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What Wax do you use?

cougarmeat

Paddler
Joined
Sep 17, 2012
Messages
1,195
Location
Bend OR USA
We've seen the ad - a yellow muscle car and one wave of color and it's good for 3-4 years - Rust-o-lium. So I looked at the box. It's not one process - there's a cleaner applied, then wait, then the "polymer" then wait, then wipe clean. Looking in the box - there are two toothpaste size tubes, micro fiber towel and sponge applicator. I guess you don't need much wax if it is going to last 3+ years.

Then there were all varieties of McQuire's; sprays and paste. I'm use to the paste wax. But I'm also use to a mouse pointer instead of a trackball or touchpad. So maybe sprays are just and good and easier.

I also wondered about the need for the first stage cleaning in the Rust-o-lium kit. Is it really more effective than just the usual pre-wax cleaning with soap and water?

Also, these waxes are designed for cars that get exposure to rain and sun. But boats, and the top of cars when the boats drip, are exposed to saltwater. So I wonder if that makes a choice difference.

These days I go over the top deck and hatches with 303 a few times a season and use a spray wax on the hull after most trips. Would there be any "real" benefit to going back to paste wax. I mean I suppose the fact that I clean it at all makes the boat happy.
 
... I suppose the fact that I clean it at all makes the boat happy.

Well, my boats are lucky to get a rinse off. Definitely not a wax user.

Wax on a car is meant to help prevent the car's paint from fading, discoloring, or oxidation, which are common effects of sun damage. For kayaks, storing inside should prevent all of this. Not sure if wax would have the same effect for non-painted kayaks. And then the questions comes up of whether wax would stay in place when you paddle - kind of like how they say sunscreens need to be reapplied after swimming - do waxes also wash off?

I could see the benefit to 303ing hatch covers (that said, I still don't).
 
I do wax the hull of my boats sometimes - not to protect the hull or make it go faster (though the boat does slide down the beach, so I need to be attentive...), but because I think it helps to keep 'stuff' in the water from sticking to the hull. A good coating of slime on the hull will definitely slow down the boat, I think.
 
About twice a year I wash, dry and repair gelcoat chips on the hull. If you can see fibres in the chip, it needs to be repaired. Once the repair is complete, I use the old Turtle Wax green paste automotive wax on the whole boat. I have a rotary polisher that I use with a soft cloth buffing pad to remove the hazy, dry wax. It may be psychological but, for a few days it feels as if the boat travels much quicker. The waxing also seems to bring up and restore the yellow top deck and make it easier to rinse off the salt water and bits of water line scum and seaweed. Polishing the kayak allows a close inspection of it and I have caught many defects requiring repair while doing so.
 
If your the engineering type then you know many deep scratches and a rough hull robs you of momentum and saps a bit of the energy you transferred from your muscles into forward motion using your paddle. Its like riding a bike on soft tires.

I bought 2 double Neckys from Granville several years ago, they are big tough kayaks, Nootka Plus, and Amaruk. I dealt with the hulls by filling all the deep chips and scatches with JB Weld, after which the entire hulls were wet sanded with 600gr then they coated with PETTIT COAT expoxy fiberglass paint. 2 coats each. To keep them super smooth I re wet sand, then cut polish them with a buffer, then they get several coats of hull wax, again buffed, its the type that's not water based.

In just the last couple of days the Nootka had two chips refilled, and the general keel was taped of and it will get three coats of paint, it a very glossy hard paint that acts as a sacrificial skin as hulls take a beating. Anyway that what I do for my fiberglass kayak hulls.

I have used this paint in an intense deep red and a warm sunny yellow on upper decks too. You CAN bring new life to a sun faded fiberglass kayak. Just always remember a paints first job is to protect the substrate and will need period recoating on surfaces that are repeatedly scruffed, rubbed and so on. This paint can be either sprayed or brushed, and it cost around $80CN a quart.
 
There's a good article by Greg Barton at the bottom of the FAQ page here:
https://www.epickayaks.com/faq

BTW, if it's Pettit EasyPoxy paint you are using, it's a basic one-part polyurethane paint. I've used it and it's not particularly hard and certainly not epoxy! But it is good paint - I used it on my sailboat topsides.

It's surprising how much improvement can be obtained by using polishing compound and a buffer on faded deck gelcoat, without resorting to paint. I've painted quite a few kayaks, usually to hide modifications but one time because I didn't like the original colour.
 
If you are planning on repainting or filling the scratches be aware that some paints and fillers will not be comparable with automotive waxes. In other words work backwards from any future repair you plan on making. True, there is always a remover for any wax you apply. Most Automotive waxes have silicone content. Buffing compounds are usually free of Silicone, but check first.
Automotive waxes are designed to protect automotive finishes in the environment a car lives in. I would think the salt water marine environment is a lot more harsh. Or, put another way, If you wax your car once a year, then you might need to wax your Kayak 3 times a season.
 
If you are planning on repainting or filling the scratches be aware that some paints and fillers will not be comparable with automotive waxes. In other words work backwards from any future repair you plan on making. True, there is always a remover for any wax you apply. Most Automotive waxes have silicone content. Buffing compounds are usually free of Silicone, but check first.
Very good advice.
Silicones are very common in 'consumer grade' waxes and 'magic finishes' and can cause problems if you are trying to adhere paint or 'repairs with epoxy resin. Silicone can even prevent tape from adhering. Think about trying to do a 'field repair' in a remote campsite - you won't have that can of silicone wax remover with you!
 
Automotive waxes are designed to protect automotive finishes in the environment a car lives in. I would think the salt water marine environment is a lot more harsh. Or, put another way, If you wax your car once a year, then you might need to wax your Kayak 3 times a season.

I don't wash my boats often, and don't wax the decks, but I do keep them under shelter when I'm not paddling or on a trip. For most people, it's probably the UV that's hard on their boats, not the time on the ocean. If I didn't have a storage spot and kept my boat on the car top 24/7, I'd definitely be thinking about a boat cover or other UV blockers (like wax).
But I don't wax my car either. Modern finishes are pretty tough and BC weather isn't very harsh.
 
I don't wax my boats nor am I particularly fuzzy about scratches. To be fair: my boats look like crap.

I have precious little spare time as it is, I'd rather go paddling. When on the water I prefer my boats not to be slippery, but give plenty of traction for (self)rescues.

Last but not least: fluid Dynamics is complicated, the scratches might help activate the boundary layer and help stay the flow attached, either way not enough difference to measure, let alone notice..

Last last but not least: I'm on the water for fun, excitement, relaxation, meditation. I'm not in a hurry to get anywhere..
 
If you suffer from engineers disease you are always trying to conserve, or maximize energy transfer. Much like artists are compelled to create, engineer types are always asking what if.
 
If you suffer from engineers disease you are always trying to conserve, or maximize energy transfer. Much like artists are compelled to create, engineer types are always asking what if.
Engineer types will also try to base their conclusions on measurable data and focus their efforts where significant real world improvement can be found.. This engineer type will go out and work on improving his forward stroke..
 
Archery, one of my other pursuits, has a lot more variables. A person can get lost in all the tech and kit, on the yang side we have Zen archery, which is hardly concerned with making contact with the target. Kayaking has fewer variables, but no less Zen. Good form, inner strength, all flow better on good kit.
 
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