Boat polish or wax?

[jmc]

Just wanted to ask all you guys what kind of polish or "wax" do you use on your rig. What have you tried and what works the best?

[vector mike]

Is it the original gel coat or has it been painted?

[sho305]

I used that new stuff that wipes on/& off like 2000. But I bought a truck from my Dad, and I did not wash that thing for months. So I asked him what the heck was on there that made the rain wash off the dirt so good...and he said "Caranuba."

If your gelcoat is faded, you will have to restore the shine before any wax will help.

[Bob T]

They're different in their purpose.Polish makes it shine .Wax protects the shine and seals the 'glass.Clean it real good first,then polish it next then wax.'Meguirs' makes a great systemI'm sure they have a web page...Don't waste you time /effort on one step cleaner/waxes.Results are directly proportional to effort.BT

[jmc]

OK, I should have clarified whats going on. I have been trying 3 different forms of Zymol, and a german 2 part wax called Klasse' trying to figure out what lasts the longest and has the best shine. I have heard of one product called Zaino that "they" say is very good. I was just trying to see what you guys used and what you thought worked the best. Carnuba is one of the best shines you can apply to almost any finish; however, it evaporates at a very low tempature 150-170 deg.

[sho305]

When I was into autobody, the only thing that mattered was how much UV the wax blocked. The UV is what destroys the finish. Everybody does their own test and theirs is best, of course. I just put new paint on there and was rid of it before it went bad. I used 3M imperial polish I think, came in a white jug with a blue label. Only because it had no silicones in it and so was paintable; and it lasted a good 3 months like popular wax, and it was easy to do a car by hand in less than 5 minutes. I try to keep my boats out of the sun most importantly. Kind of harder to just paint a boat.