Anyone tried Poli Glow on the stripes?

C

chucko

New member
My blue brow is fading from constant sun and I am weary of the frequent compound,polish and wax drill. Any reviewers out there? :smiled
 
The problem with Poly Glow and similar acrylics is that they yellow and build up with age. Eventually they have to be stripped of. A big job. Most folks who use them, eventually give up. No free lunches! (OK maybe there are some places?)
 
If you want a quick shine--Amorall, 303 protectorant, even penetrol (bad idea) will give a shine which lasts a few days or so...
 
The thing that would bother me about Armor-All is that it contains silicone (so if you ever wanted to paint, get caulk to stick, etc...).

I tried (and tried, and tried) last winter to varnish some wood that had been part of the interior on a Tartan. It was nice teak-faced plywood and I had made a stove/sink cover out of it. Well, apparently they had used something like Lemon Pledge furniture polish on it (contains silicone), some day long in the past ,and try as I might (sanding, acetone, "fish eye remover," more sanding, scraping, spraying, more solvents, etc.) I could never get the varnish to stick. I finally had to throw them away and start over with different wood.

A very good way to get a shine that will last for a decade or more (depending on "living conditions") is a two-part paint such as Awlgrip (or other two-part coatings). But you're probably not looking to do that.

Sunbeam

PS: I'm just curious, because you mention "frequent" compound/polish/waxing.... I'm not surprised that the brow fades and needs compounding, but once brought up to shine again, I'm surprised that it needs to be repeated frequently. Maybe I'm just out of touch with horizontal/dark gelcoat surfaces. Or.... what sort of products are you using when you do the compounding/polishing/waxing?
 
Chucko,
I am in the process of stripping the Poly Glow off of the Comfy Dory after 5 years. I will be re-finishing with Poly Glow again! I personally love the Stuff. The key is proper preparation. The products that come with the re-finishing kit are: Poly Ox for hard to clean stains, Poly Prep which is used to strip off any finish and oxidized color stripes and Poly Glow. I requires about 4-5 coats the first application to get the "new paint job" finish. After the 1st year, I applied a new coat or two of Poly Glow to bring back any areas that were dulled or worn down by abrasion with fenders etc... This worked fine for several years and now I am at the stage of a full stripping and re-finish. I also removed all the cleats, snaps, rings and other hardware so as to make the application easier by not having to apply around those items. The stripping takes some elbow grease, but Poly Glow now has a product called Poly Strip I think which would have made this stripping easier, but I didn't know about it when I started the process. I finished stripping yesterday and should be able to begin applying finish coats next weekend.
I know there are those that think this product will yellow and require additional coats, but I find the yellowing is not significant if new finish coats are applied regularly. Even wax requires continuing applications AND BUFFING. No buffing with Poly Glow...just wipe it on, let it dry for a minute and then apply another coat. Beginning and ending points as well as overlaps do not show, so it is pretty easy to apply...just be careful of drips.
Tad
 
Just my 2 cents. My 27 was finished with poly glow by someone in the past. If I even find the A hole rat b@#$%r I will kill him, twice. hard to get off does not even began to describer the horror that is poly glow. It should be outlawed and the inventor hanged, and not by the neck. But hey your results my very.
 
I have heard that if you stay on top of it, it is better. Interesting that the result seems better when there is a high UV (Florida). Tad is your boat under cover all of the time, in a garage or shed, on the water etc?

Aslo as you remove the deck hardware (big job!) are you potting any cored areas with epoxy? What are you using to seal the fittings when you put them back in?

How long does it take to strip the boat?--(Hours)

Thanks
 
Five years ago when I bought my 1996 boat it was dull looking so I took it to a professional detailer nearby and he used a product called "Optimum Car Wax" by OPU. It came out great. And five years later it still looks pretty good. The brow is oxidized again but overall looks good. Now I keep the roof covered with a canvas when not using it to protect it.
 
What Tad said! I'm not nearly as far into the cycle. I'll be doing a 2nd application this fall. Boat has been uncovered in all weather. I washed Lucky Day yesterday - first wash since last October. Easy-peasy.

And as Tad said: The preparation is the key. Let me repeat that: preparation is the key. I didn't get all areas of the dark trim on the hull sides back to even coloration before the PoliGlow - my bad. I'll redo those areas. (I'll use the Poli-Strip for those spots and start them over.) So far I am really happy with the product.
 
I have also used Poli-Glo for a few years now and will also stick with it.

My issue is that I love to boat and hate to wax, and the older gelcoat gets, the more porous it gets, and the shorter the wax lasts before the dreaded brow fade begins.
With the Poli, the boat stays shiny all season. As for the slight yellowing, I think it looks good because the boat is not white anyway.

I got 2 seasons before I needed to strip the roof, and it comes off easy with the Poli-strip. The strip was needed because I got a little too aggressive in the cleaning before a re-coat, and had removal in some areas that gave it a blotchy look.

One issue with the Poli-prep and Poli-strip, as told to me by the manufacturer at a boat show, is that they have a short shelf life, something less than a year. Most of the removal horror stories would not happen if the owners had used the correct fresh product.
 
Dr. Bob,

I keep the Comfy Dory under a pipe frame and tarp...on of those 10' x 20' ones that you can get at Home Depot. It only is out when we launch the boat for a trip. As with any finish and especially here in FL, the sun will fade ANYTHING!
I have only re-cored the holes that are on the transom where the transducer is mounted and the wire clips to the transducer are fastened and any other areas that are in or near the water or are horizontal where water might sit and soak in. I just use a silicone sealer when I re-install the snaps, cleats, rings etc.
Weekend before last, I worked Sat. and Sun. removing and cleaning hardware and stripping the cabin roof and cabin sides. This past weekend, I stripped the cockpit and engine well and the sides down to the waterline. I stripped the pin stripe off just above the water line and the old C Dory decals which I traced on the boat and had a local sign shop make a new pair for me. The old decals also had the 3 Rivers Marine address on them from the dealer that sold the boat to the previous owner but I eliminated those on the new decal since they are no longer a C Dory dealer.
I think I could have shortened the stripping time if I had used the new Poly Strip product, but I didn't know about it. I was not aware that the Poly Prep and Poly Strip are age sensitive...that could have made a difference as I started with product that was about 3 years old.
I'm looking forward to seeing it shine this next weekend!
Tad
 
Well being old school,I went back to buffing and re waxing, with pretty good results for now. I may have a better solution though, and am considering having a vinyl wrap done in the matching color. Has anyone tried that yet? I see a lot of boats with colors that fade easily using this method and the results I have seen look great. lates pic is last one in my album,couldn't figure how to move it to this post.[/img] :idea
 
The problem I see with vinyl wrap is that it is fairly easy to ding up. Also it may be hard to get a good fit, since there are some curves in the area which is wrapped. (Like the eyebrow). However I am more familiar with the wrap which does the entire side of the boat--and is pretty expensive.
 
I believe Chucko said that he just buffed and waxed, the "old fashioned" way. I figured I'd post the photo so folks could see it here vs. going over to his album.

I recently buffed/polished/waxed mine, and got similar results.
 
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