Oxidation

[simon20.69]

I'm doing some work on my brothers boat, previosly my dad's boat. It is like brand new - 1987 18' bow rider. I bought some Mothers Black to Black deoxidzer (works on any color) I tested an area and it worked great! Will this do any long term damage to the gel coat? I would like to use on my bow rider and Carver as well.... But, before I go full steam ahead i want to be sure it is safe. Any advice?

 

[cmariner32]

Not familiar with Mothers but for really bad oxidation, you may need to wet sand first....then compound. 3M heavy duty compound is great followed by Finesse-It II or Buff Magic and Pro Polish or the wax/sealant of your choice. I thought Mothers was a car wax company, not a marine wax/sealant product manufacturer. There is a difference between automotive and marine.

 

[SnakeBite]

I just finished a project on my heavily oxidized Carver 3257. It looked terrible...tried a "deoxidizer" in a small patch earlier in the year and it did make it look better on the patch that I tried. It started clouding up again within a few weeks in the sun. This spring, I took it down by wet-sanding, then doing the 3M compound, then the FinesseIt II...then waxed. The results were amazing. Of course, mine was in terrible shape...a topical material that doesn't require you to remove any of the gelcoat would have been wonderful, but, I had to go "old school" to get it back. Red and black are the worst for oxidation...what color is the boat you're working on?

 

[simon20.69]

I contacted Mothers tech line. I spoke with a tech who really pondered the question but could not say why it would not be used on gelcoat. He was so intrigued he had the chemist call me back. The chemist was concerned because he really had no idea of the long term effects.. So he does not recommend using it. Though he was not entirely sure that it would really be harmful. Decided not to use it anymore...

 

[imspacemancraig]

Before you go the sanding route, may I recommend another 3M product called "Marine Restorer and Wax". I used this on mine 1986 and it totally brought the boat back to life. On the label it says:

"Designed to remove HEAVY oxidation, chalking, fading, minor scratches, rust and exhaust stains; plus provide protection on fiberglass/gelcoat. Available in liquid and paste versions."

I used the liquid version. What made this even more awesome, I only needed to apply once, one coat on and buff out. It goes on a bit thick and takes some effort to wipe off, but one coat and I could see my reflection on it. My recommendation is to do small areas at a time. Like as far as you can reach side to side without moving. Then buff off before moving to the next section.

Thoroughly amazed with this. I used this for two seasons now on the hull and this season, switch to there normal wax now that I got all the oxidation out. Even the professional guy that was working on some other boats was amazed how good it looked when I was done. Not the cheapest wax, I think it was about $30 for the big bottle, but I only needed half to do the hull of my 32 ft. Mariner.