Should I polish or do I paint?
MOST boat owners ask themselves the question at one time in their ownership of a boat: “Do I polish the boat or do I repaint?”
The reason for this question is the dreaded oxidised or stained paintwork, possibly with a few scratches thrown in.
What is oxidation?
Dull or oxidised paintwork diffuses sunlight in all directions instead of reflecting it in one direction, as polished paintwork or surfaces do.
Depending on how severe the oxidation is determines whether you try and polish or ‘cut’ it out or go for the repaint.
Wax build-up and airborne contaminates mixed with bird lime can also make paint surfaces dull or ‘milky’ over time.
One client solved this by first using Panel Wipe, a mild form of paint thinners (Halfords) and by applying this with cloths removed the build-up of old waxes from the surface, then went over again with a colour restorer and finally used a spray carnauba wax to seal the surface and bring it back to its glossy former self, thus saving him several thousand pounds on a repaint.
Keeping it shiny
A great number of polishes, paste waxes and spray wax products contain silicone. It makes them super shiny very quickly – however, if one has to go back to the body shop for major or minor work then the silicone-covered paintwork has to be taken back to bare metal again as paint will not stick to silicone and the same goes for products containing PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) which will make the project cost more.
Most ‘waterless wash’ spray waxes contain silicone and while it’s great for on-site/on the water instant shine, in the long term it is a false fix.
Consider using carnauba (car-noo-ba) wax, which is the world’s hardest-known natural wax and comes from the leaves of the Brazilian carnauba palm of northern Brazil.
It only takes a small quantity of this wax to achieve a superb deep shine on most hard/semi-hard surfaces. This can come in paste wax format, creams and spray wax formats too. The amount of ‘elbow grease’ you wish to use will determine your choice of product.
Points to consider:
• Choose a good quality colour restorer, one that removes oxidation but also seals and shines at the same time.
• Consider a good-quality cream wax or spray wax for the finishing coat and preferably one enhanced by carnauba wax. Avoid silicone-based products.
• Microfibre cloths for these types of products and the overall project are crucial. T-shirts and yellow dusters are not going to do it, nor will the old ‘scrim cloth’. A good quality microfibre will set you back about £1.50 each – however there are eBay sellers who will sell you packs of 10 for less. The finish you expect will only happen with microfibre cloths.
• Application sponges. Again try eBay for these as they make application of colour restorer, cream and paste waxes easier and are cheap to buy.
• Set aside good quality time to clean the boat surfaces, to colour restore and to finish polish. We recommend a weekend should be enough time to completely restore and polish a 75ft narrowboat but that time will have been well spent for the coming months of sunny or harsh weather as the surfaces will now be, in effect, ‘armour plated’.
Once you have the colour restored and the finish wax is applied, then sit back and watch the neighbours on the canal marvel at how good your boat looks now.
Please note: If you have tried a small area of colour restoration and it is not removing the dullness in the paint, then you may have to consider a repaint.
For products and information about boat oxidation click the link to this short video at: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=XKv-uj25tSs
Visit www.bulletpolish.co.uk for information and to read the testimonials.