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#$&%# waterspots!! has anyone tried the "non wax" approach?


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Well, I've just about had it up to here with the incessant onslaught of mineral deposits that attack my boat mercilessly everytime I go out. :Frustrated:

We have pretty hard water around here in southern MN, and to add insult to injury the two places I boat most are rivers, one being the Muddy Miss, so I know there's lots of extra sediment in that choclaty water just waiting to cling to my hull.

It seems like every other time I put the boat in the water I end up having to buff/ and or polish to get the waterspots off and then of course rewax. Everytime I pull it out I religiously wipe it down, but after being on the lake all day when its 90 degrees out its too late, the crud is already baked on by the time I get back to the launch. At that point straight vinegar wont even phase it.

I've tried several waxes including Maguiers, and the last time Collinites Fleetwax, which seemed to be the best so far, but even that started to lose the battle the second time out. I put plenty on, usually two coats, to no avail.

So I guess my question is, has anyone tried any of the "waxless" stuff? I'm talking about some of the polishes and sealants that dont contain wax or silicone, like Wizards or PPC, or perhaps others that I'm missing? I've used Wizards Turbo Cut to buff and their Shine Master to polish and they work really well, but need something to stop the freaking waterspots from etching into the gelcoat in the first place. They have a sealant called Supreme Seal which I think I'm gonna try, but if anyone has any experience with this or any other non wax protectants I'd sure like to hear about it 'cuz I'm spending as much time cleaning the bu as playing with it. :mad:

Edited by Gone Boatin'
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Starbrite marine polish with PTEF has worked well for me. Then wipe down every time with babes spray.

+ 1 on the Starbrite. Our boat is used only in the Ocean and we NEVER get waterspots. I just keep applying the starbrite about every 2 weeks.

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Starbright products seem to hold up or fend off waterspots the best. Nothing will eliminate them, but out of everything I've tried it seems to work better than most. I haven't tried Babe's line yet.

I have a large amount of black gelcoat on my boat, and just being out for a few hours I get hard waterspots baked in as well. Through experimentation I've found that waxing/polishing the boat with Starbright once a month and then using their Scum and Waterstain spray when I wipe the boat down has really helped. The waterstain spray kind of leaves a greasy film on the boat, but it's not that big of a deal.

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I just went surfing with a guy in Eastern Washington and he pulled the boat out of the water and started wiping the boat down with a mix of vineger and water in a spray bottle. It smelled but took the spots off and left a perfect shine!! It's cheap...easy...and works!

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+1 with vinegar and water. We have very hard water here too. After I pull the boat out of the water, it gets a spray down of 70% water and 30% vinegar out of a spray bottle. Wipe down with the towel. Then follow up with Eagle 1 Wax as You Dry and a clean towel. Works wonders. Takes about 15 minutes.

If you are needing a good wash solution, 2-3 gallons of water and a quart of vinegar will take any waterspot off fiberglass. You might have to experiment with the water:vinegar ratio, but it works....and not as harsh as some cleaners.

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Tried vinegar, doesnt do a thing. Looking for something that is not a wax.

first wash your boat with CLR (calcium, lime, rust, remover). follow the instructions for diluting it. You have probably seen the tv commercials. this will get rid of any existing waterspots. Than use starbrite marine polish with Teflon and you will not have waterspots.

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Thanx for the replies, sounds like the teflon thing is getting the votes. Just put on some Wizards Seal Supreme that someone gave me to try but havent had it in the water yet, will report on that later. If no worky than I'll try the Starbrite.

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Believe me I've got a black boat and spend days in the water and get VERY hard waterspots on the gelcoat. I use Starbrite marine polish, unlike wax this can be applied multiple times. Keep in mind there isn't any smoking gun when it comes to hard waterspots I've tried just about every product out there. I usually apply 3 coats of the marine polish and then follow it up w/ a carnuba wax on top. This forms a great barrier and even w/ 100% vinegar it doesn't strip it off. I simply apply another layer of polish, yes this is a lot of work and I do this weekly as every weekend for us are on the boat. I used Hot Sauce by Boat Bling this weekend and had great results but certain areas still needed extra attention and only 100% vinegar and heavily agitate the area did the spots come off. Babes waterspot remover, doesn't even touch hard waterspots for me. It works ok for clean freshwater lakes but that's it. I've even tried applying 303 on the hull before I launched the boat, I'll just use it on the vinyl from no one and save the $$$.

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Tried vinegar, doesnt do a thing. Looking for something that is not a wax.

I used 1/3 vinegar and 2/3 water every time I came off the river and never had a water spot. Just sold the boat and the gel coat looked like new. never waxed it. The guy that bought really liked the shine.

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I used 1/3 vinegar and 2/3 water every time I came off the river and never had a water spot. Just sold the boat and the gel coat looked like new. never waxed it. The guy that bought really liked the shine.

I'm on with the 1 part vinegar, 2 parts H20. I use it everytime off the water, and have a ton of black on my boat. 0 water spots!

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Go to the web and search for bassboatsaver. Best product I have ever used and my boat is constantly in muddy water. If you will spray it and wipe the boat down after every use after you get it clean and a good coat of wax it will amaze you and how long you can go before you wax your boat again. It is a GREAT PRODUCT. And no I don't sell it. Stumbled on it one time for my bass boat.

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Update:

Have had the boat out three times now after using Wizards Shine Master polish followed with Wizards Supreme Seal and it seems to be working pretty good.

