Just came out of a seminar hosted by a local yacht club.
One of the points made for any boat with gel coat was that gel coat needs to "breath" - hence the speaker recommended using a wax with carnauba wax. The speaker made the point that sealants that do not use carnauba wax tend to "seal" and the lack of air is not beneficial to gel coat wear and tear.
Last edited by dlandersson on Mon Mar 02, 2020 9:44 am, edited 2 times in total.
It's the only wax to use for fiberglass mold release and I also use it on my vintage cars. It is a natural, very hard wax that I've never seen harm a surface.
I like pure carnauba wax but it's hard to find. Most Carnauba wax you see has an emulsifier to prevent it from drying and making white marks, or it has a cleaner in it.
Been using this for about 40 years now? This stuff predates me by many years -
Per their website:
IS 885 FLEETWAX THE PASTE VERSION OF THE 870 FLEETWAX?
No. 885 is a pure wax with no cleaners. 870 is a one step liquid cleaner wax.
The stuff is pretty old - like 1936 I think. It's the cheapest I know of that is pure carnauba: 20 bucks at Amazon. (I think it's 30 bucks at West Marine).
You can always tell the pure carnauba because it must be wiped off before it dries or it's really hard to wipe off - that's the trick with pure carnauba - you need to wipe it and buff while it's still wet.
I bought/tried that Fleet wax. I've heard great things about it.
However, it's hard to apply. Very hard paste. Is that normal? I gave up. My arms couldn't do it.
It's extremely difficult unless the surface is very very very very clean. Any dirt or oxidation or contaminate of any kind will grab the wax and slow it down and make the rag drag like cheese on a grater. To get pure carnauba out of the can when it's cold you need to rub it vigorously with the rag to warm it up with friction. As the can warms up the wax gets softer. The wax soaks into the surface as you rub it off. That's why you want all the dirt out of the surface - the surface has many microscopic holes an valleys and canyons and they get full of dirt and eventually soak into the gel coat and stain the boat. You want to remove that dirt and replace the dirt with the carnauba wax. The wax keeps the dirt out of the holes and stuff and keeps the gel from drying out. It keeps my black stripes from drying out - they still look the same as the day I picked up the boat from the factory because I always keep a layer of 885 on the stripes. Black stripes dry out because black absorbs the sun and gets hot. Even if i don't have time to clean and wax the boat after the season I will always clean the stripes and coat then with 885 - then i cover the boat with a tarp. Four months later when i pull the tarp off the boat is covered in dust and dirt but a rinse with the hose reveals bright shiny stripes that have been protected from dirt and have not dried out.
Emulsifiers get into the holes and block the wax from getting in and make the wax less effective at protecting the surface. that's why I use only the pure wax that has no other ingredients.
BOAT wrote: ↑Tue Mar 03, 2020 7:44 am
It's extremely difficult unless the surface is very very very very clean. Any dirt or oxidation or contaminate of any kind will grab the wax and slow it down and make the rag drag like cheese on a grater. To get pure carnauba out of the can when it's cold you need to rub it vigorously with the rag to warm it up with friction. As the can warms up the wax gets softer. The wax soaks into the surface as you rub it off. That's why you want all the dirt out of the surface - the surface has many microscopic holes an valleys and canyons and they get full of dirt and eventually soak into the gel coat and stain the boat. You want to remove that dirt and replace the dirt with the carnauba wax. The wax keeps the dirt out of the holes and stuff and keeps the gel from drying out. It keeps my black stripes from drying out - they still look the same as the day I picked up the boat from the factory because I always keep a layer of 885 on the stripes. Black stripes dry out because black absorbs the sun and gets hot. Even if i don't have time to clean and wax the boat after the season I will always clean the stripes and coat then with 885 - then i cover the boat with a tarp. Four months later when i pull the tarp off the boat is covered in dust and dirt but a rinse with the hose reveals bright shiny stripes that have been protected from dirt and have not dried out.
Emulsifiers get into the holes and block the wax from getting in and make the wax less effective at protecting the surface. that's why I use only the pure wax that has no other ingredients.
Ah...that makes sense. It's been a while and I may not have cleaned the hull thoroughly. I have used cleaner waxes that are one step, but obviously inferior durability.
I now use this stuff to clean the hull (and car paint). It preps the surface so the wax can glide on easily. I'll try the Fleetwax again with the process you describe. Thanks.
Have you tried this product to clean the fiberglass? I may pick up a bottle to try.
BOAT wrote: ↑Tue Mar 03, 2020 9:16 am
Yes I do use the 920. Have you used both? Which one cleans better?
I just ordered some of the 920. I'll report with comparison results. My guess is it will work better on FIBERGLASS.
Gonna take some time as the boat is in the shed and we still have 6" of snow on the ground.
