X-Kote'd boat 1 year later

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Flygti32

New member
SO I have been seeing these threads lately about guys struggling with gelcoat oxidization. Today I had one of my clients bring his boat back to me for some clean up. We had wetsanded, polished with Megs #4 and white wool then X-Kote'd this boat just over a year ago. The client openly admitted to me today he has done NO after care to this boat since we touched it last year which is a shame.



SO last year we started with this and took it to this



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This is what I saw today, needless to say I was a little bummed out but considering no wax or washing was done on this boat for a year the 1/10th of a mil of X-Kote held up ok. In spots the boat looked a little dull but in others it was still great. The theory behind X-Kote on gelcoat is that it gives the Gelcoat a layer clearocat therfore it is not exposed directly to thew UV rays. The X-Kote has a UV inhibitor in it so it should slow down the oxidization process.





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SO I decided to give it a wash, a light polish with Megs #2 and white wool then I threw another layer of X-Kote on top. Sealed it with our X-Protect ( 2 apps this time)



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This time I made him promise me that he will wash and wax the boat once a month during the summer.



I'll update this again next year and see how we do.
 
Flygti32 said:
SO I decided to give it a wash, a light polish with Megs #2 and white wool then I threw another layer of X-Kote on top. Sealed it with our X-Protect
Click to expand...



"Our" X-Protect? If you have a financial interest in this product, your post violates our rules on commercial postings.



Tort

(suspicious moderator)
 
Not speaking for Flygti32 but X-Protect is the wax that X-Kote sells to apply after a job is done, as it is silicone free. "Our" was used a little too loosely IMO.



I also have pics on their website.
 
X-Protect isn't even mentioned being for sale on their website. It is used because it was developed to protect the X-Kote surface without silicone.
 
My apologizes. Yes "Our" was used a little too loosely in my post. I own a detail shop and I use the X-Kote product and there aftercare line in the store. I myself am not X-Kote.
 
I realize this is an old post,but have a question. I had Xkote applied to my boats transom last year, and it did a great job. I would like to do the rest of my boat this year, but do not wish to use the detailer that applied the coating last year. I was wondering if there was any avenue for directly purchasing Xkote, or if there is a comparable product that is commercially available?
 
There is no commercially comparable product. X-Kote is the only product like this in the world. Where are you located?
 
wannafbody I'm not sure what flygti32 is charging, probably more than I am, as he is more experienced and lives in a bigger market.



Just as any defect removal job, the cost is dependent on many factors and the perfection that the customer expects.



Usually a job goes like this for me, chemicals and techniques might vary per person and job.



Dawn wash, clay, compound and maybe some wet sanding of deeper scratches. Then solvent wipes to remove any embedded waxes and silicone. Last one I did, took 7 wipes to come clean enough to proceed, usually about 3. Tape off then tack cloth surface and then apply X-Kote and check for any problems.



After, the surface can be non-silicone waxed and lightly finish polished within hours.



The process starts much like a normal 3 step compound and polish except the polishing steps are skipped, as the X-Kote will cover any machine swirls and other scratches.



Works very well for neglected and beat up paint, but also works well on better paint.



Price $250 to $400. So while it is comparable to a 3 step in price, it does have some advantages in adding clear, not removing it, and does fill in deeper scratches very well and cover road rash. Also on single stage it almost stops oxidation.



Hope this helps.
 
Dawn wash, clay, compound and maybe some wet sanding of deeper scratches. Then solvent wipes to remove any embedded waxes and silicone. Last one I did, took 7 wipes to come clean enough to proceed, usually about 3. Tape off then tack cloth surface and then apply X-Kote and check for any problems.(end quote)



That's surprising that it takes that much effort to remove the junk in some products so that you have a clean surface for bonding. If the durability of Xkote is as good as it's claimed to be at $250-400 it's a pretty good deal.
 
I looked into offering this service for my clients, but the start up is crazy expensive. They told me 23,000$. For me that is super expensive as my client base for this is not huge!



Cheers,

Greg
 
"That's surprising that it takes that much effort to remove the junk in some products so that you have a clean surface for bonding. If the durability of Xkote is as good as it's claimed to be at $250-400 it's a pretty good deal."



To some degree it might be me when it comes to surface prep, to make sure that the surface is as best as could be, before applying X-Kote. But some cars seems dipped in silicone, touchless car wash wax?



"I looked into offering this service for my clients, but the start up is crazy expensive. They told me 23,000$. For me that is super expensive as my client base for this is not huge!"



Ouch! It would be hard to recoup that kind of investment unless you had all dealership work and could sell it for more than what I do.
 
The $23,000 price tag is going to give that member exclusive rights in that particular area and surrounding. Making them a master distributor. My territory is Saskatchewan Canada just over a million people. It's a huge chunk or land, I cannot cover it myself. So what I have done, is set up authorized retailers in the major cities and towns to offer the product. Salty is on of my guys. He deals with roughly 15,000 people give or take. The next closest dealer to him is 2 1/2 hours away in either direction. I now have 11 stores across the province carrying X-Kote as a product offer.



Keep in mind this is what I have done. As you explained your area doesn't sound to big and may not justify the price. I personally made back my investment of master distributor in 15 months. I signed up a few shops and started one of my own which is what really made me my money back and got the word out about the product. I charge $350 for a car, trucks $450 and boats start at $30 per ft.



I recently had a chat with the CEO of X-Kote who was just over in France checking the new shops that have opened up over there and they are charging $400-$600 euros to do a car !!!



YouTube - X KOTE V2



Here are some new boat pics to keep this on topic sorta speak.



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Anyone know anything about Vertglas ? Sounds like the same type of product.

I believe an average joe can by Vertglas out right. :wavey
 
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