Upon pulling out of the water of there are still waterspots - which I'm accepting is going to be normal, but they come off easier than when I was using wax. When I'm toweling the boat down I'm also hitting it with Wizards Mist and Shine and its leaving it much more spot free than before. After the third time though I am starting to see some very faint waterspots here and there but, again, much better than the wax approach.

Today picked up some Starbrite Premium Marine Polish w/teflon and put that on. Would have to say that initially it gives a deeper shine than than the Wizards treatment, will have to report on how it holds up to spots after its been in the water a few times. I'm hoping that it works as well or better because I would prefer the one step application thing of the Starbrite.

So I think what I'm finding is that I'm going to prefer the polish deal over waxing. From what I've been reading wax just sort of coats and as such wears off soon enough, - some say that lots of sun and heat literally starts melting it down after a while, which makes sense to me - think candle wax. But the polymer polishes actually "bond" with the gelcoat making them more resistant to dirt and spots etc. Dunno if this is true but it seems to be working for me.

I think wiping down with a non silicone detail spray is key also. I've been using either Wizards Mist and Shine or PPC Nano Spray or Perfect Detail on my car for years and they leave a nice shiny finish without any greasy look and they seem to be working well on the boat too.

Will report soon on how the Starbrite Polish holds up!

Edited by Gone Boatin'
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Hands down the best waterspot remover is Duckys. I've tried it all, vinegar mixtures, babes, hot sauce brand, etc.

with duckys I can pull my boat (which is part black) out of the water and wait until the next day to wipe it down and it takes off the nastiest water spots you can imagine. One wipe, none of this business about doing it 3-4 times before they disappear.

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Thanks, I'll have to check out Duckys and some of the others.

This issue is definately twofold. The first thing is finding something that resists waterspots adhering to the gelcoat for as long as possible, and the second is finding something that will remove spots once they get etched in.

My first question with anything that removes waterspots once they're baked on is always, will it also strip the wax/polish or whatever other protectant I've put on - like it sounds like vinegar does (with wax anyway.) I like to hear the phrase "wont strip wax" or something to that effect.

All I've found about Duckys so far is that its "non toxic and bio degradable". Possibly a citrus based thing? Anyway, will have to research that some more.

Gonna have to make a command decision soon, as the wife is starting to wonder how much one guy can spend on various cleaning products. :whistle: Meanwhile the experiment continues.......................

Edited by Gone Boatin'
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I SAID.........................................

VINEGAR CONCOCTIONS DONT EVEN PHASE THE MUTANT CRUD WE HAVE IN OUR WATER HERE!!!!!! :blowup:

Lol, kidding, appreciate the replies, I know a lot of people swear by it.

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Best thing I have found so far hands down "Wax as you Dry" by Eagle. Its only available at NAPA auto parts stores. Get the hard water stains off and waxes your boat at the same time. Stuff is awesome. When you use vinegar it take the wax off as well and makes the stains harder to get off the next time. With the wax as you dry, you just spray it on when your boat is wet, before you towel it off. Then wipe till dry. The more you use it, the more the wax builds up and you get a deeper and deeper shine and the hard water spots become easier to wipe off. Every time you towel off your boat it looks like you just waxed it. Great stuff.

The only drawback it the biggest bottle is 36 ounce so I would buy 4 to 5 bottles at a time if you wipe down your boat every time you use it. 7 bucks per bottle in my area.

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"ICE" by Turtlewax.

It has no cleaning properties at all.

If you get the waterspots off, then you can apply ICE to really give your boat "pop" with no labor.

I don't have hard water at Lake Billy Chinook. So if I just towel off the boat just after we pull out it is clean enough. Boat goes home to my very nifty 4 car garage. It may sit there for a week or two (or a day) just towel clean.

Best time to apply ICE is the day before or the same day you are putting the boat back in the water.

So if I have the boat pretty clean after a day at LBC and I want it to look showroom new I just take one of those blue disposable paper/cotton Scott shop towels (10 rolls in a bag at Costco) and squirt some "ICE" on them and wipe down my already clean boat. Blue towel gets dirty and I just throw it away.

No labor to speak of. This takes about 15 minutes. Makes the boat look "Ooh Shiny". I NEVER go to LBC without at least one person remarking " WOW " Thats a shiny ( or clean)(or nice) boat. Never. :crazy:

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I'm hesitant to use ICE, as from what I gather it has a high silicone content. I know that silicone products give you that awesome "wet look" and also work really well for covering up hairline scratches and blemishes - its hard to beat in that respect, thats why companies put it in their products.

The problem is silicone comes off easily and requires frequent reapplication. Once if fades it looks terrible. So you make a deal with the devil and have to keep using it. Its also destructive to vinyl and rubber, so that makes me wonder what it does to gel coat eventually.

I'm willing trade a little bit of shine for longer lasting durability and something that wont degrade my finish in the long run.

Which also gets me to thinking, now that I'm trying the Starbrite with Teflon, anyone ever heard any negative stuff about Teflon?

Edited by Gone Boatin'
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Best thing I have found so far hands down "Wax as you Dry" by Eagle. Its only available at NAPA auto parts stores. Get the hard water stains off and waxes your boat at the same time. Stuff is awesome. When you use vinegar it take the wax off as well and makes the stains harder to get off the next time. With the wax as you dry, you just spray it on when your boat is wet, before you towel it off. Then wipe till dry. The more you use it, the more the wax builds up and you get a deeper and deeper shine and the hard water spots become easier to wipe off. Every time you towel off your boat it looks like you just waxed it. Great stuff.

The only drawback it the biggest bottle is 36 ounce so I would buy 4 to 5 bottles at a time if you wipe down your boat every time you use it. 7 bucks per bottle in my area.

:plus1:

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