I uses Klasse synthetic sealer with a top coat of---Collinite carnuba.

Performance Boat Candy

I detail cars (and sometimes boats) as a hobby and I think it might be important to determine what kind of shape your surface (gelcoat) is in before recommending any wax or sealant. The other thing to think about is whether you’re looking for an all-in-one (AIO) product with cleaner, polish and wax all in one step or separate products for each of those functions. Most folks think (or believe) that you can simply wipe a product onto a junkyard finish, wait a few minutes, then wipe it off to reveal a perfect finish. I hate to break this to you, but that’s simply not possible.

If your gel is smooth, clean and shiny, you can use almost anything and you’ll get decent results. Lots of good products have been suggested here and which one is “the best” is subject to all sorts of discussion. Heck, I’ve seen Turtle Wax used on a brand new boat and it looked pretty good. (I wouldn’t use a Turtle Wax product on my lawn mower though.) Personally, I think the biggest differences you’re going to find with most high quality products are how easy they are to apply and remove and how long they last. For old school (Carnauba) waxes, I really like Collonite products. The 845 Insulator Wax is a great product. Their 476S Double Wax is a bit more durable, but can be a PITA to use – especially in the sun. Some of the new synthetic sealants are even easier to use and last longer too. I’m currently using Menzerna Power Lock and absolutely love it. If you want a really deep looking finish with great durability, consider a synthetic sealant, topped with a Carnauba wax.

If your gelcoat isn’t in top shape, you’ll have to polish it first to get any wax or sealant to look really good. You’ll also find that waxes or sealants go on and come off a lot easier when applied to a finely polished surface. What kind of polish should you use? I could go on for days with that topic because there are so many variables like pads, polishes, machines, speeds, etc. Better not to get me started there.

Hope that helps.

To give you a better idea of what I'm talking about with polishes and surface preparation prior to wax, here's a GMC Denali I detailed a while back. To say that the paint was in rough shape would be an understatement. Hell, it looked like it had been washed with a rake. And the whole truck was this bad. No wax, sealant, or anything else was going to make this look good.



Now, after many, many hours of buffing (polishing) with several products, pads and techniques, I finally applied Menzerna Power Lock and rolled the truck outside. It now looked a little better.



In fact it looked a lot better:



Now I could have applied just about any product after the polishing and it would have looked just about as good. My point is, making something look really good sometimes - most times - takes more than just a wax.

For durability in salt water and sun here in South Florida Collinite Fleet, which I think has been replaced by No. 845 has been my choice for 10 years. You can beat it's initial shine but not it's durability.



37 Year Old Boat.



It takes time and patience. I went over the whole boat with a wool pad using a Milwaukee High Speed Buffer. I used 3M medium cut compound and took my time...it's a work out !!

Absolutely - great stuff! And I'm pretty sure it's still available.

This pic says it all

18 year old original paint

Who can guess what it is




Boat 20 years old

Sweet! This is 24 year old original paint on the outboard and gelcoat on the boat:

Looks awesome