Hazing on gelcoat

[Zig04]

Buffed out some scratches today on my Centurion and afterwards noticed there is a light hazing. I treated it more like a car and then started doing research on the hazing and can`t get the depth back in the gelcoat. Let me know what you guys think I can do I`m at a loss. I read something about cleaner wax helping but haven`t tried it yet.

Thanks

[Ron Ketcham]

How many times has it been compounded, how old is the boat, what color is the gel coat?

Grumpy

[Junebug]

In addition to the points Grumpy made, I`d add that last year I detailed a Ski Nautique for a friend, it was a 1995 and yeah - oxidation out the yin-yang. I used some Gel Coat Labs stuff (weak) and M105, etc, but what limited me was I was using foam pads on my rotary. The gel coat looked ...um ok, in my opinion, the owner was happy, but I wasn`t, I knew it could look better.

This year, Shurhold Buff Magic (RULES!!!) and yellow wool pads, several! gone are the hazing, water spots, dullness! It really looks brand new, and this is a 17 year old boat. I only made one step, worked it into the gel coat, buffed at 1000rpm and took my time to buff till the polish was gone and only the shine remained. I`m ready for my next boat now, NEVER thought I`d say that!

[Ron Ketcham]

Junebug, very glad that on the boat you were working to correct, it worked.

However, there are many variables when it comes to correcting gelcoat issues.



Age, manufactuer, amount of styrene in the gelcoat mix when it was produced, thickness of the "gel coat" which was applied during the manufactuering process, what amount of "cutting/buffing" was done earlier, understanding the "dense portion" of the gelcoat when it was first produced, etc.



Not attempting to say you are wrong, just that one or two examples are not always those that address all the other issues and concerns that may be part of the problem that another may be addressing.



There are so "many" variables when it comes to dealing with gelcoat, as it does with modern automovtive clearcoats, not always a simple "diagnoistic" process.



Grumpy

[Zig04]

Hey guys

The boat is only a couple years old and is always kept in storage. The colors are a real deep blue almost purple on top with black along the bottom. I`m in a small town so I was limited to what I could find until I order online. Tonight I used Mothers cleaner wax with a LC foam pad and it did an ok job, not what I was looking for but it took a majority of the hazing out.



Grumpy, this is really the first time I`ve done any work to it besides glaze and wax. Still couldn`t get the depth back into it. I guess it`s time to spend some more money on some detailing stuff.

[Garry Dean]

I do a ton of boats and Id be happy to make some suggestions, but can you please share some pictures with us?

[Ron Ketcham]

Purple, that means that there are red pigments in the color, most unstable of the color pigments.

Take at least a 10X magnifier and look "very closely" at the affected surface to see what is really there.

That will give you a clue of a lot of things.

If you can get ahold of a 30X lighted magnifer, that is even better.

Diagnois is the key to understand what you are really dealing with.

It`s easy for people to say, "I done this or that", but from afar, and even with pictures, there are so many variables with gelcoat, only you can look and see, up close, what is going on.

Scratches, marring, etc are one thing, but "bubbles", which can only be seen under magnifcation, color variances, etc, in the gel coat, you have to see and work from there.

Brumpy

[Junebug]

Grumpy, I agree, and after the first time with a boat, I knew that the products I had and technique I was using was just not cutting it. That`s why I contacted the boat dealership that sells & services Ski Nautiques and told them my concerns. They are the ones that turned me onto Buff Magic and wool pads. So - for all you loyal readers, my results (that I have to say impressed the *&%(^&% out of me) are on a 1995 Ski Nautique. Other boats may have like Grumpy has pointed out - different gel-coat formulations. So, you can do like I did, call the guys that actually work on the specific brand, ask them what they use, how they use it, etc. If you live in an area that has several boat dealers, ask around - better yet, ride out and see for yourself, I did, made a world of difference.

[Zig04]

I`ll grab some picks tomorrow or Saturday for you guys. What else would you guys suggest product wise. I`ve got plenty of wool pads and LC foam pads. I don`t have a rotary but I`ve got a PC.