Print Page | Close Window

Wet sand dull "white gray" gelcoat

Printed From: myHanse.com
Category: Hints & Tips
Forum Name: 400
Forum Description: 400 Hints, Tips and News
URL: https://www.myhanse.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=11152
Printed Date: 28 March 2024 at 19:41
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.06 - https://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: Wet sand dull "white gray" gelcoat
Posted By: toholthe
Subject: Wet sand dull "white gray" gelcoat
Date Posted: 07 December 2018 at 11:55
The gelcoat on the ship sides of my Hanse 400 2007 is quite dull on the foreship. From the shrouds back it looks ok and keeps glossy all season after a good wax in the spring. The boat has a very light gray color. The front part of the boat quickly becomes dull when looking close.

I met a guy last summer who had sanded a small part of his boat and that looked like new. I am therefore thinking of using Abralon wet sanding pads and try and restore the gelcoat to new shape. The light gray is easier to hold than the darker colors, so this should hold a new 10 years.

I am thinking of starting with 500 grid then 1000 - 2000 - buff - polish - wax.
http://www.mirka.com/no/ABRALON-8A0/" rel="nofollow - https://www.mirka.com/no/ABRALON-8A0/

Have anyone tried this procedure? Is it a lot of work? I am only doing the front part of the boat.
It seems unlikely to sand through the gelcoat as it is quite thick, but did you do this if you tried?

It does not show easily in a picture, by you can clearly see on the dark decor stripe where the dullness is.







Replies:
Posted By: Rubato
Date Posted: 07 December 2018 at 17:37
I was discussing the very same problem with our 2007 light blue Hanse with a local fiberglass repair expert. He recommended exactly as you are proposing. In fact, after a bit of a scuffle on a start line earlier this year, he did this process on a few small sections of one side a and it worked out beautifully. However, as you suspect, it is a lot of work.



-------------
Steve

Hanse 400e, #168


Posted By: samuel
Date Posted: 07 December 2018 at 22:24
As well as my Hanse I have a Squib keel boat & my crew spent a few hours sanding the gell coat & that came up as new. So apart from the fact it is a lot of work I think that you will find it rewarding.

I did have a problem with the blue strip on my Hanse at the waterline fading very badly. Blue is notorious for the white discolouration in the gel coat.

I found that buffing it with an electric polisher, fitted with a lambs wool pad, using an oven cleaning paste (Aspire)  & also Ajax, powder, cleaner, worked & restored it to the original blue. Perhaps you might try something like that first, as it is slightly less abrasive & less work to apply.


-------------
Daydream Believer- Hanse 311- No GBR9917T- Bradwell Essex


Posted By: Captain Cook
Date Posted: 07 December 2018 at 22:36
We owners of the older Hanses see the signs of age on the ships - just like ourselves, the ship becomes a little dull in the lines as years pass by. I do not have the energy or patience to sand the hull, but I have used metal polish (for cars) to freshen up the gelcoat. This polish removes anything from the fibreglass, even hard deposits on the waterline.
In Scandinavia you can buy it at Biltema, order no. 36-48.


-------------
Freya H400 #27 (2006), 40HP 3JH4E, 2-cabin, 3-blade Flexofold, Aries LiftUp Windvane, Exturn 300, Jefa DD1,Simrad NX40,Icom M603(VHF)+M802(SSB)


Posted By: Gaga
Date Posted: 17 December 2018 at 21:20
Can recommend : www.renskib.com

I own a Hanse 400 from 2008 in gray Colour. This is My 5 th sailboat
They did a 10 years makeover at beginning of season And i have never ended the Sail season with a Boat still shining.

Renskib.com products are easy to use and good instructions are available.

I choosed to pay for the freeboard done by them and meantime did the deck and cockpit myself.
All in all 3 men over 2 days. Or 1 x 6 days.
Next season need just the fine polish and sealing which I can do in 1 day myself.

Gaga Den808 - Denmark






[URL= ][/URL][URL= ][/URL][URL= ][/URL]


Posted By: toholthe
Date Posted: 18 December 2018 at 10:24
3 men for 2 days. Sounds like they did quite a job. I guess they also sanded as only rubbing, polish and wax would not take such a long time. 

