gelcoat help

cpt vic · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:50 am Post subject: gelcoat help

last year we scraped against a boat which put a scratch mark on our green trim, although we think that it is varnish from their wooden rub rail, you can barely scratch a little off with your fingernail but is VERY hard, does seem to be on top of our gelcoat.
i don't want to make it worse, some advice i'd gotten was acetone? any new thoughts. we lived with it last season but now want to fix it for relaunch. it looks whitish and is long thin line.our boat is only a year old so the finish is like new. thanx

thataway · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:14 pm Post subject:

Acetone will soften Gel coat. I don't recommend it for cleaning unless essential. I would use a good polish and see if the scratch will polish out.
At some point you will probably need to compound the boat--There are various grades of compounds--but I would choose one with minimal cutting power to start with. I have used mostly Colinite Fleet Wax and 3 M products with success.

cpt vic · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:21 pm Post subject:

i used 3m restorer and then cleaner wax looks pretty good , thanx for advice