Buff
The art of polishing
It´s that time of year again, winter jobs and quote to keep us all busy out of the high season so, I thought I would take this opportunity to go through what polishing actually involves.
Polishing
Getting your boat sparkling like new, there are few things more satisfying, but also more time wasted and money squandered than anything else I can think of on a boat. Achieving a good long lasting finish requires a little know how, some time and some elbow grease, first of all lets get down to what you are shining up!
Gelcoat
The shiny (or dull if you're reading this) plastic stuff is porous like skin, dirt enters, the surface oxidises causing that chalky dull finish.
Prevention is better than cure, every time you polish or compound the gelcoat you are removing a fine layer, keeping it maintained without having to resort to using abrasives is much better. You can use a wash and wax shampoo to keep the gelcoat protected or cleaner waxes, these have the least amount of abrasive and offer a level of protection.
Cleaning
Use the two bucket method, one with your soap and water mix, the other with fresh water, after each use of the cleaning brush or sponge rinse it in the fresh water, the dirt will come out and not be transferred again to the gelcoat.
Dry the boat off and now you can take a closer look. If I am going to use any strong or caustic solutions, for removing rust, shining up stainless steel or cleaning the decks, especially teak, this is the stage when I will do it. There is nothing worse than using heavy duty products and having them leave streaks and marks on your freshly polished boat.
Compounding
This is the first stage in polishing. A compound is an abrasive either in liquid or paste form ranging from mild to heavy cutting properties. You need to assess just how faded the gelcoat is. The darker the colour of gelcoat, the more effort will be needed to restore a good shine on are, they get affected by UV rays far worse than white gelcoats.
A wool polishing bonnet is my preferred choice or for maximum cutting, wool bonnets because they can be washed and reused, also if you happened to touch a cleat or canopy clip, wool will not break up and loose chunks like some sponge type pads will, removing the canopy clips or studs if possible makes life much easier.
When using foam polishing pads there is colour sequence, check with your supplier, they are graded for use with the different cutting properties of the compounds or polishes.
The heavier the abrasive the more solids it will tend to have, some pastes look like mud with sand in them, if you are not used to them, do not overapply or start too large an area, they can be hard work. If you are getting problems with burning the paste and it hardening, slow your polisher down and don´t apply too much pressure, when working in hot environments a small spray of water to keep the abrasive a bit more liquid can help.
Polishing
This is buffing up the already restored gelcoat, if the hull is white this stage is really optional. But if the gelcoat was really dull and you have had to use a heavy cutting compound it can leave swirl marks and holograms, so use a fine cut compound or polish to get rid of these fine marks.
If the gelcoat was not in bad condition or heavily oxidised to start off with, this might be the first step, again use the wool bonnet in a machine. Polish is not nearly as abrasive as the aggressive cutting compounds. If you are doing a mid season shine up, there are also rapid polished that contain waxes, sometimes known as “cleaner waxes”, low abrasive properties and will both lightly cut any oxidation and leave a protective layer at the same time.
Polishes are a lot thinner than cutting compounds, do not apply to much or else when the polisher gets up to speed it will sling product everywhere. Move in areas you can comfortably work with and wipe off the dust and excess product using a microfiber cloth.
Wax on wax off
This is one of those Marmite subjects, either die hard waxers or those who prefer synthetic sealers, so here is my take on it. Natural waxes offer a greater shine than synthetic sealers, there is no doubt, this is more noticeable or dark colours but, because waxes are natural, they breaks down and lose their protection far faster than synthetic products.
If a synthetic sealer is allowed to fully dry and cure, natural wax can be put on over the top, this is handy because natural wax is not difficult to apply by hand. The one thing I have found with natural wax is that its temperature sensitive, the colder it is the harder the wax is and more difficult to apply.
Ceramics
I have left this till last. These are the latest form of sealers or more precisely, coating. I have mixed opinions about it, having seen a company perform a coating or a very well prepared boat, I was less than impressed, perhaps it was incorrectly applied? Conversely, I have seen a car ceramic coated and the result was exceptional. I can neither go for or against. I would advise using a professional company to do the work, at the time of writing, I gather doing it yourself is not impossible but not mainstream.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my article, please feel free to follow me on social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, abuxboater.