What did you pay for the job? Maybe it is worth sailing the boat to Denmark.


Posted By: Gaga
Date Posted: 18 December 2018 at 11:17
They sanded - as I understood 1000/2000 and 3000 then their product 120 and then 130 a and 130 b
So 6 times through the whole freeboard plus aft incl swimmingplatform etc.
I think it’s was around dkk 20.000 I paid. Then I made the deck and cockpit myself without sanding as it
is white and I saw no need to sand it to get it shiny.

You can contact Martin at Renskib.com . I know they do work also outside Denmark.


Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 20 December 2018 at 08:49

I recently arranged a polishing course to various boat owners here in Sweden as I realized that not many boat owners know how to polish a boat like a pro and that they used wrong pads for the different phases of boat cleaning and polishing. Now it sounds like I am a pro myself, which is not, the truth as many of you know. Long story short, I met the right person in the right time and place who told me one and two things about polishing and as I listened to him I realized that not only me but also other people I know have done it wrong for years.

 

Before you start considering wetsanding your boat and by doing so, thinning out your gelcoat layer, consider to polish like a pro with pro products. It will be worth while the time and the money.

Its all about using the right pads and chemicals in order to reach a super shiny surface.

 

My boat has been quite dull during last few years and the grey waterline has been almost white to the level where I thought that I need to re-paint it. The deck house has been impossible to get shiny and I thought that it was due to UV radiation. This is what I did and I got some test sport to shine like a mirror.

 

Step 1.
Before you polish you need to wash your boat with alkaline detergent which will remove all carbon based dirt. Start from the top of the boat so you will not later on get running marks on the side of the hull.

Add the detergent, let it cure for a while and then use a cloth or sponge to rub the areas clean. If the dirt is too strong, use alkaline detergent directly on the sponge. Rinse with water when you are done and let it dry or dry with a cloth. At this stage my boat started to shine so the alkaline detergent really did its job.

 

Step 2.

Take a orbit polishing machine if you have as they are the best ones to polish with. They do not leave holograms or “suns”. However, an ordinary rotating machine does the trick to.

The essence here is to use “full speed” as the friction creates heat and the heat reacts with the rubbing paste. Use a sheep wool pad, as it is the coarsest pad you can use for rubbing. NO, it’s NOT for polishing!! Sheeps look soft and cute but the wool is made of long fibers that actually are not soft at all when it comes to a gelcoat surface.

Use a medium course rubbing paste to remove all remaining oxidation on the gelcoat. Have few pads as reserves, a 37 footer need 4 pads approx.. Rub the whole side/boat before you move to next step. Very important that you do not do small areas at the time. At this step, my areas started to shine like never before so in general I could stop here but I still need to protect the now shining areas so let’s continue…

 

Step 3.

Move now to a medium hard and coarse foam pad and to a finer polishing paste. Medium speed on the polishing machine and start polishing the whole area/boat as above.

 

Step 4.

Change to a fine and soft...er pad and use fine polishing paste and slow speed on the machine. Remember, you need to move the machine all the time on all the steps so you don’t get burn marks. When you have done this, your boat should now be shiny like mirror. If not, I do not know what you have done with your boat.

 

Step 5.

Time to seal and wax. Take a soft, soft sponge and apply polishing paste by hand. Let it dry and remove remaining’s with a micro cloth. This is the phase where you use a wax with UV protection.

 

We used Menzernas rubbing and polishing products for each step. They have a series of products where every step is numbered (1-4) so you know which product to use. I suggest you start with the product numbered as 3 and see how it effects your boats surface. Iif its doing good, use the 4 after it, if not, move to product 1 which is liquid sandpaper. Do not use the one-step product, as it will not be as good as all the one by one products.

There are off course lot of similar products from 3M, Autoglym etc etc but this is what we tried and found to be good. They are used by pros, not sp cheap but if you do it right, you do not need to do step 1 to 3 more than every 3 years. This varies off course depending of where you have your boat. for you on sunny areas, you need to use the UV protection polish in order to keep everything in good shape.

 

Let me know if you have questions.

