Help! used #49 Oxidation Remover now have swirl marks

[johnn]

I own a 2007 Glastron GT185, this boat is on a lift all summer and tends to get alot of oxidation on the bottom of the hull. Dealer told me to use Meguiars Oxidation Remover #49-it works okay on the hard water/ oxidation areas, but in the process some ares are close to where there is light oxidation and I went over that area also. In the process it put minor swirl and some straight line haze marks in the gelcoat. How do I get these out and what Meguiars product do I use?

[Mike Phillips]

Meguiars Oxidation Remover #49-it works okay on the hard water/ oxidation areas, but in the process some ares are close to where there is light oxidation and I went over that area also.

In the process it put minor swirl and some straight line haze marks in the gel-coat.

How do I get these out and what Meguiars product do I use?

Well the way you remove any type of scratch or swirl is to remove the material surrounding the swirls and scratches until you make the surface level or flat. This means you need to abrade the surface again but do it in a way that only removes material without instilling swirls and scratches at the same time. This is where polishing anything becomes an art form.

Question?

How were you applying the M49?

By hand? If so, what kind of application material were you using?

[johnn]

I was using the Oxidation remover by hand. I rubbed the material in by
using circular motion along with some back forth movements to break up going in the same directions all the time. The reason for not using a machine is it under the boat and it is easier to do it by hand. These are minor swirls not real noticable without using the proper light. Are there any other products like #50 or would polishing take them out? Or do I have to this process all over again with the Oxidation Remover #49?
Any help would be great
Thanks John

[Mike Phillips]

What you need after a product like M49, a heavy cutting compound, is a cleaner/polish, a product that's less aggressive than the M49.

There's not actually a cleaner/polish category in the Marine Line, so we have to find an alternative.

Do you have a DA Polisher?

Also, what kind of application material did you apply the M49 with"

Terry cloth?
Foam?
Microfiber?

[johnn]

I used clean terry cloth to apply the M49, and a clean one to remove. I think I have a 4 or 6 inch wool pad that can fit on a drill. Or maybe I can borrow a buffer from my buddy. How about using somthing like M44 or M50 to take out the swirls. I know that there is product SWIRL X that i have heard alot about but is it for marine use. I would really like to find a way to do this by hand if possible. Its only about a 8 inch by 24 inch area.

[Mike Phillips]

How about using something like M44 or M50 to take out the swirls. I know that there is product SWIRL X that i have heard alot about but is it for marine use. I would really like to find a way to do this by hand if possible. Its only about a 8 inch by 24 inch area.

It's possible you could re-do the area using a foam applicator pad with the same product and just be carefully to hold your applicator pad flat to the surface and do your best to apply and work the product with even pressure.

Usually when you work by hand you have 4 distinct pressure points as seen in this example from working on a single stage red paint job.





M49 uses a fairly large and chunky diminishing abrasive and with diminishing abrasive type products you need to work the product until all the diminishing abrasives have broken down. If you stop working the product before the abrasives have broken down then while they still have some size to them they can instill swirls and scratches.

If M49 left swirls and scratches, it will take some measurable amount of aggressiveness to remove enough gel-coat to level these swirls and scratches out again.

M50 is a strong cleaner/wax and it may work but you would have to put a little passion behind the pad and apply it a few times. You won't know until you try.

SwirlX is in our Automotive Line and is not formulated specifically for gel-coat finishes but you could try it since it uses a different type of abrasive it just might work. It would be worth the $8.00 to $9.00 to test it out.

As for the machines you listed, a drill with a wool pad is a recipe for more swirls and you would want to find out what kind of buffer you buddy has.

Either a DA Polisher or a Rotary Buffer would fix the problem using a foam buffing pad and a less aggressive product than the M49.

Again, it might be worth it to try the new SwirlX or even the ScratchX 2.0, both should be fairly easy to find.

Than of course, after you fix the defect you would seal up all your hard work with a coat of wax or paint sealant.

[johnn]

What type of less aggressive product would you recomend? And what should do you recomend to apply to the bottom of the boat after I remove all the oxidation? I have a feeling what happened is some of the product went to the side from me applying pressure to the hard water/oxidized areas and when I went to buff the broken down material away I grabbed the unused material and "wala" swirls. I quess this is learning lesson to make sure that all of the product is worked in. I would like your recomendation on what to use for wax and what to apply to the bottom of the hull when done.
Thanks John

[Mike Phillips]

What type of less aggressive product would you recommend?

Foam applicator pad like you see in the picture above. Foam is more gentle to the finish than terry cloth. Terry cloth is the best choice for working a compound over oxidization, but after the hard work is done and you want to finish out nicer move to either a less aggressive product and a less aggressive application material or one or the other.

It's not just your choice of chemical that determines how aggressive or gentle your process is, it's also your application material, (the stuff in contact with the surface), and your process, (process would be hand or machine and if machine what type).

All of the above effects the results you're getting, what can be done by hand depends upon how hard the surface is you're working on, how deep the defects are, your process and your skills and abilities, but application material is important at both the beginning and the end processes.

And what should do you recommend to apply to the bottom of the boat after I remove all the oxidation?

If you're talking about a wax or paint sealant then our best Marine Wax is Flagship Premium Marine Wax, apply a couple coats of this product. If you're talking about a more complicated type of coating then you'll need to see an expert from Glastron.

I have a feeling what happened is some of the product went to the side from me applying pressure to the hard water/oxidized areas and when I went to buff the broken down material away I grabbed the unused material and "wala" swirls.

I guess this is learning lesson to make sure that all of the product is worked in.

We emphasize all the time on this forum the importance of working clean as it's very important for all kinds of reasons.

This last Saturday a neighbor brought over his just finished 1955 Chevrolet Pick-up Truck, (hot rod), to learn how to remove swirls out of his brand new custom paint job and before we even started working on the truck I had him sweep out the garage really well.

I would like your recommendation on what to use for wax and what to apply to the bottom of the hull when done.
Thanks John

The only finish coatings we make for gel-coat boats our our Marine Line of waxes here,

Marine Waxes