Quote:
Originally Posted by smiller
I have heard all the horror stories about the use of car waxes on a boats gelcoat.. Turnes it yellow, etc.. I have never really seen it.. All the car guys says its perfectly safe and people pushing marine waxes says it's not?? I honestly don't know but would love to, maybe with pictures??
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After conducting extensive R&D prior to creating the Boat Bling line of detailing products we learned a number of things rarely known outside the realm of chemists and professional detailers. I could go on for pages but I'll keep it to the point.
What causes yellowing on a boat that is waxed religiously? This is a 2 part answer:
1) Gelcoat is porous whereas automotive urethane finishes are for all intents and purposes not. Old wax builds up in these pores and if not fully removed chemically or manually prior to the next wax application it will continue to build up.
2) The majority of carnuba based waxes on the market contain very low grade, diluted carnuba wax mixed with other chemicals. Pure carnuba is incredibly expensive (we're talking $100+ for just a few ounces) and also very difficult to work with. Far too much trouble for the average consumer. These low grade carnubas will discolor to yellow or brown once dried out.
Combine gelcoat pores with build up of old waxes, dirt, hard water solids, etc and you have yellowed gelcoat within a few seasons. Fortunately it is usually 100% reversible with an acid etch, heavy buff, or worst case..colorsanding.
Carnuba wax leaves a beautiful gloss finish which is why it's an easy sell however it does not hold up to the marine environment like a silicone based wax leaving your unprotected gelcoat exposed. This was the primary reason we only use silicone waxes in our products. High quality silicone wax also degrades at a much, much slower rate so it will not yellow over time. You may notice that even the traditional auto wax manufacturers have released silicone based waxes to their lineup for this reason.
Ultimately, the better the wax coat the easier it will be to remove waterspots. I can not stress this enough.
If anyone has any questions please do not hesitate to contact me directly!
zack@boatbling.net