I'll toss in my 2 cents worth on this topic of Bringing Back the Shine of a gelcoat.
The information I'm about to give did not originate from me so I have no pride
of authorship, I'm just passing along info that I received from a highly valid source.
I happen to have a close friend who owns a very nice 47 ft Viking Convertible,
which boat is docked in Juno Beach, Florida, just 4 miles from my house. I've
spent a lot of time on that boat and have been given a key to it by the owner.
Just across the dock from our slip was docked a real yacht with a full time
captain who had maintained that yacht for the owner since it was bought new
in 2003. That yacht's appearance was absolutely PERFECT, and this captain did
all of the maintenance of it himself. Over time I picked his brain on subjects that
would be of help to me. One was HOW did he keep the exterior so absolutely
PERFECT, and WHAT did he use to do so since this 10 year old boat had never
been refinished, just maintained. To see this yacht, now for sale, Google - ' "Miss
Amy" Hatteras' It is a 100 foot Hatteras, now in Ft Lauderdale for sale.
What was used to keep the exterior of this yacht with such a shine that it would knock
your eyes out were THREE PRODUCTS and a random orbit buffing wheel. I took
iPhone photos of those products after I had that captain lay them out on the dock
for me. Here are photos showing the products and his buffer.
In 2012 when I repowered my little 17ft Aquasport I asked that captain if he
would bring back the gelcoat on my Aquasport and he agreed to do so. He kept
the boat a couple of days and when I got it back I could not believe the shine.
You can see that shine reflecting off the side of my center console in the picture
posted here (those white marks on the grey floor are REFLECTIONS from the
shine coming off the console). He told me that what he used on my gelcoat since
it was in good condition was simply the product known as "Rejex". This has in it a
UV inhibitor. He tells me that it will last 6 months in full sun and that the more coats
you apply over time the better the look becomes. You can buy "Rejex" at Boat
Owners Warehouse; I went and bought some there after he did my boat. You can
also find it on-line. Rejex is not a wax, but a polymer compound that bonds to the
gelcoat.
The other 2 products he uses are "3M's Finesse" and "Imar".
Those are used the same way as the Rejex but only when the gelcoat
finish needs more bringing back from fading.
He also swears by "Starbrite Deck Cleaner with PTEF " (teflon) for decks and
he put that on my Aquasport floor. I've continued to use it and it leaves a
shine on my original floor surface. You simply wet the floor, sprinkle some
on, scrub a bit, let it sit for 5 minutes and then flush it off.
Again, not my wisdom, I'm just passing this on so others can try this if they
chose. It has worked wonderfully for me.
