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Restoring
the Shine to Fiberglass |
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From
an article in Boat U.S. written by Don Casey: ©2017 Boat
Owners Association of The United States |
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The
outer surface of a fiberglass boat is normally a special
resin called gelcoat. Gelcoat has little structural
value the underlying laminates of resin-saturated
glass fabric provide that but gelcoat protects
the hull and gives it its color and shine.
When
the gelcoat was originally sprayed into the hull mold,
it like all gels took on the shape and
texture of the mold surface. The ultra high gloss most
new boats exhibit is due entirely to the highly polished,
mirror-like surface of the mold used in the original
construction of the boat.
Time and exposure eventually erode the relatively soft
surface of gelcoat, leaving it dull and chalky. Fortunately,
the gloss usually can be restored.
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Cleaning
The
first step in restoring the gloss to dull gelcoat is
always a thorough cleaning. Add a cup of detergent to
a gallon of water warm water is better
and use a sponge to wash the surface with this solution.
Be sure to protect your hands with rubber gloves.
If
mildew is present, add a cup of household bleach to
your cleaning solution. Difficult stains like fish blood
and waterline scum may require the direct application
of a concentrated cleaner formulated for fiberglass.
Rinse the clean surface thoroughly and let it dry.
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Degreasing
For
dependable results from wax or polish, the gelcoat surface
must be completely free of oil and grease. Detergents
often fail to fully remove these contaminants from porous
gelcoat. Wipe the entire surface with a rag soaked in
MEK (preferred) or acetone, turning the rag often and
replacing it when you run out of clean areas. Again,
protect your skin with thick rubber gloves.
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Wax
Keeping
gelcoat coated with wax-starting when the boat is new
is the best way to prolong its life. Regularly
waxed gelcoat can retain its gloss for 15 years or more.
The real purpose of a coat of wax is to protect, but
wax also has restorative properties if the gelcoat is
not too badly weathered.
Application
instructions vary among brands, but in general you apply
the wax with a cloth or foam pad using a circular motion.
Let the wax dry to a haze, then buff away the excess
with a soft cloth, such as an old bath towel. The remaining
wax fills microscopic pitting in the gelcoat and provides
a new, smooth, reflective surface.
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Polishing
Polish
is not a coating, but rather an abrasive like
extremely fine sandpaper. Polishing removes the pitted
surface rather than coating it. Use a soft cloth to
apply polish to a small area at a time, rubbing with
a circular motion until the surface becomes glassy.
After polishing, you should apply a coat of wax to protect
the surface and improve the gloss. Some polish products
include wax in their formulations.
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Using
Rubbing Compound
If
the gelcoat is weathered so badly that polish fails
to restore its shine, you will need the stronger abrasives
rubbing compound contains. Wax on the surface can cause
the compound to cut unevenly, so first remove all wax
by "sweeping" the surface in one direction
not back and forth with rags saturated
with dewax solvent or toluene.
Select
a rubbing compound formulated for fiberglass and use
it exactly like polish, rubbing it with a circular motion
until the surface turns glassy. The gelcoat on your
boat is about 10 times as thick as the paint on your
car, so compound shouldn't cut all the way through it
as long as you are careful not to rub in one place too
long. If the gelcoat starts to look transparent, stop.
After
the surface has been compounded, polish it, then coat
it with wax and buff it. Providing the gelcoat has an
adequate thickness your boat might have been
compounded previously this process will restore
the shine to fiberglass in almost any condition.
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Do
You Need an Electric Buffer?
You
can wax, polish, and compound by hand, but on anything
but the smallest boat, your arm is going to get very
tired. An electric buffer takes much of the work out
of keeping a boat shining and is less expensive and
less painful than elbow replacement.
Electric
buffers operate at relatively slow speeds, so don't
try to "make do" with a polishing bonnet fitted
to a disk sander or a sanding pad chucked into a drill.
You will either ruin the surface or ruin the tool. A
buffer with an orbital motion will leave fewer swirl
marks.
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Restorer
In
recent years a number of products have come on the market
that claim to restore the surface of the gelcoat. Restorer
formulations renew the gloss in essentially the same
way as wax by providing a new smooth surface
but without the need for buffing. Results can
be dramatic, but because restorers are a plastic (acrylic)
coating similar to urethane varnish they
can wear off, flake off, and occasionally discolor.
Restorer kits typically include a prep wash and sometimes
a polish in addition to the restorer. A specialized
stripper for removing old sealer is also necessary.
There
are variations in the recommended application, but in
general it is the same as already described clean,
polish, and coat. The acrylic sealer is usually water-thin,
so applying it to the hull is much easier than, say,
paste wax. And it dries to hard film, so no buffing
is needed. However you do have to apply several coats
five is typical to get a good shine. If
the product you have selected doesn't include an applicator,
use a sponge or a soft cloth to wipe the sealer onto
the gelcoat. Drying times are short, so subsequent coats
can generally be applied almost immediately.
A
multicoat application can restore the shine to weathered
gelcoat for up to a year, but when it is time to renew
it, you will need to remove the old sealer using the
special stripper supplied in the kit (or available separately).
Apply five fresh coats of sealer and your boat should
shine for another year.
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Don
Casey has been one of the most consulted experts on
boat care and upgrades for 30 years, and is one of the
BoatUS Magazine's panel of experts. He and his wife
cruise aboard their 30-footer part of the year in the
eastern Caribbean. His books include Don Casey's Complete
Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual, and the
recently updated This
Old Boat, the bible for do-it-yourself boaters.
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