Detailing

[jamie_abb]

I'm considering getting my boat detailed in the spring. Wet sand, buffed, polished etc. What's the collective experience?

On price? $25 per lf okay.
Bad experiences?
Things to avoid?

[moombadaze]

Sorry I cant help with the dollars as I do it myself--its therapy, If I cant be out on her, at least I can give her a good rub down :rolleyes:

[lsvboombox]

I'm considering getting my boat detailed in the spring. Wet sand, buffed, polished etc. What's the collective experience?

On price? $25 per lf okay.
Bad experiences?
Things to avoid?

Why do you need it wetsanded? Is the gelcoat in bad shape? Your boat seems young to need a wetsand. A good buffing is easy if you got some time.... you could probably get all the equipment/supplies you need for what someone would charge.... then at least you own the equipment....

[rdlangston13]

im an idiot to this but how does wetsanding make the gel coat shinny? do you have to use like super fine grit paper for it to work? the 150 paper that came with my gelcoat repair kit did not leave a shine...

[lsvboombox]

im an idiot to this but how does wetsanding make the gel coat shinny? do you have to use like super fine grit paper for it to work? the 150 paper that came with my gelcoat repair kit did not leave a shine...


you are removing imperfections out of the gelcoat. The wetsanding doesnt make it shiney, the polishing makes it shiney.... the 150 that came with the kit is really only to knock down the repair.. you need to follow up with 800 up to 1500 or 2000..

Like Flath20 mentioned it depends what you are trying to do.. if removing oxidation you need to start with 800, removing scratches 1200 & up and sometimes a rubbing compound has enough cut to remove them as well... wetsanding requires a lot of elbow grease. if you can get away with it, using a rubbing compound with variable speed polisher isnt so bad on the arms... All just depends how much of a fix you need...


ps... with a variable speed polisher - to fast and to much pressure you can do damage to the gelcoat....
orbital polishers dont do a great job with rubbing compounds but good for polishing....

[jamie_abb]

I've just got some dullness issues. For an '06 I want some pop in the shine.

Can someone post up their polishing routine and I'll give that a try. Thanks

[lsvboombox]

I've just got some dullness issues. For an '06 I want some pop in the shine.

Can someone post up their polishing routine and I'll give that a try. Thanks

I would just use a final Glaze(i use 3m 06066 - think its now discontinued??) with a 3m black foam pad... It will take out swirl marks and give you a high gloss finish... Just keep the polisher moving and watch what you are doing you can burn the gelcoat.. slow and steady gets her done.......

cover your carpets&vinyl the polisher will fling some product... clean out the pad every so often with a screw driver as well...

search on youtube I am sur ethere are tons of how to videos you can see...

[Moseley618]

I had the dealer detail the inside and out before I put the boat up for the winter. It was too cheap to pass up $240. They only used a rubbing compound on a few places that needed it, no wet sanding. They polished the inside and out and cleaned the vinyl and shampoed the carpets. They did a great job and got some stains out of the vinyl that I could not get out. For me, it was good money spent. Next spring when I am ready to go just put the boat in the water and go.

[schuylski]

Is there a difference between "boat" or marine waxes/polishes vs. car waxes and polishes? I've used and have several Meguiars products, love them for cars, anyone have any info on how they will work on the boat?

[kaneboats]

If you use the vairable speed polisher be very careful on any ridges. That's where the gelcoat/paint on any surface is the thinnest and it's real easy to burn through. Always keep it moving. I used to buff out cars for my old man so I learned all these things the hard way. I wetsanded the whole hull on my Outback when I got it. It was covered with scratches because the kid inherited the boat after the dad died. He and the buddies beat the crap out of it with boards and stuff. I removed every scratch with fine paper and rubbed it out to a glorious shine. It looked like a new boat. This is a pic from around the time I finished it and installed the tower.

[rdlangston13]

so what are the best polishes to use on the boat? is there like a marine specialty kind for use with gelcoat finishes?