Cleaning and shining help

[tuntini31]

Hi, I bought a daysailer II and its been sitting for a while. The gel coat has lost its luster and so has the deck molding. Its pretty dirty and I believe there a few dry sap spots. I was wondering how you guys restore your boat back to its shine.

I've seen some before and after pics of newly acquired boats that had been sitting on land for a bit and I was wondering what you guys use to make them new and shiny again. Thanks!

[kkearns]

Hi,

It depends on how far "gone" the shine is. Over time, the color pigmentation gel coat can degenerate to the point where no amount of rubbing compound and elbo grease will restore it. I'd try the following:

1. Begin with standard rubbing compount on a small area, like the transom and see if it works. If so, do small sections at a time and be prepared to do the entire hull several times to remove streaking;

2. If that does not work, I have had a good experience with a product called Buff Magic, available on the web. It is expensive, but I recently restored a 1987 ComPac 16 that was too badly oxidized for traditional rubbing compound. The stuff worked great. Apply wax immediately after to protect the shine.

3. If niether 1 or 2 work, and assuming you don't want to paint the hull, try a product called Nu Glass 2, also available on the web. I used Nu Glass 2 to bring the shine back on a 1965 Daysailer. It is a clear coating, much like a floor wax. It needs to be stripped and re-applied every 5-6 years. The results on my boat were stunning. It held up well. It will be by far the easiest of the three approaches, but some people may not want to do this because of the need to strip and re-apply. Also, if you go with Nu Glass, I can't say what would be the consequences for re-painting at some point.

Kevin

[GreenLake]

I'd expect the nuglass would strip cleanly for repaint - acrylic floor waxes come off rather cleanly with ammonia, and I suspect this stuff is similar.

I would start with 3M Fiberglass Clearner, then 3M Fiberglass restorer.

These are "gentler" than the "standard rubbing compound" that Kevin mentioned.

Also, somewhere in the mix, the "magic eraser" sponges.

The general idea is, you start with the gentlest method to attack the dirt and oxidized gelcoat and work your way up.

If you've used anything that leaves the surface a bit more "matte" than you'd like, you can try 3M Finess It II (which is a really fine compound that gets rid of the fine swirl marks etc from the other stuff).

Finish with Wax, NuGlass or what you like. (Just don't do car polishes which have slicone in therm - that really kills your chances for ever painting.)

[tuntini31]

Thanks for the replies. I was going to go with a thorough cleaning (dishwasher detergent, mabey a little bleach or something like that, and lots of water) and then use
"3M Marine Restorer & Wax."

[victormartin]

I think you get some spray to clean it and bring back the shine. I had heard of bleach but i am afraid it would not bring the shine back.

[kokko]

At this stage in the hull restoration, I would not use 3M Cleaner and Wax becuase of the wax. Use a polishing compound with no wax and apply with a power buffer. When the polishing compound is dry, you can wipe it off with a clean towel. Then apply a good marine wax.

I use the rubbing compound only on scratches and other areas that require more abrasion than the polish.

It is true that silicones render the surface unpaintable, but they can be removed with mineral spirits. I have used them on my boats with good success. Note that many "waxes" may contain silicone. You have the read the label to be certain.

[GreenLake]

3M makes something called Finesse It. That really brings back the shine from anything that you dulled with rubbing compound. If you have an old CD, try some of these compounds on it - they are great way to find out the level of dullness/shine you're going to get with each of them.

[kokko]

You would think I would remember Finesse-It, since I work for 3M.
I have preferred the Meguiar's products, but 3M bought them a couple of years ago.

[K.C. Walker]

I guess it's that time of year. I've been researching this exact topic.

I've also been researching how to touch up a few dings and scratches. My boat is sort of an orange/red. I don't know what O'Day called that color. I called D & R Marine to ask if they might have any thoughts on matching the color, their answer was to paint it with Imron. I called Cape Cod Shipyard to see if they might help, their answer was to paint it with Awlgrip. I'm still researching…

[GreenLake]

There is a clear gelcoat on the market that can be used to fill slight damage w/o requiring a color match.

Painting is OK - it allows for some additional fairing.

I've used System Three's WR-LPU, because I like how tough it is and the fact that it's water based. Like some other paints, this one cannot stay immersed for more than 48hrs max, so it limits the use of the DS to, well, daysailing. If you keep yours on a mooring or dock, you need something different below the waterline.

[Bob Perkins]

I'm going to go with wet sanding...
I think a start with 500-800 grit and working my way up to 2000, then a polish will certainly bring back the shine.

The car guys call it color sanding.
There are some great Youtube videos on it.
I picked up a air powered finish sander that should do a great job.. We will be touching up the bottom with it anyway - so I'm going to give the topsides a try.

[GreenLake]

Try it out on the back of an old CD. You will be able to double check your schedule of grits and your polishing compound. If the result is not shiny enough (CD's with their aluminum backing really show all the flaws) try Finesse-It. You should be able to use the CD again after that.

[K.C. Walker]

So, I went to my local fiberglass repair place, LBI, and got some supplies. Thank you all for your suggestions. I bought clear gelcoat paste and some pigment. It appears that the O'Day orange/red is pretty close to international orange. It's a little bright compared to the old gelcoat so I think a tad of black will get close enough for the nicks and deep scratches. I'm going to try the clear on some of the deeper scratches that still have color.

I buffed out the transom which was pretty oxidized. I started with 3M superduty compound and a wool buff. It brought most of the color back but it was pretty dull still. I followed that with the 3M finesse-it also with a wool pad which was definitely shinier. However, it didn't look quite even. I decided to try a little 1500 wet sanding. I used a fairly soft foam sanding block and just quickly went over it until it looked even in color. I went straight to the 3M finesse-it and it looked great (not show car but definitely nice enough). There was no problem taking out the 1500 scratches, definitely glossier than trying to buff out the 3M super duty scratches. I think I will try a quick 1500 wet sanding and just the 3M finesse-it for some other heavily oxidized areas and see how that goes.

[GreenLake]

3M makes some foam sanding pads. Their "microfine" has finer grain than their "ultrafine" and the former is what I use as last sanding pass before the Finesse It (or I use regular, not super duty, rubbing compound). The microfine is in the 2000 grit range, nominally, but I found these pads don't have the single grain size of sand paper - there's something different about them, but they work well for many applications.