New boat and Meguiar's Premium Boat Wax

[richsmi01]

Hi - I have a fairly new boat with fairly a pristine gelcoat hull. Can I get away with using only Meguiar's Premium Boat Wax or should I use the

polish first ?

Thanks,
Rich.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: New boat and Meguiar's Premium Boat Wax

You should be able to wash the boat and go right to the waxing step.

That said, Meguiar's always teaches people to evaluate the finish, and let the results of your surface evaluation help you to choose the correct products.

Your question comes up all the time only as it relates to a brand new car and sadly enough many people buy a brand new car only to wash it a few times and discover DISO

DISO = The Dealer Installed Swirl Option

Then they're stuck either taking it back and asking the dealer to fix it or learning how to fix it themselves or hiring someone to fix it for them.

So we hope your boat does have a pristine condition finish as that's how it should be, but just in case, maybe wash or wipe the hull down and then look at the finish in good lighting and inspect for swirls. (Boats get buffed by machines just like cars get buffed by machines).

Chances are real good your finish is truly in pristine condition and you can go straight to wax.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: New boat and Meguiar's Premium Boat Wax

Can I get away with using only Meguiar's Premium Boat Wax or should I use the polish first ?

Thanks,
Rich.

Just to add, even if you don't need to remove any swirls or other defects, if you want you can polish first and then go to wax. Meguiar's always states this an optional step, so it's up to you.

If your boat is dark in color or graphics, polishing can help bring out the full richness of color and increase gloss, if the boat is white, while polishing will still bring out the full richness of color and increase gloss, you won't be able to see these kinds of results because of the characteristics of white paint and/or white gel-coat.

By the way, is your boat painted or does it have a gel-coat finish?

Gel-coat is pigmented polyester resin.

If you're unsure, the manufacture should be able to tell you.

[richsmi01]

Re: New boat and Meguiar's Premium Boat Wax

Thanks Mike! I think I'll do the wax only this year (since the weather has put a bit of a time squeeze on us for getting things done before the boat launches!) and next year I'll use the polish first...

To answer your question, it's a sailboat with white gelcoat.

Thanks again!
Rich.