Gel Coat slightly dull after polishing

[Skier404]

Working on polishing my dads 18' Crownline runabout, and after a few years the gelcoat has gotten dull. Still plenty of shine, but there is an underlying dull haze. From mikes previous articles from the Geek, he always mentioned that Factory gelcoat is hard. I would agree, its hard stuff. Is it still the case that finishing out with a course pad will yield better results and get rid of the dull under haze?

My process for above the rub rail was 3D ONE and a RUPES yellow MF pad, then finish with 3D One and a yellow RUPES foam pad, using FLEX CBeast. Is it worth just doing a one step with RUPES blue foam pad and 3D One. Test spot will tell all, looking to bounce ideas.

Thanks

 

[Mike Phillips]

Do a Test Spot over a dull area polished with the RUPES yellow foam polishing pad changing to a sharper foam cutting pad.

I have not used 3D ONE on gelcoat, so I don't know if it's any good for this material.

And to your point, in all my years of detailing boats and teaching boat detailing, my own personal experience is,

Factory gelcoats are harder than gelcoat repaints and prefer foam CUTTING pads for the polishing step.​

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Gelcoat repaints, that is a boat that has been repainted but with polyester resin, (fiberglass/gelcoat), not car paint - tend to be softer and like foam POLISHING pads.​

I think pigments have an effect too because like working on single stage paint, when working on gelcoat, you're working on a combination of resin and pigment. Conversely, when working on modern basecoat/clearcoat paints - you're working on pure resin sans the pigment.


Apologies for the delay, working on a brand-new article and video on the best polishers for beginners. Deadline is today.


Mike

 

[Skier404]

Thanks for the response Mike. We will give it a try later this week and see what the results are. I may try a different compound/ Polish. I do like 3D. It just seems to take forever to get all the polish residue off.

 

[dbrun]

I would try a one step with rupes blue pad or even purple or blue foamed wool pad from lake country if you have them, I would even try it on rotary and see the results.