Best Cleaner or Wax

[Evan337]

This may be the wrong board for this question but I want to give the new 250 CCP a good cleaning. The paint on the side hull is a little chalky from the sun and i want to wax it and restore the shine and gloss of the gelcoat. What you guys recommend? Also, what is a good cleaner for stainless steel and aluminum? What have you done or tries on the teak that restored it well. We oiled the teak on our last AS but i have seen on other forums where guys varnished the teak and then sealed it with a polyurethane. What do y'all think about that?

[Capt. Bob]

Lewis to the white phone please.

Evan,
Try using the "search" feature with keywords like "teak". Many members here use different stuff and methods.The Rebuild and Discussion forums have quite a bit with pics.
Lewis can give you the skinny on making the hull look new. Listen to what he says.
Trust me.

Good luck.

[Circle Hooked]

If it's just a little chalky Meguires cleaner wax will do the trick, especially if you apply it with a buffer, and you can pick that up at wally world, it also cleans metal pretty well, I don't do many boats but i do detail cars for a living.

[jdupree]

Try using Buff Magic with a power buffer and a wool pad.

[pete]

This may be the wrong board for this question but I want to give the new 250 CCP a good cleaning. The paint on the side hull is a little chalky from the sun and i want to wax it and restore the shine and gloss of the gelcoat. What you guys recommend? Also, what is a good cleaner for stainless steel and aluminum? What have you done or tries on the teak that restored it well. We oiled the teak on our last AS but i have seen on other forums where guys varnished the teak and then sealed it with a polyurethane. What do y'all think about that?

1.go to harbour freight get their $29 buffer and some marine 3 m compound buff out the hull and apply a good coat of wax,you need to buff it to get the oxidation off,if you just wax you won't get the result you want.
2.stainless and aluminum cleaner my fav is a little known product called starclean,google starclean.net http://www.starclean.net/ ,rinse off and coat with woody wax
3.teak,take it off and replace with starboard,maintainance over.or try a 2 part interlux clear perfection plus http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa/diy/produ ... -plus.aspx

[Capt Matt]

If your going to keep the boat for a long time I agree with replacing the teak with maintenance free starboard.
Capt Matt

[Circle Hooked]

go to harbour freight get their $29 buffer and some marine 3 m compound buff out the hull and apply a good coat of wax,you need to buff it to get the oxidation off,if you just wax you won't get the result you want.

If you compound it your going to need to glaze or polish it before you wax or else it will have a dull shine, if the boat is not real bad the cleaner wax will work if you use it with a wool pad on a buffer, i do my boat every year with it, i get the stuff by the jug but it's only 8 bucks or so at WM for a smaller bottle,

Also if it's real bad you can scrub the boat with Commet and it will remove the oxidation, you just have to keep the boat wet when doing it then glaze and wax.

[pete]

there is some great info on the shurhold site,thier random orbit polisher is great for someone not familiar with using a high speed buffer

[c master]

There are a million fiberglas de-oxidizers...I have a buffer but I find that there's a lot of places where you'll have to just do it by hand.  The cleaning is important...the waxing is easier.

If you have the "tannin" stain (brownish stain at waterline), the first step is Oxalic Acid.  (NOT Muriatic Acid).  Sorta hard to find...comes as a powder.  I get it at a small hardware store here in Houston...couldn't find it a Lowe's or HD.  It's amazing at easily removing the stain but it will also remove any wax.  Keep it off your aluminum trailer...discolors it a bit.

Older teak with 'black' areas:  That's just dirt and mildew.  Tri-sodium Phosphate (TSP) is a good product to clean teak with, and it's not expensive.  Just takes a lot of scrubbing with a stiff brush, and rinsing.   There are teak brighteners also, but with the TSP you probably won't need to buy that.

