Bad looking hull

[kevMar]

1988 hull 615
     I was told that the PO had put a lacquer on the hull. It is supposed to make the hull shine but now it is very dull and dingy lookin. Any idea of what product the PO may have used and how do you rid it off the hull. I would like to polish the hull, but am told it is useless to do until i find out what the PO put on the hull...  Thanks for all the help

[Craig Illman]

Just a guess, but maybe it was either Penetrol or Poliglow?

Craig

[Rick Allen]

Yea, I'll betcha it was Poliglow.  They push that product a lot of boat shows.  The PO of one of my prior boats (Watkins27) used it in the cockpit. I think I used a rubbing compound to take it off and built it back up with polish after.  I've also heard that acetone will remove it.

[pablosgirl]

It could also be Newglass2  http://www.newglass2.com/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi. I have used this product on previous boats with good results.  They also sell a stripper (called Pre-Treat) to remove the old faded "lacquer" before applying their product. There was a write up in Practical Sailor about this and other similar products.

You could use the Pre-Treat product to strip this stuff off your hull.  Most of these products are have a liquid acrylic base with UV inhibitors added.  So a acrylic floor polish remover may work too.  Just try it on a small out of the way area of the hull as a test.

In my experience with using Newglass, I would have to strip and renew the finish every spring due to the hot Texas sun.  This process generally took a long day with clear weather.  What was involved was scrubbung of the old finish with the Pre-Treat and a stiff brush followed immediately by a water rinse.  Needed to work small areas (3'x3') at a time since if you let the Pre-Treat dry without the rinse the old finish would remain.  Applying the Newglass product was a lot like applying varnish.  Apply even coats and overlap brush strokes and be mindful of air bubbles and drips/runs.

The real thing to do is to keep a good coat of wax on the boat at all times.  Just like a car finish, keeping it wax will make it last a lot longer.  What you want to avoid is to having to repeatably use rubbing compound on the gelcoat to restore the shine (smoothness) because this reduces the thickness of the gelcoat.  Do this enough times and you will wear through the gelcoat and need to paint the hull and deck.  A very expensive proposition indeed.

Paul Shields
pablo's girl C34 #551

[Steve S.]

Just my two cents.  I've been using NuFinish for years and couldn't be happier.  Two coats every Spring and its done for the season.  I haven't seen a Chesapeake mustache on the bow since I started using it.