Boat Polish - What do you use?

David Schweizer · July 17, 2015

Since having our boat re-painted, I have religiously waxed the paintwork with Craftmaster Carnuba Wax Polish, which the manufacturers claim is one that contains no polymers and no sealants, and is easy to use giving a brilliant protective shine with no swirl marks and no powdery residue.

Regrettablty this description does not match my experience. I find applying it hard work, and polishing it off even harder, leaving streak marks. Moreover the shine doesn't seem to last very long before the surface has dulled, and after a heavy downpour there are powdery trails running down the cabin sides. I also use Craftmaster Carnuba Wash, but that also leves streaks even after leathering off . Do other people have the same problems or am I doing something wrong?

I understand all the arguements about having no silcones in the polish which will become absorbed by the paint and prevent any touching up from adhereing properly, but is that actually correct? Another boat on our mooring is regularly polished with standard car wax, it looks really good, and the owner advises me that he does not have any problem with small touch up spots adhereing.

Other people's experience with both Craftmaster products. and alternatives would be welcomed.

Scholar Gypsy · July 17, 2015

I was advised by our painter (Dave Bishop, Braunston) to use Autoglym car products. Quite pricey but easy to use:

rinse
shampoo (the only shampoo we have on board!)
rinse
dry with chamois
polish (special applicator)
buff polish with special cloth
spray wax
wipe off with special cloth

Edited July 17, 2015 by Scholar Gypsy

Naughty Cal · July 17, 2015

On Grp I know but also on our cars we use T cut if really bad, followed by Autoglym Super Resin Polish followed by at least two coats of carnauba wax, usually three.

Lasts all year on the boat and the cars.

FadeToScarlet · July 17, 2015

Bought a big 5 litre pot of carnauba wax polish from eBay for about £20, it's brilliant.

Bettie Boo · July 17, 2015

We also use the Autoglym products, and follow a similar regime to Scholar Gypsy. Other than we use a rub on wax and polish it off with a small electric buffer picked up at the same time I bought the first lot of Autoglym products.

Having a "red" boat, we need to do the whole thing twice a year, we tend to do it once in the spring and then again towards the end of summer early fall.

July 17, 2015

Since having our boat re-painted, I have religiously waxed the paintwork with Craftmaster Carnuba Wax Polish, which the manufacturers claim is one that contains no polymers and no sealants, and is easy to use giving a brilliant protective shine with no swirl marks and no powdery residue.

Regrettablty this description does not match my experience. I find applying it hard work, and polishing it off even harder, leaving streak marks. Moreover the shine doesn't seem to last very long before the surface has dulled, and after a heavy downpour there are powdery trails running down the cabin sides. I also use Craftmaster Carnuba Wash, but that also leves streaks even after leathering off . Do other people have the same problems or am I doing something wrong?

I understand all the arguements about having no silcones in the polish which will become absorbed by the paint and prevent any touching up from adhereing properly, but is that actually correct? Another boat on our mooring is regularly polished with standard car wax, it looks really good, and the owner advises me that he does not have any problem with small touch up spots adhereing.

Other people's experience with both Craftmaster products. and alternatives would be welcomed.

What colour is your boat? If red, in my experience you are fighting a losing battle to keep it looking pristine....

alan_fincher · July 17, 2015

What colour is your boat? If red, in my experience you are fighting a losing battle to keep it looking pristine....

It does depend on the age of the paint, (obviously!), and no doubt the brand and how well applied.

We painted Chalice in 2010, but, being us, had never done more than wash the paint, and certainly not polished it.

It was looking decidedly jaded by the start of this year (so approaching 5 years with no proper maintenance), but by using Farecla colour restorer, followed by Craftmaster wax, I was amazed to get it restored to much like it was when first applied, and without huge amounts of labour.

When the new owner brought Chalice past our new mooring after purchase, both of us honestly went through a though process of "that looks like a shiny version of Chalice", until we realised it was Chalice!).

The process worked as well on the maroon red finish as on the green. Paint was "Narroe Boat Paint", which I understand to be very similar in formulation to Craftmaster, and blended by the same firm.

However Flamingo also has red and green paintwork, (with colour panels and border reversed over Chalice), and we hoped a similar process might smarten her up. However after far more effort than we put into Chalice, it has made a bit of difference, but not a lot.

However in this case we neither know when it was painted, or with what paint. My assumption is it has been on a lot longer than the 5 years for the paint on Chalice, and that is why it will not respond well to the same treatment. It's a shame, as the paint is well adhered, with few scratches, and almost no rust around portholes or windows - so it's doing its job still - just doesn't look very photogenic, (unless recently rained on, when it looks fine!).

July 17, 2015

Baby oil. quick, cheap and effective.

Simonize car polish used to be free of silicone, but that may have changed?

ChimneyChain · July 17, 2015

Buy an orbital polisher from halfords for £39.99. Applied and polished both sides of a 70ft boat in 1 1/2 hours. Didnt Even break into a sweat.

Darren

July 17, 2015

On Grp I know but also on our cars we use T cut if really bad, followed by Autoglym Super Resin Polish followed by at least two coats of carnauba wax, usually three.

Lasts all year on the boat and the cars.

My brother in law moulded a top box for us abot twelve years ago. The gel had gone really chalky (oxford blue), so I gave it a couple of coats of baby oil on one side. It has been really effective.

