Polyglow removal

[boblin]

      We have been trying to remove Polyglow from hull and topsides of our 34. The Polyglow stripper has removed the most recent coats (last season) but will not touch the older stuff. PO told me he put 2 coats on every season and he owned boat for 10 yrs? We have tried scotchbrite pads, abrasive pads and scrub brushes with very little success. We have gone over each area at least 3 times. We have also tried some cutting compound with buffer, didn't even scratch it. Any ideas out there?

Thanks

Bob

[chuck53]

Are you using Poliprep or Polistrip?  make sure you are using Polistrip.
There instructions even say that rubbing compound will not remove Poliglow.

[Noah]

Never heard of Poliglow before this. I'm a carnuba wax man myself. Curious, why
are you trying to remove it?

[Stu Jackson]

Noah, Polyglow is like religion, politics and anchors. 

Some folks swear it gets their hulls shiny and looking brand new.

Others hate it, 'cuz when it starts to fail, and it will, it looks horrible, lik paint peeling off an old barn.

Oh, it's also a bear to remove, hence the OP.   

[Clay Greene]

That's a second for Polistrip.  Works better on a warm day (what doesn't?).  You have to use quite a bit of it and work in small sections.  It will take off the bottom paint so you may want to protect below the waterline with plastic sheeting or a garbage bag. 

Softscrub also will take it off but more slowly.  Requires more scrubbing. 

[chuck53]

Never heard of Poliglow before this. I'm a carnuba wax man myself. Curious, why
are you trying to remove it?

Poliglow is not a wax.  Some people say it is no different from acrylic floor wax.
If done right and you stay on top of it, it does a good job.  It can take a boat that is beyond help and make it look shiny and new.
I have friends that use it, they stay on top of it and their boats always look good.
When I bought my boat, it had a Poliglow competitive product on it that the owner let go and the boat looked like crap.  I almost didn't buy it because it looked so bad. 45 minutes with Polistrip and I removed it and went the wax route.  My boat looks pretty good now.

[boblin]

Yes we are not only using the stripper but also a commercial wax remover, which imho works as well at a quarter of the price. Pros at the marina said it will have to be sanded off and no they won't do it.

Thanks for replies

Bob

[Footloose]

FWIW-one of my friends has been using Polyglow for several years.  This year he was out.  WM was closed and ACE HW said, "Polywhat?"  He had acrylic floor wax at home and applied it.  So far it looks the same.  He said it smells and looks the same. 

[Paulus]

Try using ammonia to remove the wax.  It worked in the 70's.