The gelcoat was old, faded & chalky on my boats. I got tired of trying to buff it, didn't come back that well anyway. So, I decided to give the wipe on stuff a try. I heard about them on a sailing forum I visit, & saw them at a boat show.
They are all basically a wipe on clear coat. You definitely need to clean where ever you want to apply this stuff real good. It will seal in any dirt, etc...
All the ones I tried looked good at 10+ feet, but when you got closer you could see the flaws.
New glass II looked good at a distance, but when you got closer you could see the streaking. When applying it, it would start to flake off of your gloves & get into your work. I was able to remove it with simple green & a scrub brush though. Took me longer to remove it than to apply it.
Poli-glow worked much the same way, though didn’t flake as much. It came with it’s own stripper.
Shine-Again didn’t have the flaking problems & didn’t seem to matter what direction I was putting it on.
I needed to put on one or two coats more than the others though. I think it has less solids so it goes on smoother (with more coats). I ended up sticking with that because of ease of application & overall appearance. It looked better up close. More thinner coats looked a lot better too.
For mainenance I apply a couple of coats in the spring & the fall.
I was thinking about Vert Glas& Island Girl, but they were twice the price so I cannot say how well they work.
My 2 cents,
Larry
