Best boat wax/polish?

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
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Seattle, WA
Hi guys. I need to polish/wax my boat. Have two questions. For those of you who do that yourself, what product has worked best for you? And what is the best way to apply it? For cars, I have done the manual thing but for boat it is very tedious. Do you use some kind of powered buffer? If so what works? If you don't have boat experience but do the same for cars, I appreciate that advice too.
 

Speedskater

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2010
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Cleveland Ohio
Meguiar's Gold Class Carnauba Plus Premium Paste Wax or the more expensive
Meguiar's Premium Marine Paste Wax
In either case, don't use micro-fiber to remove it. Use old fashion cotton.

Last season we switched to:
Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0
and it seems to be better.

I only use a machine when applying a cleaner.
 

Matt193

Well-Known Member
Mar 21, 2011
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323
Wisconsin
I agree with Speedskater. Even though it is a lot of work on a big boat, I do it by hand. I've also had very good luck with 3m marine products.
 

amirm

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Apr 2, 2010
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Seattle, WA
Thanks guys. I should have mentioned this is a painted aluminum boat. It is one of the toughest paints I have seen. Some kind of epoxy I think that has paint in it. A little worried about some of the material having abrasives in it. Matt, which 3M product do you like? I found one for aluminum but it seems to have a lot of abrasive in it.
 

Matt193

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Mar 21, 2011
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Most of the 3M products I've used are the "restoration" products that remove chalking and clean the marks off the side of fiberglass boats. I can't say I've ever waxed a painted aluminum boat other than the exterior of my Alumacraft row boat. Since the finish on that is still ok, I just use Meguiar's wax on it and wax it like a car.

Does your boat use the same paint on the top and bottom of it? Is/was the paint glossy? Is there any damage to the finish on it or are you just trying to do a little preventative maintenance? If you could give a few more details of the finish of your boat and what your trying to do with it, maybe we can come up with a better suggestion.
 

amirm

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Apr 2, 2010
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Seattle, WA
Thanks Matt. There is no damage other than some orange mark from the tree that drops its cones on it :(. It is glossy and fine otherwise. The goal is preventative only so no restoration. Last time I put some on it, it kept the gunk off it easier. Where I moor it, the birds pick up clams from the beach and dump them on it. And pretty soon it is a mess. So like to keep that stuff from sticking to it.
 

treitz3

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Dec 25, 2011
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Does the wax/polish matter if the boat will be primarily in saltwater or freshwater?

Tom
 

jvrestore

Well-Known Member
Apr 28, 2013
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I've no experince with epoxy painted aluminum. That said, I use 3M polish/wax products on my fiberglass sailboat these days as I like their ease of use. I've used other waxes over the years and nothing, including 3M or even Collinite lasts the entire season. Be aware that all Meguiar's wax/polish products contain silicone, which will cause issues if any paint repair is required unless a silicone remover wash is used first.

Not sure how much you want invest, but 5 Star Shine is used by the US Navy on epoxy paint.
 

Matt193

Well-Known Member
Mar 21, 2011
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Wisconsin
jvrestore,

Have you ever used 5 Star Shine? It seems like a interesting product and really isn't that expensive given the amount of time it lasts and how much time it would save you vs waxing every few months.
 

jvrestore

Well-Known Member
Apr 28, 2013
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No, I have not because I'm a bit leery of using a Teflon based product, but thought it might be of interest to amirm with his sticky clam issues.

I only wax/polish once a year before the boat goes in for the season and with the 3M wax/polish it doesn't take long.
 
Last edited:

zztop7

Member Sponsor
Dec 12, 2012
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Cyclo orbital polisher

Hi Amirm,
If you are good at taking care of expensive tools, you can borrow my Cyclo orbital polisher.
I also have different waxes you can try out. I did a lot of wax experimentation a few years back.
zz.
 

TBone

New Member
Nov 15, 2012
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I've worked 5 years within the Boat Restoration business; be very careful when using orbital machines, even a spec of grit can cause MUCH damage, I've witnessed this way too often (and been paid to fix). I only use orbitals depending on certain requirements, and always after a very thorough clean, and ONLY on gelcoat/fiberglass hulls ... in which case I use the brand Farecla exclusively. On Aluminum painted hulls, such as my Lund, I hand apply only, using very light higher end car polishes / products (not Maguires). And note: unless you wish to slow your boat down a few mph, refrain from polishing the very bottom (just keep it clean).
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
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Seattle, WA
Thanks for the information Tbone. Much appreciated. The thought of hand polishing this 23 foot monster is not palatable :). Even washing it is half a day affair.

Had bottom paint put on it as without it, I had a full marine sanctuary on the bottom! There was 5 inches of growth on the entire thing! No boatyard wanted to touch it. So it sat there for a while and turned out that was the ticket to get the barnacles off. They become brittle after a few months and a pressure washer cleaned it. I thought I was safe leaving it in the salt water but it has some growth on it now :(. I don't recall if what he put on was ablative or not. I have not used the boat much so perhaps that is the reason.
 

TBone

New Member
Nov 15, 2012
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Thanks for the information Tbone. Much appreciated. The thought of hand polishing this 23 foot monster is not palatable :). Even washing it is half a day affair.

Had bottom paint put on it as without it, I had a full marine sanctuary on the bottom! There was 5 inches of growth on the entire thing! No boatyard wanted to touch it. So it sat there for a while and turned out that was the ticket to get the barnacles off. They become brittle after a few months and a pressure washer cleaned it. I thought I was safe leaving it in the salt water but it has some growth on it now :(. I don't recall if what he put on was ablative or not. I have not used the boat much so perhaps that is the reason.

Even with anti-fouling paint, the barneys remain an issue. Since sitting out in the sun isn't a very popular option, I've had to acid-watch more than a few hulls after season/before winter storage. The trick with keeping a boat looking waxed; once cut (*removal of old waxes/compounds) & polished, they require weekly cleaning. I use an Eco friendly wash which removes minimal wax.

(*The cutting process is critical, if done incorrectly, all post wax applications will be compromised.)

Dark colored boats are even more demanding in regard to wax applications, because they tend to show streaks and swirls. Use an orbital improperly on a painted hull, and you'll dull the coat forever. I use a variety of buffing wheels depending on application. And contrary to popular belief, many boat based waxes are designed more to protect the gelcoat/paint rather than just add shine. In fact, most boat waxes tend to dull the shine after the cut.

Keep in mind that I'm referring to demanding customers, with very expensive boats (much larger than 23'). They pay based on levels of expectations. Like audio, not everyone has the same expectations. Since some customers tend to notice more swirling/streaking issues on dry dock (they disappear once splashed) the final application process becomes that much more critical. As an example, shiny black paint shows near every swirl/streak with the vast majority of boat based finishing waxes, but certain spray type car waxes (like Eagle brand) don't. They don't protect the boat nearly as well, but ...
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
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0
Seattle, WA
Did you say wash every week? If I wash mine once a year I am doing good! :D

Mine is a work-boat. Bought it for fishing when we had a house near super rough waters (north Puget Sound near Deception Pass). Now our vacation house is in South Puget Sound with super calm waters. It mostly sits doing nothing. Here is a shot of her as I type this:



So no fancy boat to be sure. And thankfully as you say, the white color is not revealing of scratches and such.
 

maslak34

New Member
Zymol if you have deep pockets
 

maslak34

New Member
On a boat yard I was using the zymol cleaning paste on deep navy hull of my boat. Almost everyone stopped work and stared at the finish.. That's before the wax is applied..visit zymol..it has the highest carnauba content of any wax in the world. And all natural no chemicals
 

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