Worst Decision Ever = Black Boat

elarson5757

Doesnt matter how much I polish (or have it polished), wax, seal, wash, or pray...4-6 weeks later in the sun and it's looking chalky...HATE black...

ok I'm done with my tantrum now.  

chamberb

LOL, my previous boat had large blue stripes, my biggest pet peeve was the chalky look they would get as soon as I was done polishing... I'm too OCD I guess, but I agree with you, if it doesn't shine I'm not happy...

212rowboat

how old is your boat?  you may be able to rub it to look clear, but unless you're removing the oxidation, it'll be back... how bad is it?  there is one way to get it gone gone gone, but you only get a few shots at it so it has to be done right... 2k grit wet sandpaper... lightly swiped, rinsed, acetoned, polished, sealed, waxed.  the grit literally takes a layer off your paint- you'll only get so many goes at this until you need professional help, but, it works. 

Cableguy Greg

Dark blue and the merlot red are also very bad. I had 3 detailers lined up this spring and no one would show. Sad that I am willing to pay a pro and they don't want the money.

frenchship

Best thing I ever use on my black hull is Poly glow. Remove all the old wax wet sand with 800 then 1000 until you get a uniform color. The apply Poliglow in fresh water mine lasted for two summers, then you can recoat as you needed

elarson5757

frenchship said:

Best thing I ever use on my black hull is Poly glow. Remove all the old wax wet sand with 800 then 1000 until you get a uniform color. The apply Poliglow in fresh water mine lasted for two summers, then you can recoat as you needed

I've thought very hard about having this done but I've read soooo many horror stories and just can't get over the hump. 

Black_Diamond

Or wrap or use imron paint. 

Liberty44140

Same issue, black boat. I have always been big on flitz, it can turn a chalky white boat in to showroom new gelcoat. Used it on my black boat with no such luck, shine lasted a day. A few costs helped a lot but nowhere near showroom new on black. I've been looking at Aqua buff for next year. There is a post on THT from someone who had a chalky navy blue center console and aqua buff gave them good and lasting results. 

frenchship

I would say that most of the  negative reviews on poly glow is probably not following the instructions to the letters specially with black hull. Yes it is time consuming removing all old waxes, then wet sand with 800 and again with a 1000 then being very carefull applying the Poli glow, but to me it was worthy.
It only my opinion

duane.mosley

i feel your pain! i spent well over a week in the evening after work wet sanding and buffing mine. i started with 1000, then 2000, then 3000 wet sand paper, compound buff, polish buff, and wax.

212rowboat

my floater is about splash ready.... 

before:

after:



actually, the first one is starboard side I haven't started on yet... the second is port side I just finished (well, finished the lower half).... 

the port was actually worse than the starboard.  it has the sun exposure where the port is tucked up next to the RV. 

I'm about 4.5 hours into this... here is my recipe:

simple green sprayed through one of those pressure washer foamer things (if you don't have one I HIGHLY rec them)... rinse..

magic eraser.... all down starboard side top and bottom.... rinse.. 

1000 grit wet sandpaper... rinse... 

1200~1500 Meguairs Cutting Compound (12) @ around 2kRPMs with orbital polisher... rinse... 

2000 grit wet sand paper.... rinse... (the nasty stuff REALLY came off in this step- I guess I knocked it loose with the first?)

Meguairs Polishing compound (2).... polished in at 4k RPMs with same orbital buffer... rinse... 

dry by hand...

carnuaba wax.... three coats... buff @ 6kRPMs with fine foam pad between each... whallah!

rinse...

here is the step all y'all miss, that makes a HUGE difference (and is a trick the pro's use but rarely speak of) Rain-X... yup... wipe it on... you'll be amazed how stuff falls right off of the boat with that stuff on it..  

jbschmalz23

Never heard of anyone using rain-x. May have to try that. Let us know how it turns out. I have a black 280. Nothing better than a clean black boat... But have to agree.. A pain to keep it that way. I tried Flitz also.. Looked great for a day. The one thing I swear by at this point is meguires oxidization remover and meguires flagship marine wax. So far so good on the boat. The oxidization remover seemed to work better than the compound. @elarson5757, what year is your boat?

elarson5757

jbschmalz23 said:

Never heard of anyone using rain-x. May have to try that. Let us know how it turns out. I have a black 280. Nothing better than a clean black boat... But have to agree.. A pain to keep it that way. I tried Flitz also.. Looked great for a day. The one thing I swear by at this point is meguires oxidization remover and meguires flagship marine wax. So far so good on the boat. The oxidization remover seemed to work better than the compound. @elarson5757, what year is your boat?

2007 @jbschmalz23.  The shine doesn't last long for sure.  Maybe a month to 6 weeks with use on the weekends. And that's wiping it down after every use, etc. The worst area which frankly just never cleans up to a shine anymore is the 3-4" strip of black gel coat just above the rub rail all the way around.  Been thinking about trying to get someone to wrap that strip in gloss black or even applying a 3" gloss black stripe over it. 

jbschmalz23

Here are some before and afters on my 07 280. The oxidization remover did pretty good. It's still holding a good shine. Knock on wood! I don't have a facility near me to get it done professionally, so having to rely on my own elbow grease! 07 

raybo3

Looks great nice job