 

 

Products broschure https://www.menzerna.com/files/Dokumente/Marine/menzerna_Boat_polishes_EN.pdf" rel="nofollow -

Pads, this is what I refer to https://www.sgatrading.se/store/category/polerrondeller-291298" rel="nofollow -

 



-------------
"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: toholthe
Date Posted: 20 December 2018 at 13:13
Thank you for your description MarcoC.

I believe my boat needs sanding on the forship, but i will try with heavy cut compound on small area to see how it works. If not ok, i will try 1000 grit and eventually even 500. I will post my results after the winter.


Posted By: astarte
Date Posted: 20 December 2018 at 13:24
Very interesting as I am planning to wet sand. I have tried rubbing with a wool pad on a rotating polishing machine, but was never able to remove the oxidation layer, only to some extent. I have understood that the rpm you run your machine on is important. What did you use on your orbiting machine?

-------------
Kristoffer
Hanse 370e #412


Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 20 December 2018 at 13:25
No worries but i still like to emphasize that the alakline washing is crucial to get a good result. I tried to use heavy cut compound first and it did not help much. The good result occured after the washing.

-------------
"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 20 December 2018 at 13:43
I used wool and heavy cut compound but still, as i say above, the alkaline wash is the thing. The oxidation will otherwise only clogg the wool pad and make no good result. remove oxidation, rubb hard and you will see a big difference.

-------------
"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: astarte
Date Posted: 20 December 2018 at 15:54
Ok, may be I did'nt wash good enough. May I ask what type of detergent you used.

-------------
Kristoffer
Hanse 370e #412


Posted By: Rubato
Date Posted: 20 December 2018 at 17:39
Thank you Marco! As you say, pad selection is very important. It might be helpful if you were to post which pads you used at each stage just as an example...
Steve


-------------
Steve

Hanse 400e, #168


Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 20 December 2018 at 19:29
The detergent brand is a swedish one and made by the company SGA that held the course. Main thing that it is alkaline. I suggest that you contact a car polish company and ask what they use. SGA in sweden is from the beginning a car polish product retailer for pros.
Let me get back to you about the pads. Ill try to fix a picture.

-------------
"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 20 December 2018 at 19:30
The type is alkaline. Used by car recondition companies.

-------------
"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 20 December 2018 at 19:34
https://youtu.be/Xm97yuNYj1A
There is to be found more info on youtube i think.

-------------
"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: astarte
Date Posted: 20 December 2018 at 19:36
Thx a lot!

-------------
Kristoffer
Hanse 370e #412


Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 20 December 2018 at 19:47
https://youtu.be/Xm97yuNYj1A
There is to be found more info on youtube i think.

-------------
"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: Heikki
Date Posted: 02 January 2019 at 15:51
My light grey Hanse 400e (2006) is also quite dull and I have done the Abralon/Mirka process a couple of times. It takes several days to do it but the result is rewarding. The problem is that this is not a long lasting solution. Last spring the boat was shining beatyfully in April, but was again quite dull in August. Next time I will try alkaline washing first as Marco instructed.

Heikki


-------------
Melanie
Hanse 400e #121


Posted By: Rob Seaforth
Date Posted: 11 January 2022 at 17:27
I will add this to an older post as it may be of some
use to North American users.

I followed a process similar to the method described by Marco C for the hull and deck of my previous boat, and for the topside decks of my new (to me) Hanse 400 last spring. This spring before launching I plan to do the hull.  I was very happy with the result.  The idea is to get the gel coat fresh and shiny, and keep it that way by adding a couple of layers of good wax.  Thereafter it should only be necessary to add to and polish the wax from time to time. After a summer of use and a Canadian winter on the hard, my previous boat looked great after a hand application and polish of wax in the spring. 

Sanding should not be necessary in most cases as the compound contains fine abrasive material and will remove only a tiny amount of the gel coat. 

The exact method I used was laid out in detail by Maine Sail in a 2003 post to another forum found in the link below. This lists products that are readily available in the US and Canada.  

https://www.sailnet.com/threads/tips-for-compound-polish-wax.52772/" rel="nofollow - https://www.sailnet.com/threads/tips-for-compound-polish-wax.52772/






Print Page | Close Window

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.06 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Copyright ©2001-2023 Web Wiz Ltd. - https://www.webwiz.net