It helps to sand your teak back to a smoother finish...that usually means removing it from the hull, but once you get it sanded down, oiling it is more successful.  (Oiling old rough teak doesn't work very well...dirt/mildew gets back into the little cracks pretty fast).  I don't recommend varnishing teak, especially 'new' wood.  It has too much natural oil in it and the varnish will flake off.  If you want the varnished look, copying your teak parts over to new mahogany is better.  

I like the look of teak better than Starboard but it's more maintenance...that's for sure.

[wingtime]

It helps to sand your teak back to a smoother finish...that usually means removing it from the hull, but once you get it sanded down, oiling it is more successful.  (Oiling old rough teak doesn't work very well...dirt/mildew gets back into the little cracks pretty fast).  I don't recommend varnishing teak, especially 'new' wood.  It has too much natural oil in it and the varnish will flake off.  If you want the varnished look, copying your teak parts over to new mahogany is better.  

I like the look of teak better than Starboard but it's more maintenance...that's for sure.

I agree,  I like the look of teak on the older boats over starboard.  Starboard has low maintenance but it just doesn't have any character.  My buddy kept giving me crap about all the work I put into my teak saying I should just replace it with starboard.  No thanks.  I removed all my teak, sanded it smooth and then treated it with Semco teak sealer.  I love this stuff.  It's sort of like a combination of a stain and Thompson's water seal with a UV inhibitor in it.  Just wipe it on and let it dry.  The water beads off of it like a ducks back.  You simply keep the teak clean and reapply it about every six months or year depending on exposure to weather.  Thats it.  I HATE the old school teak oil and cleaners.  That stuff is a pain.  Varnishing teak ends up more work down the line when it peels off like C Master said.

[fitz73222]

Hey guys,

Please dont scrub her with comet or abrasive cleanser! It will make more scratches and make the buffing process 3X as long. I just went through this on my 22-2 that was not badly chaulked. Forget buffing for now. Start with wet sanding with 1000 grit sandpaper, then 1200, then compound, then 3 coats of wax. You wont believe how easy and less time consuming it is to wet sand then trying to buff. I spent 3 days with 3 different Meguires compounds before my buddy showed me how to do this. You will not believe the shine you will get. You will need about 10 sheets of each grit to do the whole boat.It goes very quickly and keep the paper wet and flushed at all times. You will know when to change paper when sanding; it will begin to glide and you will feel it stop cutting. Then compound out and three coats of wax and she will be knock down georgous!

[Capt. Bob]

OK.
This is what I was directed to from a member (Lewis) on this forum.

Bought this:
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-ele ... erralID=NA

Cleaned hull with boat soap and let dry completely. Then........

I use this first:
http://compare.ebay.com/like/1207854749 ... s&var=sbar

Followed up with this:
http://www.prestaproducts.com/Ultra_Cut ... tails.aspx

Waxed with this because I had it.:
http://www.premiumboatcare.com/3m-marine-paste-wax.html

This is oxalic acid:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_93352-994-GSX00 ... Id=3079357

Can also be used as teak brightener.

What I use (not much on my WAC) on the teak that was on my CCP. It shouldn't work but it does. Just IMHO.
http://www.myboatstore.com/teakguard2.a ... QgodiGRpiQ

Good luck.

[Blue Agave]

A product that I'm familiar with is Aqua Buff and it works great. Buff with Aqua Buff and a buffer, then apply wax for protection.

[c master]

Just a follow-up...

TSP (Tri-Sodium Phosphate) is not abrasive...

[Evan337]

Thanks for all the information guys. If I decided to sand it like fitz suggested, is that all by hand? i have a dewalt orbital sander but I have a feeling it would be easy with that thing to sand to deep. I would say the exterior of the hull is mildly chalked. Also if I sand, what about the Aquaport decals and the 250 CCP and line decals? Can I sand over those? I have washed and waxed boats before but I saw where Uncle Bob on the rebuild forum cleaned up a Proline that had been sitting for a while. That thing turned out fine. I need to read his threat on THT.