Cleaning and restoring gel coat on 14 year-old Kayak

[DogParkGuy]

I have a Perception Eclipse fiberglas/kevlar kayak. During its early life I kept it in a cover, but for the past three years it has been out in the sun very close to salt water. The gel coat looks a little dull and has some rubbing marks from the paddle. Looking for advice on choice of product; Mirro Glaze Color Restorer, Oxidation Remover, or Boat/RV cleaner wax.

Any suggestions?

[Michael Stoops]

Hopefully you'll be using a buffer to correct this finish....on gel coat that old and that has just been sitting out for 3 years we would probably dive right in with M67 One Step Compound. On a DA we would reach for a foam cutting pad and speed setting 5.

[DogParkGuy]

Re: Cleaning and restoring gel coat on 14 year-old Kayak

Have a DA but was looking for the best result doing it by hand. There are only small areas on my kayak where a DA would work. Lots ot lines and tape. M67 by hand?

[DogParkGuy]

Re: Cleaning and restoring gel coat on 14 year-old Kayak

Ordered today from online retailer.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Cleaning and restoring gel coat on 14 year-old Kayak

Have you thought about a smaller backing plate and 3" or 4" pads on the DA? You can do this by hand by gel coat tends to be really hard. At least you're talking about a kayak and not a 28' ski boat!!

[DogParkGuy]

Re: Cleaning and restoring gel coat on 14 year-old Kayak

Finally got the opportunity to report on using M67. It definitely works better with the buffer. However, I found the pads quickly loaded up and I had to switch to a second pad. Perhaps I was using too much compound.