. yOUR BIGFOOT LOOKS LIKE NEW NOW!

cool! Did you do any additional prep work besides the poli prep?

[Bonnie n Claude]

Our Boler was given a new gel-coat six years ago and, aside from a six week trip to Texas and a couple of short trips to Quebec City has been stored indoors. It's still shiney but should we be thinking about putting poli-wax on as a preventative measure?