looking for help - polishing 101

I was told by the body man that painted my boat to toss the pad in a bucket of 50/50 water/bleach after using and let it soak for a few hours. That's what I do and it works very well. I then rinse it ans To dry it I just spin the water out of it and hit it with a flat blade screw driver like you do to clean the dried compound out. Same pad for 2 years now and still looks pretty good.

Any tips on cleaning wool polishing pads? I think I've gotten as far as I can with a spur. Clean by hand, or will it hold up if you throw it in the washer?

Also, any recommendations on wax once I'm done polishing? I seem to remember a post recommending not to wax the sides of the boat - something about discoloration. Is that mostly due to how polluted the lake is?

eric lavine wrote: Our guys do this professionally and they tend to use the.... they are green in color...im having a mind block, for some reason mitsubishi keeps popping in the head and i know they are not mitsubishi's, bosch maybe? first the eyes now the memory. they also use a white paste instead of the tan stuff and they swear by it and also use wool pads, keep in mind these guy's do this everyday for a living and dont want to work any harder then they have too.

Aren't Hitachi tools green, I went the way of the wise one and bought a Milwaukee.

I buff out lots of varnish so I decided to go all the way with a Milwaukee buffer and I have several 3M 2+2 pads. The spar varnish is not very forgiving.

Aemmer wrote: I would like to buy a buffer (or put in a request from Santa)this winter. Any suggestions on brand/model to buy. Thanks, T

I bought one a year and half ago, and decided to go with a serious rotary just for the boat. I bought a Dewalt 849- everything I read indicated that its built like a tank and will last forever. Its a little heavier than some other models and its not cheap (~$200), but I felt that it was worth it. If youre looking for a cheap unit, Ive heard Harbor Freight has some models for under $50.

If you want something thats safer to use on a car, consider going with a random orbital. Automotive paint isnt as thick or hard as gelcoat and the rotary might burn the finish in the hands of an inexperienced user (like me). I bought a Porter-Cable 7336 (same as the 7224) for the car. I got the same size hook&loop (velcro) backing pad for it so I can use the same pads for both.

TR- On the contrair,.. I highly recommend wet sanding/buffing. I was meerly pointing out the facts. Once you sand/and or buff gel, it opens up the poors of the gel, thats all. I wasn't trying to discourage anyone. I just thought I would give my two-cents worth on this discussion. Everyone has a different way of working on fiberglass/gel coat. When I restore a boat for a customer, that doesn't mean that my way is the only way to do it. I've been doing fiberglass work for over 27 years, and it would be silly for me to think I know it all, I don't, and always welcome different methods/ideas. Not only from factory reps, but individual do-it-yourselfers also.

Angolafw wrote: Right,.. you can get back to the original color and get rid of the yellowing by wet sanding and buffing. But once you start buffing, there's no turning back. Even on a new boat, once you comprimise the original luster, it will never be quite the same. The sun will work on that repaired or just buffed spot more than if it wasn't buffed.

Im still not comprehending...

"No turning back." Huh? Are you suggesting that its better to leave a chalky, oxidized gelcoat as-is rather than repair it? Obviously once you wet sand the gel coat, you reduce its thickness. Youre removing the bad gel so you can see the good stuff underneath.

I dont understand what you mean by the sun "working harder on that buffed spot" either. I just dont see how the sun would give a sh*t whether my boat was buffed to a shine or not! Regardless of the condition of the gel and whether its been wetsanded at all, it needs to be adequately shielded from the sun (waxed, covered, etc) to keep it from deteriorating.

If you do a good job restoring the gel, it can look as good as it did from the factory. After restoring the deck on my 17 year old boat, I had my dad wanting me to do his 4 year old boat next- and his has always been waxed and covered and could nearly pass for new- and Im just a first-timer hack. Im confused why you would want to discourage someone from tackling such a project. Its not very difficult if you do your homework.

Angolafw wrote: If you have a buffer with a speed selector,keep it fairly slow for gel coat that is very oxidized. As the shine comes back in your buffing stages, increase the speed of the buffer, that will increase your luster.Just remember,once the gel coat gets oxidized, it will never get back to original without re-gel coating or clear coating.

Not sure if I agree with that. While I certainly recommend keeping the buffer speeds slower when first starting out, Im not sure it will remove oxidation more effectively. The faster the speed, the more heat it generates, which should cut the gel faster.

Also, if the oxidation doesnt extend all the way through the gel, then you can certainly bring back the color and shine without regelcoating the boat. Ive seen many boats restored to like-new. My top deck was significantly yellowed from the sun, and I was able to bring the color all the way back to match what was underneath this original sticker:

Thanks - appreciate the replies. I'll get into it and see how it goes.

Dan, I think it is more of a acquired "feel" that you will need to get from just going at it and starting to buff. It is very hard to describe in words.
Fiberglass is pretty hard to "burn" so don't worry about that
I mask around graphics with blue painters tape. It doesn't need to be exactly on the edge if the gel isn't that faded, just so the tape covers up the graphics.