Polishing Yacht Paint 4 Years Old

By August 25, 2017 Coatings No Comments

Yacht Restoration

Recently a captain friend called me up and asked us to come look at his 112 Westport Yacht saying it was time for a proper polishing of the Alex Seal paint. This would be the 1st time the boat’s paint would receive a machine polish / restoration process to restore it to maximum color and shine. I could hear the hesitation in his voice as there are a lot of yacht polishing groups out there and many that can destroy a nice paint job with 1 bad step. I assured him that we would take maximum care of his boat and lead him through the 5 most critical steps to getting the very best yacht detailing result.

  1. Examine the paint to accertain the damage and decide which cutting compound and polish you will use. This is just like a doctors prescription for your ailment. Typically if you can put your watch face up perpendicular to the painted surface and not see any hands it will need a 4-step polishing process. If only 1 hand is visible a 3-step paint polishing process and if only 2 hand showing a 2-step.
  2. Decide the very best polishing pad for the job. Today 3m has made huge strides with they’re dual sided foam polishing pads and we use these alot as they minimize swirls and leave a good level finish. If the yacht is gelcoat and heavily oxidized we recommend using super buff white wool compounding pads.
  3. Prep the surface before polishing your boat with a hard wash. A hard wash is soap and water with spray nine added for extra lifting qualities. We tell our yacht detailers that the initial wash down of your boat is the chance to get alot of work done up front. Other wise you would be just pushing around dirt and filling your buffing pads up with crap, preventing them from doing they’re job.
  4. Work with the sun and wind. If you can start the compound and polishing on the shaded side of the boat this is good because when paint heats up it gets soft and is more susceptible to swirls in the paint. Work down wind if you can to avoid fall out being blown back into your beautiful yacht finishing.
  5. Between each compounding step wash the boat to remove any residual polish and change your pad. This allows the yacht detailing products to do they’re maximum good and will give you an excellent, clean finish.

Email us today for a Free Estimate to polish your vessel. [email protected]