Polish is dulling the gelcoat

[jw1466]

I've tried applying it by hand and with a power buffer, but not only is it not polishing it, it is making it incredibly dull. Not real sure what to do. Am I using the wrong polish? I know the bottle says for heavily oxidized finishes, and mine is only lightly oxidized, could that be it? I need help! Thanks

[crystal waters]

at what temp are you applying and is it in direct sun?
you will no doubt get a lot of response to this one and varied opinions so pick thru and gleen out the common factorspersonally if it were my boat the very first thing I would do is acid wash it with CLR mixed in water.Sponge it on in a rubbing motion and then let sit for five mins and then hose off --make sure to hose off the trailer too as the mixture will of course run onto it as well.
then towel dry-----now you will see what you truly have to work with.
It could be your gelcoat is so heavily oxidized that even the 3M will not get rid of it.
Try a stand alone fine cut cleaner ( maquires) to remove a small test area.
If that doesnt work you may well be looking at grit sanding and there are lots of how to posts on this site to help you!
best of luck!

[Cusefan78]

I just used that on my boat. I had some light oxidation. I went around the boat and around again. I then used a good polish and put two coats on. Use a buffer, make sure you follow the recommended Rpms for the waxs, also make sure to keep the buffer moving and use a little water. The clr trick works and so does baking soda and water. Good luck

[a_deleon]

That stuff you are using works really great with the buffer I use on the boats I clean up. I've used it on some heavily oxidized gel coats where it would have the chalky look and leave that white film on your hand if you touched it. I've never see it do anything like the problem you are having and we have used it on several boats. If the first picture is the is how the finish is before you use the 3m stuff it should be bringing it out no problem then, but they also have a cleaner & wax that is a blue label like that one if you want to try that stuff also.

[DAFF]

That polish will cut heavy and will need lots of friction to come clean. Are you using a orbital polishing machine or a hand held circular one. Looks to me there is still lots of paste left on the boat causing the haze. I would look for more of a swirl mark remover polish and use a polishing pad.

[CornRickey]

if your getting a chalky white residue it usually means you still have oxidation and the product it getting stuck in it. You need a more aggressive product not more pressure or power from your power tools. More pressure and power means more friction and potential for burning.

[Salty87]

i agree ^. also, what type of bonnet and are you cleaning it frequently?

[Supra_Comp]

For light oxidation I would be using Meguiars one step compound, found this to work best with a light cut polishing pad.

[jw1466]

It was around 100 outside, but it was not in direct sunlight. I will try the clr trick today, then try polishing it again. If I get the same results, then I may just have to try a new product, I'll keep y'all updated!

Thanks

[jw1466]

I don't wash it near as often as I should, and it still had some water spots after I washed it, I will try it with some clr, hopefully that will get it.

[Salty87]

I don't wash it near as often as I should, and it still had some water spots after I washed it, I will try it with some clr, hopefully that will get it.

not sure if this is in response to my question...take a long screwdriver or something else like a rod and use it to clean your bonnet after every new section you buff. turn the buffer on and carefully draw the screwdriver (laid flat) across the bonnet like a needle on a record. compound will fling all over the place so watch out for that.

if you don't clean the bonnet you're dragging grime from one end of the boat to the other instead of removing it.

[haugy]

Yep, I hate to say it, but technique is what's getting you here.

Some good points made above. Clean pad regularly, make sure you polish to the point of no haze, sometimes it can take some time. That's a pretty good compound, if anything it should polish to almost no/light haze when done right. Your gelcoat doesn't look as bad as many others I've seen, so I don't think you need to go with a heavier grit. Just better technique.

[jw1466]

I still haven't gotten around to trying it again (the boat is in my dads garage out of town) but if what others are suggesting doesn't work I'll be sure to have this as a backup. I'm beginning to think that the gelcoat isn't in bad enough shape for this compound.

[jw1466]

I'm still new to this, how the hell do I reply to one particular post? When I try it just puts my post at the bottom of the page so no-one knows if I'm referring to their question or not.

Thanks!

[Salty87]

I'm still new to this, how the hell do I reply to one particular post? When I try it just puts my post at the bottom of the page so no-one knows if I'm referring to their question or not.

Thanks!

look for "Reply With Quote" along the bottom of the post you want to quote. when you click that the system will populate the reply box with that post and the user's name. type your reply below the text it posts.

[DAFF]

100 degrees is way too hot. The compound is drying out before it works into the gel coat. Wait for a cooler morning before you try again.. You can try to add a small amount of water to the surface while polishing the compound in. Clean the pad and polish again the same area. A quarter or change will also work to clean the buffing pad.