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I have a couple of scuff marks that I want to get out of my gel coat. They happened on a sketchy entrance to an even sketchier ramp during a swift high tide. I am wondering what I can do to get them out.
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Rubbing compound.. Start with the lest abrasive you can find and a buffer, then move to more abrasive if needed..
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Those may even come off with a marine wax that has an oxidation remover/cleaner that would be a little less abrasive than rubbing compound.
I would start with a cleaner/wax. Then use a rubbing compound. It's hard to tell if there is gel coat damage. If there is, youtube gel coat repair and you can get a lot of good info there.
I'll check into some waxes at west marine to see what I can find.
I've used this a few times for light marks and then followed up with a good, reg wax.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...classNum=50281
I use this one...
http://m.westmarine.com/aHR0cDovL3d3...3D#description
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Green first blue second :)
I just restored my gelcoat with a wetsand, compound, polish and wax process...i'd get a black foam finishing pad and use 3m finesse-it II. You'll be amazed at how well that works. Some guys say that an orbital doesn't do enough and to use a variable speed polisher. I happen to have both and tested it out, the variable speed is much quicker, but the electric d/a i got from harbor freight worked just as good and seemed to work better on my black gel coat areas. If you get up super close in the right light you'll still notice micro scratches but they are less noticeable with the d/a. Foam pads are color coded and black is the finest cut, white is in the middle, yellow would be heavier more for compounding. You can even use finesse-it by hand and it works great. Id say use a straight wax afterward for more protection, but i'm no expert as this was my first attempt.
I second what navajake said. I use 3M products, including rubbing compound. The variable speed polisher is key, especially for tough scratches. I was a little frustrated when I saw that a lot of scratches weren't coming out after the variable speed polishing. I started to try wetsanding starting with a 2000 grit sandpaper and going very slow. I followed that up with the rubbing compound, polish, wax and the Finesse-It II and I could not believe what a difference. The variable speed polisher is an investment, but they are not too expensive. I use mine all the time. It is amazing how many times the wakeboards hit the side of the boat, no matter how fast I jump from the drivers seat to help out. Good Luck!
Here is a great article to read.
http://www.fiberglassics.com/restora...oring-gel-coat
Very informative. Thanks for the information.
Article makes (at least) two good points-- only do as much as you have to, i.e., don't sand if you only need to polish; and horizontal surfaces will usually take more effort than vertical. Good stuff.
I still have to get my lazy ass on this project.