Higgs · July 17, 2015

Two other products that have been easy to use are - Epifane's Seapower Cleaner and Wax, and - Epifane's Wash 'n' Wax. These products contain carnuba wax.

July 17, 2015

It does depend on the age of the paint, (obviously!), and no doubt the brand and how well applied.

We painted Chalice in 2010, but, being us, had never done more than wash the paint, and certainly not polished it.

It was looking decidedly jaded by the start of this year (so approaching 5 years with no proper maintenance), but by using Farecla colour restorer, followed by Craftmaster wax, I was amazed to get it restored to much like it was when first applied, and without huge amounts of labour.

When the new owner brought Chalice past our new mooring after purchase, both of us honestly went through a though process of "that looks like a shiny version of Chalice", until we realised it was Chalice!).

The process worked as well on the maroon red finish as on the green. Paint was "Narroe Boat Paint", which I understand to be very similar in formulation to Craftmaster, and blended by the same firm.

However Flamingo also has red and green paintwork, (with colour panels and border reversed over Chalice), and we hoped a similar process might smarten her up. However after far more effort than we put into Chalice, it has made a bit of difference, but not a lot.

However in this case we neither know when it was painted, or with what paint. My assumption is it has been on a lot longer than the 5 years for the paint on Chalice, and that is why it will not respond well to the same treatment. It's a shame, as the paint is well adhered, with few scratches, and almost no rust around portholes or windows - so it's doing its job still - just doesn't look very photogenic, (unless recently rained on, when it looks fine!).

The Dog House was painted when new in 2006. We bought it in 2010. The first few years we had it a regular wash followed by a wax polish was all that was needed to keep it looking good. The last couple of years it became an increasingly arduous task. Not only did it fade it actually changed colour to an almost purple like colour on the outer cabin sides, you will recognise this as you saw the boat at Rugby boats.

Inside the 'walls'' of the semi trad you could see what colour it originally was, when we sold it, you could see it was like 'black and white' the sun and weather clearly had its effect on the outer cabin sides. The blue bands on the roof hadn't faded at all, hence my dislike of red for a boat colour.

What I don't know is the make of the paint it was painted with. But what is clear it needs a repaint now, if the new owners want to have a 'shiny' boat like it once was that is.

David Schweizer · July 17, 2015

Some interesting (and in some examples time consuming) responses, but no one has responded to my experince of Craftmaster Wax leaving a streaky surface. Do people really apply several coats of wax or other materials in order to get a decent finish? personally I suspect if that if i spent that much time on polishing, I would never get out on the boat!!

richardf · July 17, 2015

I think my boat went through the same paint dock as yourself, just before yours. I have used nothing but the Craftmaster wax and the shampoo- exactly like you.

I gave found it brilliant to use and leaving no streaks.

Very odd!

July 17, 2015

Some interesting (and in some examples time consuming) responses, but no one has responded to my experince of Craftmaster Wax leaving a streaky surface. Do people really apply several coats of wax or other materials in order to get a decent finish? personally I suspect if that if i spent that much time on polishing, I would never get out on the boat!!

Not waxed my boat in years, but have had some odd effects with wax on motor vehicles in certain weather conditions.

Ray T · July 17, 2015

Some interesting (and in some examples time consuming) responses, but no one has responded to my experince of Craftmaster Wax leaving a streaky surface. Do people really apply several coats of wax or other materials in order to get a decent finish? personally I suspect if that if i spent that much time on polishing, I would never get out on the boat!!

David, I use the same as you. Not had streaks but I have found ambient temperature affects the finish. With me, I find that if the weather is anything like warm I don't get streaks but do get swirl marks. The only way I manage to get rid of these is use an electric polisher with a sheep's wool type bonnet.

When we had the boat painted we had a couple of lacquer coats which help maintain the shine and also has appeared to have protected the red cants from fading.

Edited July 17, 2015 by Ray T

David Schweizer · July 17, 2015

I think my boat went through the same paint dock as yourself, just before yours. I have used nothing but the Craftmaster wax and the shampoo- exactly like you.

I gave found it brilliant to use and leaving no streaks.

Very odd!

Yes it was, I find that the day after waxing and polishing, I can see areas of streaking, perhaps I am not using enough wax, or leaving it too long before polishing off, how do you apply the wax and polish off? do you wash down with clear water or carnuba shampoo first?

We saw (and Photographed) Marcellus on our way up to Dadfords to have our boat painted :-

Edited July 17, 2015 by David Schweizer

magnetman · July 17, 2015

Nice

It's against my religion to polish a boat. I am likewise not allowed to brush or comb my hair

Nicely polished vessel but I am a bit worried by the slightly out of order rope situation

David Schweizer · July 17, 2015

David, I use the same as you. Not had streaks but I have found ambient temperature affects the finish. With me, I find that if the weather is anything like warm I don't get streaks but do get swirl marks. The only way I manage to get rid of these is use an electric polisher with a sheep's wool type bonnet.

When we had the boat painted we had a couple of lacquer coats which help maintain the shine and also has appeared to have protected the red cants from fading.

As do others it would seem. Surely the whole point of hand polishing is that you should not need to use electrical appliances to get a decent finish. I never have to use one when waxing the car.