My boat is really in great shape, but has a few areas that I am concerned about dealing with oxidation. I tried buffing with compound which worked ok, but I have heard that there are some chemicals that you can use that will take your gelcoat back to new. Was I drunk, or just not paying attention. Please enlighten me oh great ones.

i used this blue goo **** from west marine called FSR. might work for you. wet sanding compounding and waxxing will workbest though for heavy oxidation

wet sand

What grit sandpaper works the best for wet sanding?

Mira glaze 44 and/or 49 with a good cotton pad and a variable speed buffer has always worked well for me on heavily oxidized blue gelcoat. West marine or most good boating stores carry it.

depending on how bad the oxidation is and how much body work experience you have I would start out with 400-600 on flat areas and 800-1000 on curved areas. then step up to 1000 and 1500, be sure to sand a little bit bigger area each time you step up a grade in sandpaper. Then use a high speed buffer and 1806 compound.

before and after wet sanding and buffing.

after wet sanding and buffing how long before the oxidation comes back? my experience has been that oxidation comes back fairly quickly.

Wetsand & Buff
Use boat (have fun)
Rinse off (cover it up)
It should look good fo the next use..... MABE....
If not repaint in Imron
Thats the real fix.

L.S.

That all depends on a lot of factors including sun exposure, rain, what type of soap you use to wash down your boat etc. I try to keep my whole boat covered from the sun, and I have found that to wash the boat I use "Lemon Joy" dish soap as it does not remove wax from the surface. Most will pay to have the boat buffed and waxed and it will look good for several months later or longer if preventive maint is used.

Here are the before and after of my previous boat. Original gel, just buffed out many times with 3M rubbing compound.

E.S.