I've had some questions asking what tools and materials I used to wax my boat, and figured I'd share it here in case anyone else is interested.
I used a Makita 9227c to do the difficult work in getting the gelcoat to shine. I started out years ago with a Craftsman random orbital, but it really didn't have the 'guts' needed to do the job in a reasonable amount of time. Back when I was waxing my 17 Dusky, the random orbital was fine, but it would take me forever to do a 25 Parker with an orbital.
The
products that you use are almost as important to a good finish as the tool you use. In my case, the first thing that I use is a finish restorer to remove the old wax and to get the gelcoat as smooth and as clean as I can possibly get it.
The finish restorer I use is Woodys fiberglass restorer, and it is a medium to mild abrasive that cleans all of the haze and other contaminents from the gelcoat in order to give you a good base to begin bringing back the finish to better-than-new.
The next product in my process is 3M marine cleaner and wax. The 3M product has an even milder abrasive than the Woodys, but contains some wax to begin filling the pores of the gelcoat. After the 3M, I use Starbrite cleaner wax with Teflon. For my final 2 coats, I use Rejex.
My routine is a 5 step process that you really don't need to duplicate. Just make certain that before you begin applying your favorite wax that the finish is as flawless as you can get it. The best wax product(s) in the world will not hide a bad prep job.
As far as application... Application of each of my selected products goes on with a clean damp towel (or wax applicator) by hand, and is removed
while still damp using the Makita and a wool pad. There is no need to use the Makita to apply the product(s), only to remove and polish.
As your wool pads get 'filled' with material, use a screwdriver to scrape and fluff the spinning pad (be careful!) and change the pads out for clean ones often to avoid just moving contaminents around. When I'm done for the day, the wool pads get tossed in the washing machine for cleaning, and then are allowed to air dry.
Finish polishing the hull surface with a clean dry towel (I use old, well-washed undershirts). You can consider the job done when the finish meets your expectations.
Remember... the finish is cleaned and polished with the
material(s). The Makita is just the tool that does the 'heavy lifting'. Use it as you would any tool and let the machine and the wool bonnet do the work. Use a speed of between 3 and 4, keep the bonnet moving, exercise reasonable care, and you can get similar results to what you see in my photo.
Hope this helps.
