How to Make Fiberglass Bass Boats Look New
When bass boats have been subjected to the elements, including rain, fog, UV (ultraviolet) sunlight, oxidation, saltwater, and oil and wax residue they become faded and blurred. The surface pigment will have a glazed or white haze overlaying it, making it difficult to see the true color in the fiberglass laminate. Thankfully, the damage usually involves the minute surface layer of the gelcoat and you can restore it to look like new with a little manual labor, a few products and simple steps.
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Things You'll Need
- Tarp
- Dishwashing soap (Dawn)
- Bucket
- Scrub brush (medium bristle)
- Terry cloth towels
- Scouring mitt
- Spot remover-cleaner (for marine fiberglass)
- Orbital sander
- Foam sanding disk
- Cutting pad
- Combination wax-polish cleaner (paste)
- Safety goggles
- Polishing pad
- Finishing paste wax nonabrasive, noncleaning)
Instructions
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Transport the boat to a convenient work location if you have it moored or docked. Tarp the upper deck if you wish to keep it dry. Mix a solution of mild dishwashing soap in a large bucket of warm water. Rinse the boat to wet the surface. Use a medium-stiff bristle cleaning brush to scrub down the hull area, but only a section at a time. Concentrate on an area roughly 3-by-4-feet in size. Rinse each section quickly. Do not allow soap to dry on the hull.
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Remove the heaviest grime and algae you can with the brush on the entire hull. Rinse with water and leave wet. Use a spot remover-cleaner in an aerosol spray bottle to wet one large section of the hull. If the directions require you to wait several minutes to let the cleaner work, do so. Don a scrubbing mitt that has a scouring pad surface and scrub the hull section with circular motions.
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Rinse the each section thoroughly with water and move on to the next hull section. Scrub the entire hull this way. This procedure removes hard water spots, scum, algae, fish blood, rust and deeper oxidation. Look for deepest stains and remove them with the scouring mitt. Pay particular attention to rust stains around steel fittings or areas on or underneath the rub rails.
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Dry the hull with terry cloth towels. Attach a foam backing disk to an orbital sander. Attach a cutting pad to the backing disk. Don safety goggles. Apply a circular layer of cleaner-wax-polishing (combination) paste to the cutting pad. Turn the orbital sander on and buff the polishing paste on the hull's surface.
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Move the orbital sander back and forth, starting at the top and working your way down. Buff the polish into the gelcoat until residue disappears. Repeat the procedure on another section. Circle the entire hull with the orbital sander, always keeping it moving. Do not let the sander spin and burn in one spot. Use light to medium pressure, applying the disk's face flat against the hull.
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Wipe the hull with clean terry cloth towels. Examine any spots that appear blurry or hazed over. Go over the spots with the cleaning-wax-polish and orbital sander. Wipe the residue away with towels. Change the cutting pad on the orbital sander to a polishing pad. Apply a thick circle of finishing wax on the polishing pad. The finishing wax should be a paste type and have no cleaners or abrasives in it.
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Buff the finishing wax into the hull's surface as you did with the cleaner-wax-polish. Do one large section at a time. Change the polishing pad to a new one when it loads up. Buff the surface until you see the deep rich shine of the original paint. Wipe all residue away with clean terry cloth towels.
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Tips & Warnings
Remember that cleaning the fiberglass surface is a four-step process: Wash, stain removal, clean-polish and finishing wax. You should be able to clearly see your reflection in the surface after finishing.
You can use the same cleaning and polishing techniques on any other part of the boat's surface, like the upper deck, cabin area or live wells. Polish tight areas like seams and joints by hand.
References
- Photo Credit Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images
