No buffing wax

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Pugapooh

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 7, 2016
Posts
832
Location
Montgomery Co,MD
Is there such a product for gel coat and is it any good?  The thought of trying to apply and buff is just daunting.  Thank you.
 
Sure, plenty of them.  Synthetic waxes (which is most of them, these days), are basically wipe on and wipe off, with maybe a bit of extra effort in the wipe off part.  Products that add cleaners take a little bit more effort, but well short of "buffing". It's not until the cleaner product gains enough grittiness to be considered a "rubbing compound" or "oxidation remover" that the process of rubbing it off gets really tiring when done by hand.

Natural waxes, especially the ultra hard carnuba wax) take a lot of rubbing, both to apply and to "buff" to a gloss.

So, the effort required depends on the condition of the gel surface. If it's merely a bit grimy, any light-duty cleaner/wax will do a fine job with out major effort. Nu-Finish, Meguiar's Flagship, etc. If the surface is oxidized, plan  on using a stronger cleaner,  one labeled for oxidation removal, and more rubbing. At some point, a machine buffer is worthwhile.
 
I've been using Blue Coral wash and wax for 20 years on all my vehicles including the gel coat on my RV which is 22 years old. The RV is stored outside year round and I wash it twice a year. It still shines like new and the decals haven't faded. I mix it about four times stronger than recommended, put it in a spray bottle, spray it on about 6 feet at a time, then use an extended wash brush to soap down that area, then rinse with the garden hose, and I'm done in 2 hours on my 30' RV. No rubbing, no buffing, no ladders. There are lots of "experts" who say only use Mother's brand or some kind of airplane or marine wax. Blue Coral is real carnauba wax just like the other brands and its been popular for decades. Buy a $5 jug and judge for yourself.

Click here:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Blue-Coral-Wash-Wax-Concentrate-100-washes-100-fl-oz/16889006
 
Do you have gel coat, or is it clear coat? Gel coat is applied in the fiberglass mold and provides the color of the finished product. Clear coat is used over a painted surface. The product(s) you need will depend on which you have.
 
To give extra shine and protect the vehicle's paint, I use wax after 5 weeks usually. However, with good sealant, they would be there for more than three months. You can also do the ceremic coating because it is less expensive as compared to wax.
 
Blue Coral is real carnauba wax just like the other brand...
Like most products claiming "carnauba wax", Blue Coral has a couple grains of it suspended in the liquid solution. Enough to make the advertising claim legit but not enough to have any effect at all.  Carnauba is an extremely hard natural wax that is not going to cling to the surface without significant elbow grease or machine  work.  It has to be dissolved in a bit of petroleum oil even to make it soft enough to spread!
 
Thank you for all the replies!  I don?t know what the hubby wound up buying.  He says it?s gel coat.  Idk, his project,not mine.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Like most products claiming "carnauba wax", Blue Coral has a couple grains of it suspended in the liquid solution. Enough to make the advertising claim legit but not enough to have any effect at all.  Carnauba is an extremely hard natural wax that is not going to cling to the surface without significant elbow grease or machine  work.  It has to be dissolved in a bit of petroleum oil even to make it soft enough to spread!

This is a forum where people post their opinions and this is my opinion. Sorry it is different than yours. Carnauba wax also dissolves in alcohol. If you look at the MSDS Blue Coral contains 5% alcohol. When the alcohol evaporates it leaves a coating of wax which in my experience delivers better performance than Carnauba wax dissolved in oil. I live in the south (MS) where the sun and rain are both brutal. The 2nd picture below is my 1997 motorhome which was washed on the first warm day in February. The sun is from the opposite direction this afternoon so it is difficult to get a picture showing the surface reflectivity but maybe you can see the gel coat, decals, and stripes are not faded or degraded. You can see the white awning pole reflected in the window, window seal, and graphic. Yes, even rubber window seals come out shiny. In the 1st picture is our towed vehicle which we purchased brand new in 2001. It has sat outside in the sun for 18 years and has had only Blue Coral to protect the paint. This picture was taken this afternoon and it has not been washed in over a month. Next to it is my Firebird purchased new in 1978 and it also has sat outside all its life. The original paint is still in good shape after 41 years although I didn't start using Blue Coral until 20 years ago. None of these have ever been "buffed" which is maybe why the paint lasts forever. Maybe not as high a shine as a buffer but it works for me. I pay cash for a brand new car every 5 years so I can't vouch for its long term performance on newer paint formulations. But my dealer always gives me $2-4K over book trade in value because my trade in looks brand new after 5 years of Blue Coral. No, I don't work for and have never been associated with the Blue Coral company. Just a now retired computer programmer who uses what works.

http://portal.ecolab.com/servlet/PdfServlet?sid=945717&cntry=US&langid=en-US&langtype=RFC1766LangCode&locale=en_US&pdfname=BLUE+CORAL+COLD+WAX
 

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