Restoring decks and hull fibre glass dull

[ANTREVELL]

Hi

Cruiser 33 2014 .  The fibreglass on the pimpled decks has lost its new shiny look . Can any one suggest how I might restore it.
I am aware of T cut or cutting paste for the hull but I do not want to rub too hard on deck dimples and I imagine I could rub the gel of the top of the pattern.
I would appreciate any comments. Some of the deck fibre glass is now slightly yellowy.

Regards Tony Pegatha

[Yngmar]

I've been using this stuff with moderate success, which doesn't mean it's the best solution: http://www.starbrite.com/item/non-skid-deck-cleaner-with-ptef

[Kibo]

My boat spends her life in the sun in the Caribbean so the gel coat takes a UV beating....

I like "3M Marine restorer and wax" combined in one bottle (google will get you to it). It is slightly abrasive but nowhere near T-Cut or rubbing compound so it does not take Gel Coat off but does a good job of cutting through surface oxidation. It buffs off to a polish finish. If your gel coat is very "chalky" you might need to do it a couple of times.

Unfortunately there is no substitute for elbow grease...

[Yngmar]

How do you apply your polish to structured (squares in my case) non-skid GRP?

[Kibo]

Hi Yngmar

I have squares on the non skid as you do. I use a small fine nail brush to apply the compound and scrub it to clean/abrade the surface. I then use a cotton cloth to polish it off. It's a little fiddly to get all the polish compound out of the gaps so I often need to use the cleaned brush again for the last bits. Since it is non skid surface anyway it doesn't really look highly gloss polished but it certainly cleans it.

For flat gelcoat in other areas and for topsides/hull I use a cotton cloth to apply and a lambskin bonnet on a buffer to polish. It works OK to buff it out by hand if you don't have a buffer but it uses up a little more sweat equity . Do small areas at a time and best not in direct sunlight since it dries out too fast and is then more difficult to buff out to a shine.

Hope it helps.....

[Salty]

I use some stuff called "Silky" which was obtained from a caravan accessory shop, and is relatively cheap to buy compared with proprietary hull cleaning pastes. It is smeared onto a damp cloth and rubbed in gently and without too much effort. Basically follow the instructions on the container, and this cleans away any dirt and is like some sort of pre-cleaner. Then wash off with fresh water and then apply a proprietary topside polish, and finally buff the surface to a shine. I've done the top sides and hull of my boat with this method and with no mechanised assistance and several people have commented that the hull and deck areas of my B36 (2002), look pretty good. One thing I haven't done is put a lot of effort into polishing the top sides areas, but the boat gets a number of good comments from other passing yachts.

[Impavidus]

I am with Kibo on this one. Pressure washer with rotational nozzle then quality polish with a nail brush. Best tea towel to polish it up 

Ant.

[tiger79]

Gentle pressure washing works well on the non-slip bits, but I prefer not to polish non-slip!