Polish questions? StarBrite PTEF?

[Woodshed]

Hello,

I'm going to be doing a more aggressive detail job on my boat this winter. I've had it a year and it's a 96 Echelon LX. It's in great shape, but the gel coat has a yellowing in it that is just eating me up. The vinyl is white and the contrast just bugs me.

Last year I was able to use compound and wax and it shined and looked great, but was still yellow. I had some fiberglass repair work done and noticed the much whiter glass underneath when he was finished.

I've got a young guy helping me. The plan to wet sand from the rub rail up as needed. Couple coats of compound on the whole boat.

I've read that after compound, often people skip an important step. To use a Polish inbetween compound and wax is very important as the wax protects the polished surface. Rather than the other way around. Polish on top of wax isn't as effective because it wears off so easily.

so questions:

1. Do you subsribe to this technique of compound, then polish, then wax?

2. It was also recommended for the polish to be StarBrite PTEF Polish. Being the cheap-o that I am I'm skepticle if this 30.00 product is a gimmick. PTEF is a supposed teflon material in the polish that gives more UV protection. Do you like this or can I just use my normal cheaper polish just as well?

Thank you for any input.

Edited February 17, 2013 by Woodshed

[electricjohn]

Have you tried Tony's Tonic to remove the yellowing? I used it for the first time last year on my 1970 boat which spends most of its wet life in salt water. I was shocked at the results to say the least. The best part is, it's nonabrasive.

[Woodshed]

Here are pics right when I bought it. The doofus in the boat is just my buddy,,, not me!!

After detailing. Looks great, but is still yellow. It's hard to see because the sun was so bright.

[Woodshed]

Have you tried Tony's Tonic to remove the yellowing? I used it for the first time last year on my 1970 boat which spends most of its wet life in salt water. I was shocked at the results to say the least. The best part is, it's nonabrasive.

That looks to be an acid wash type of concoction. We tried that. It's great for algae yellowing/greening which I also have a bit of. If you notice in my pics though. My problem is a total yellowing of the whole surface of the gelcoat down into the gel coat. It's UV damage from the sunlight deep down. Are you thinking that is what this would be used for?

do you have any before/after pics?

Thanks

Edited February 17, 2013 by Woodshed

[tuslake]

Finess-it 2, 3 m product works great

[Woodshed]

Finess-it 2, 3 m product works great

These products are really about the same price. I guess I'm just wondering if the cheap WalMart Boat polish would perform the same.

[get_u_sum]

I use only the Starbrite with PTEF. I have an all black Axis and also used it on an I/O that was all red. No fading or issues at all. I've never used it on a boat that needed "restoring" but it may do the trick. My general procedure is to spray and wipe down after a fresh water rinse with a liquid carnauba wax after each trip. Twice a year I detail the whole boat with the Starbrite, inside and out, along with an impeller inspection or replacement and fluid change and bilge cleaning and a couple cups of bleach into the ballast bags and tanks. Boat still looks like new. Good luck!

Edited February 17, 2013 by get_u_sum

[electricjohn]

It is a concoction made up by a guy (Tony) right here on the crew. Just do a search. It is a mixture of lysol toilet bowl cleaner and hydrogen peroxide. Make sure you use the lysol with the hydrocloric acid (HCL) in it, not bleach.

[Timmay]

I did the Meguiar's 3 stop process this weekend on my Sunsetter LXI. It consists of oxidation remover, polish, and wax. I would rate my oxidation as moderate. I used a variable speed polisher and it came out very nice. It's not showroom perfect but it's pretty darn close. The white is just a shade darker than an unexposed area that I compared to, and the black has a deep shine to it now. If I would have compounded the whole boat twice it might have come out nearly perfect, but that's a lot of extra work for a small amount of improvement. The kit costs $50. It took a solid 8 hours to do the boat not including the bottom. I'm just going to polish and wax the bottom since there is no oxidation down below.

Tony's Tonic will not remove this yellowing, it does a fantastic job of removing surface crud, I removed years of buildup from the bottom of my boat with this stuff, it will not cut through the top layer of gelcoat like compounding will.