Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Marine Product Review: Boat Wax-Off


This week's marine product review on the Daily Boater really shines... 
 
Photo: Mark Sutton of MarineProductReviews.com


One of the most dreaded boat chores is waxing. Every spring the debate is whether or not to pay the boatyard big bucks to do it or just take a day to do it yourself. Anyone who has waxed more than a dinghy can see why the boat yard charges so much to wax. It takes time, it’s hard work and there is a bit of an art to getting that sweet shine.

In the latest installment of the Daily Boater Marine Product Review, Mark Sutton of MarineProductReviews.com put three premium boat waxes to the test.
(Are you interested in having your product or service featured in a future Marine Product Review on multiple boating websites? Contact Nautical Sites Media publisher Andrew Canepari to discuss the opportunity.)

Now, on to the review...

Shine On!
Photo: Mark Sutton of MarineProductReviews.com

This week, our reviewers put three premium boat waxes to the test to see...
  1. What the differences are
  2. Which waxes produce the best shine 
  3. Which wax makes the job easiest
The test boat was a 2007 Catalina 309 sailboat. The hull was in good shape with minimal oxidation. Therefore, we selected waxes targeted to shine and protection vs. addressing oxidation.


Waxes Tested 

For this test we selected three ‘premium’ waxes that are in the $20-$25 range.
  • Meguiar’s Flagship Premium Cleaner Wax 
  • Collinite’s No. 925 Fiberglass Boat Wax 
  • 3M Marine Cleaner & Wax - 1 Step Process

Process Used
  • The first thing we did was clean the hull using Meguiar’s Quik Clean Mist & Wipe Cleaner which we sprayed onto a chamois and wiped down the hull.  
  • We tested each wax on the port hull where we applied the wax using a foam application pad.   
  • We let each wax dry to a haze then used an electric buffer to polish to a shine.
  • We used a chamois to do some hand buffing as needed

Results 


Meguiar’s Flagship Premium Cleaner Wax - produced a nice shine but took a good amount of effort. Given the thickness, it took a good bit of buffing to polish to that bright shine. When you got there however, it was a great result.

Collinite’s No. 925 Fiberglass Boat Wax - Spread like butter and produced an absolutely gorgeous shine. We found this to the fastest and easiest to work with. It spread on the hull effortlessly. Getting even coverage was fast and easy. We used the electric buffer as well as hand buffing in some sections. The result was an outstanding mirror like shine,

3M Marine Cleaner & Wax (1 Step Process) - produced a nice shine but took a good amount of effort. This was was similar to the Meguiar’s and provides a nice protection. It takes time and effort to make sure that the section of the hull was well (but not too well) covered. It produced a very nice finish after electric and hand buffing.
Photo: Mark Sutton of MarineProductReviews.com


The Bottom-Line 

The Collinites 925 was the easiest and fastest to use. We could work roughly twice as fast with the thinner wax to get an even coat quickly and consistently, and buff it to a great result. 

We were surprised as Collinete’s was not the wax on the end cap of 'Mega Marine', it was hidden away in an aisle on the bottom shelf. It was a great find and one that we'd suggest trying as you head to the boatyard this spring.

Tested and reviewed by Mark Sutton of Marine Product Reviews. Check out the full boat wax review at marineproductreviews.com.

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