Waxing Graphics

This may be a dumb question but... I am about to fully wax my boat for the first time. Is it ok to wax over the graphics or do I need to go around them?

I'm kinda curious about that myself

your fine...wax away.

I wax over mine. no trouble in five years

do you guys use a buffer over them ?

You can, but make sure that you're wiping on/wiping off from the center of the graphic outwards - not the other way around, or you run the risk of lifting the edge of the graphic. On lettering, that can be hard to do, so to be safe I'd recommend not waxing letters. I would avoid the drop-molded (is that what it's called?) stuff too.

Upon reflection, the simple answer would be "no."

Definitely no buffer.

Another question: do you wax the entire hull or just above the water line?

You can if you want to.

swass, are you serious? Your going to have to buff extremely hard and use alot of pressure to get thsoe letters to come off , even the drip molded ones. A buffign wheel is fine to use over any letters. Your obviously nto using the buffing tool right if yoru pressign hard enough to potentialy rip letters off. and the part about going from inside out is laughable. There are a couple guys who own detail places that frequent on here , I'd love to hear their input. Like Dave I've waxed over all kinds of letters...never even once thougth about having one fall off.

That's just my opinion, based on my experience. I had to replace a graphic because I lifted an edge while waxing. Obviously, your experience differs from mine.

I do feel the need to point out that I said "you run the risk of..." not "it will happen."

(Message edited by swass on September 17, 2007)

the other thing to consider when waxing around graphics is not to "burn" through them. They will react differently under high RPM's than gelcoat, I would be very nervous buffing drip molded decals. I would be careful around the edges of decals, but don't see the point of buffing over them, you are not going to get scratches out. If you want to wax over them just do it by hand.

+ 1 with swass only hand wax the stickers. I had to replace mine do to light buffer use. It took off the gray on my old boat.

no buffer for me, hand wax only. no problem with waxing stickers, just make sure you get real good around the edge of the sticker or you will get build up in the seem. as for drip molded, i have them on the new ride and have not wax yet. i have a decal manufactur recomendation sheet from the dealer i havennt looked at yet. when i get home tomorrow i will see what it says. anyone with an 08 bu should have it if they can post it.

I waxed it all by hand and did not have any issues around the decals, except for the build up around the edges as mentioned above. The top of the deck is now so slick I think it will be a safety hazard when putting boards on/off the racks...

I wax all by hand at least twice a season using maguire's stuff....especially high exposed areas in & out ....as for decals....I usually wax em' over a couple times.....I figure if there nice & slippery...they'd be harder to rip off....my 2cents.

Kinda off topic but close . . . What's the best thing to use to get the sticky off from old decals ?

goo gone has worked for me in the past depending on how much glue they used. if it's alot, I resort to the power washer.

I've tried goo gone but I couldn't get it to work did you use a scrub brush or what ? Power washing and scrubbing is plan B