I am working hard to get my “new to me” boat up to my standards. I bought some 3M Fiberglass Restorer, it has polishing compound and wax in one product, to remove the oxidation off the gelcoat. But it is a tedious task that has fair results without multiple applications. I have thought about wet-sanding with 800 or 1000 grit. to get the shine back. Anyone ever tried wet sanding the oxidation off? I am willing to try it, but don’t have a clue how well it will work. Suggestions from the pros would be great. Thanks.
You can wet sand it as you stated, then go over it again with rubbing compund and wax, lot of work tho. You might want to try first using a more agressive straight rubbing compound on a buffer then go back over it with the polishing compund with wax in it. A more agressive rubbing compound won’t have wax in it and will be a little more agressive then the compound with wax in it.
Russ B. Formerly known here as “Top2Bottom1” www.joinrfa.org
God is great, Beer is good, People are crazy
Thanks Russ. What grit would you recommend? My concern is removing too much of the gelcoat.
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For wet sanding it I’d start with 600 then go to 800 grit, a little dish soap in the sanding water helps the paper from clogging so bad, use a foam sanding block too, not your hands, or you will see you finger lines in the finished product. After wet sanding to 800 use a agressive rubbing compound (which is roughly 1000 grit) then a lighter polishing compund, then wax, or that combo polish and wax you have should work after the rubbing compound. Be sure to wash the boat down good between sanding coats as well. 3M makes about the best wet sanding paper IMO, a little more expensive but one has to change it out less often.
Russ B. Formerly known here as “Top2Bottom1” www.joinrfa.org
God is great, Beer is good, People are crazy
I used the 3M fiberglass cleaner/polish with an angle polisher/buffer on several previous boats and it worked well. Took some work, but the finish came out great! Followed with a good wax and held the shine for more than 6 months.
3m heavy duty rubbing compound and a power bufffer.
you arent going to remove to much
your gelcoat is about as thick as a credit card.
if that doesnt get the results you want… what russ said
I second what Chris V said. Start with a rubbing compound, 3M super duty Rubbing compound with a buffer followed by a wax. May need to do a middle step between compound and wax if there is any swirls marks. Or use a cleaner/wax after rubbing compound.
If that doesn’t work, then try wet sanding.
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3M heavy duty marine compound. Do not try to get away with something else. Use this product first. Use the restorer product second if you must. Then wax. I prefer the straight up heavy compound and then heavy duty wax. It is worth the “extra” step in the long run.
Sanding is an absolute pain with gelcoat and is slow. Do not see any need for wet sanding with such fine grit unless you are having to reshape/shape gelcoat. A good machine and the 3m marine compound will give you a uniformly finished surface with far less work. If oxidation is too heavy for this stuff to take care of then you are going to be taking quite a bit of material off your hull to get it shiny again!
With the heavy duty marine compound keep the machine moving. Move slow at first with a fair amount of pressure. Let the machine and compound do the work. Get as much compound spread over the work as you can without slinging it and wasting it all over when you put the machine on it. Then come back over things a second time with lighter pressure and faster movement of the machine. Sometimes you can do this without adding compound a second time because there will be a thin film of broken down compound left on the surface for you to use. Move up and down in rows instead of thinking you need to give it the karate kid technique. Machine is already doing that, so if you do it along with the machine you will have large uneven swirls showing. Keep consistent pressure on the machine and try not to change angles you’re working from. Do small areas at the time and work out speed and pressure that works best by comparing sections after you’ve done them.
The restorer product doesn’t have enough grit to do much for serious oxidation. It is good at glazing
I use the 3M super duty pictured above regularly. Make sure to put on and take off wet as the directions say. No need to allow to haze over before removing like a traditional compounds or wax. Follow up with 3M wax to protect from further staining.
I would be a little leary about using the wet sand technique, I have had it dull a surface too much and have not been able to bring it back to full shine before.
Thank you everyoone foor the great advice. Looks like I will be investing in a power buffer. A variable speed, random orbit seems to be what the pros use.
“There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.”
Ernest Hemingway
