cleaning and waxing

[Deb]

Howdy Y'all, I know this is an old question, but I can't seem to get the search to work for me....
What is the best cleaning product for the hull and decks and what do I wax with? How far down do I wax?  Quit laughing.......
Deb

[Craig Weis]

OK Deb, might I suggest that you begin posting under the boat model, ie, Com-pac 16.

Best clean your hull and deck with a good scrubbing and dishwashing soap to remove the stuck-on crud. Then work the surface. Like solvents remove like substances. Gasoline removes oils. Surfactants remove particulate particles. Ect.

I start of each season with MEGUIARS #49 Oxidation Remover. A heavy duty gel coat cleaner. [Although Com-Pacs have no gel coat]

It can be used with an electric buffer, but I have never found a buffer I like, or trust.

So I use good-O-hand rubbing with old cut down bath towels that can be washed and reused.

Use a damp sponge/terry cloth applicator. I rub it on. When dried, rub it with the towel till it's off, taking with it the dirt, oils, soils and stains.

If the area is not spotless when done I do it again. Look carfully and any little speck that is not in or below the fiberglass surface...is worked on till it's gone.

Scrape the offending 'thing, spot, or whatever' with a finger nail or knife or razor blade till it is gone and you won't have to deal with it later. Or next season.

Your looking for gloss on the surface when done.
What was used is NOT a wax but only a cleaner.
So slap on some automotive car wax. Any kind will do 'cept 'Week Ender 2000'.

Be tenacious, not in a hurry, don't do a large area. Only what can be reached easily.

For the deck surfaces and non-slip use a nylon scrub brush, knee pads and dish washing soap with copious amounts of hose rinsing. When clean you could use TurtleWax Polishing Compound and scratch remover as this will not leave a slippery surface to walk on. Bon Chance, skip.

CAUTION: Do not use Soft Scrub, Kitchen Cleanser, a 3-M scratch pad, for these will over scratch the factory smooth glass that is under all that oxidation. Then you'll have a mess and the resulting scratches will need to be worked down to be removed. That's a lotta work.

[Paul]

[Although Com-Pacs have no gel coat]

Skip,

What is the outer colored covering of the fiberglass?  I always thought it was gel coat.  Just respectfully curious.  The method you've described works.  There are some who prefer another product.  Can't think of it at the moment.  But, there are references from last year, I think.  Also, if you have a terribly stubborn stain, FSR from Davis works well.

[edbuchanan]

Hi Deb and Paul,

The original color is off-white.  The only problem is that the machine is about $200.  Here is a copy of my posting from about a year ago on the subject of waxing:


"Hi Jim,

Have you tried using a rubbing compound?  Last year some boatyard guys were watching me try (pathetically) to wax my heavily oxidized boat, and one of them offered to teach me how to make it shiny again.  First, my little automotive waxer was not up to the task.  He let me borrow a very heavy duty Makita waxing machine, and gave me a bottle of 3M Restorer and Wax.  I think that machine could strip paint off a car in a hurry.  After I got used to a bit of punishment from the waxer, I was able to work dirt off the boat quite rapidly.  When the heavy treatment was done, he instructed me to apply Trewax by hand.  The boat felt like glass.  Original color in the hull was restored.

You could try a some abrasive wax by hand and see if it will remove the stain.  If you want to keep the experiment cheap, use non-bleach Soft Scrub.

Ernie (Molly 23/II 1984)"

[Craig Weis]

Let me preface my remarks about no gel coat. I only say that because I was corrected about that blatant statement personally by Mr. Rich Hutchins himself at the All Sail Boat Show in Chicago at Navy Pier many years ago. I'm sorry I didn't ask more questions about this.

In my dune buggy body chop gun shooting days in H.S. I shot the gel coat, which was clear. May be that's the only difference. Then the metalflake color, then the chop, and roll out the air, three days later pop out the body and trim up.

The outer color of the boat, is the same as the inner color of the hull. The color is impregnated through out the hull and depends on the year that the hull was molded and what tints that Hutchins' used. Colored hulls were also offered as an option.

My friend has an older C-P 19 that is more 'cream' than white.

My other friend has more 'white' then cream and I have the 'whitest' of the three hulls.

BTW, we all park our boat within 200 foot of each other. And some where is a picture [Three Amegos] of the three boats at anchor off Green Island.

As for the commercial buffers, I can't handle these aggressive buffers without 'burning' stain into the hull, that is why I choose to hand rub. I have the same results but with a bunch more work.

Here is the other reason I do not buff with a variable speed buffer. About 1500 rpm to 3500 rpm. And a wool pad.

Now imagine your buffing and occasionally you apply somebodies 'oxidation remover'. These products contain a petroleum distalant or some form of hydrocarbon liquid. That is the cleaner, the secert of removing the oils so that the soils soon follow.

The buffer makes heat using friction and these distalants evaporate too quickly to do much good in the way of soaking off the oils.

Remember like solvents dissolve like substances. Electric buffers work to remove the top layer of the substrate, the oxidation, but can gouge or 'burn' a pattern into the soft fiberglass and then the work begins to blend that low spot out

With a hand operation a soak time occurs and hence a chemical reaction resulting in very fine cleaning.

I still will not use Soft Scrub, Bar Keeper's Friend, Kitchin Cleanser, or whatever 'cause I'm working with soft fiberglass, and not hard porcelain, which is a rock. These items contain a more aggressive ''grit'' than what I use.

People are always in a hurry and screw something up. I use a non-wax compound to de-oxide the surface because I'm not ready yet to wax the dirt. The surface is not clean enough for me, anyway, to wax. I wax after it is clean.
Make haste slowly. skip.