M
Mike Phillips
Guest
Review: Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray & Captain’s Boat Coating with UV50
Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray & Captain’s Boat Coating with UV50
Video: How to use the Prep Spray and apply the Captain's Coating
NEW! - Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray
What it is?
A safe solvent wipe to remove any residual compounding or polishing oils off the surface and out of the pores from gel-coat surfaces AFTER correction and polishing work and BEFORE applying a gel-coat ceramic coating.
What does it do?
It ensures a surgically clean surface, free from any substances that would interfere with the proper bonding of a ceramic coating to a gel-coat surface.
When to use it?
Use it immediately after the last polishing step and right before applying a ceramic coating.
Safety equipment needed?
It's recommended to wear protective gloves when handling any brand of solvent prep.
Good news!
This is a much needed product in the Marine 31 line and I'm happy to announce it's here. In the past, Marine 31 did not have a dedicated solvent wipe also called panel wipe, for chemically stripping gel-coat boats before applying a ceramic coating. In place of a proper solvent wipe, Marine 31 recommended to use the Marine 31 Port to Starboard All Purpose Cleaner, which will work but in my opinion it was too strong for the task at hand and for this reason it would tend to dull the gel-coat surface you're trying to make look beautiful. I call this working backwards. With the addition of the Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray you can now quickly and easily chemically strip the gel-coat surface to ensure maximum performance from the Marine 31 Captain's Boat Coating with UV50 or any other gel-coat ceramic coating.
How to chemically strip gel-coat surfaces
I know this can sound harsh, it's the words chemically strip that creates a negative picture in your mind's eye. But it's not like anyone's worst imagination - all you're doing is removing any left over polishing oils (used in all compounds and polishes) so they won't interfere with the bonding process between the ceramic coating and the gel-coat.
The Mike Phillips Method --> Wet Pass followed by Insurance Pass
This is my method, you can come up with your own if you don't like mine. I wipe a car down twice. My first how-to article showing how to apply a coating dates back to 2011 - as I type this how-to article in the year 2019 that's 8 years ago. I have 8 years of perfecting my coating prep technique and I'm glad to see others have adopted this technique for their own best practice.
First Pass = The Wet Pass
The first pass is a very wet pass to remove 98% of any trace oils or other substances. This is called the Wet Pass.
Second Pass = The Insurance Pass
After wiping down all the gel-coat surfaces I intend to coat, I then wipe these surfaces a second time only I dramatically reduce the amount of Gel Coat Prep Spray I use for this second pass. I call the Insurance Pass. This second pass insures I have thoroughly removed any and all trace compound and polish residues.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step 1: Start by spraying a heavy saturation of the Gel Coat Prep Spray directly onto a section of gel-coat. Spray enough product onto the surface to see a wet application of product on the surface.
Step 2: Use a clean microfiber towel folded 4-ways. Spread the product over the area to be wiped with one side of the folded towel and then flip to the other side and make a second wipe until the surface is dry.
NOTE: These two sides of this towel are now contaminated. Re-fold the towel often so you always use a clean side to wipe-off the Gel Coat Prep Spray. Out of one towel you can wipe 4 sections. Then place this towel into a clean bucket and continue working around the boat using as many clean microfiber towels as necessary to chemically strip the boat using the Wet Pass method.
Step 3: After using the Wet Pass method over the boat, next use the Insurance Pass method. This second pass goes much faster. Now instead of spraying the Gel Coat Prep Spray directly onto the gel-coat, simply mist a spray or two onto one side of a clean, dry folded microfiber towel. Use this lightly dampened side of the towel to re-wipe a section previously cleaned using the Wet Pass method. After wiping with the dampened side, re-fold to a dry side to give this section a final wipe.
Note: The gel-coat surface should look clean, dry and streak free after the final wipe.
Continue around the boat using the Insurance Wipe method until all gel-coat surfaces to be coated have been carefully wiped twice. You are now ready to apply the Marine 31 Captain's Boat Coating with UV50 or any other quality marine gel-coat ceramic coating.
UPDATED FORMULA - Marine 31 Captain’s Boat Coating with UV50
What it is?
A gel-coat ceramic coating. Unlike modern basecoat/clearcoat urethane car paints, gel-coat, which is polyester resin with pigment is very different in that it is more porous. Another way of saying this is gel-coat is permeable and car paint is impermeable. The simple difference would be gel-coats can be penetrated by liquids while modern clearcoat paints cannot be penetrated by liquids.
This is one reason gel-coat oxidizes while generally speaking, modern clearcoats get swirls and scratches.
It's the porosity difference that makes it more difficult to make a ceramic coating that will bond and last when exposed to a marine environment.
I spoke with a personal friend and chemist at SEMA last year about the challenges of creating a ceramic coating for gel-coats and the above is what he told me, that is it's difficult to create a coating the will both bond and hold up welll to gel-coats or more specifically boats in the water. There are other forms of transportation that use gel-coat, for example RVs, but in the case of RVs, they are LAND transportation and not exposed to constant exposure to water, either fresh water or worse, salt water.
The Captain's Gel Coat Boating Coating is specifically formulated and tuned for porous gel-coat surfaces.
What does it do?
It seals the surface to help prevent future oxidation, staining and deterioration. Because of the stronger bond it makes to a gel-coat surface and that the nano size particles of silicon dioxide are more resistant to breaking down, it will last longer than traditional waxes and synthetic sealants.
When to use it?
You normally install (hand apply), a gel-coat coating after first correcting any imperfections in the gel-coat surface and then chemically stripping the surface to remove any residual polishing oils and other substances leftover from the polishing and/or compounding and polishing steps.
Safety equipment needed?
It's recommended to wear protective gloves when handling any brand of ceramic coating.
Good news!
This new and improved formula offers,
Step-by-Step Directions
NOTE
Surface should be cool to the touch and out of direct sunlight.
Surface should be properly prepped including any correction work performed and then the surface chemically stripped using a panel wipe like the Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray.
Step 1: Working on an area no larger than 2’ x 2’, apply the coating directly onto a coating applicator and spread it over the surface using a back and forth and side to side motion.
Step 2: Wait approximately 1 minute and remove any excess coating or high spots using a clean, dry microfiber towel. Switch towels often.
Step 3: Repeat the above steps to the rest of the boat. Overlap a little into previous coated sections to ensure uniform coverage and maximum protection.
IMPORTANT: Avoid exposure to water for 24 hours while the coating cures.
Towel Maintenance
After coating the boat wash and dry all your towels immediately. After washing and drying, fold and store your towels to keep them clean and free from contamination.
Review: Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray
The Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray has a pleasant fragrance and makes working with this product enjoyable instead of antagonizing as is the case with some solvents.
The product easily dissolves any left over polish residues and wipes off clean and clear. Most important, this product doesn't dull gel-coat down like more harsh solvent wipes or panel wipes, which can alter the final visual appearance for the coating application.
At the time of this writing I tested a 16 ounce bottle. Because many boats have a lot of surface area to cover I hope to see it also available in 32 ounce sizes as well as 1-galllon refill jugs for practical reasons.
As the saying goes,
It's the prep work that makes or breaks the final results...
Without properly preparing gel-coat surfaces by removing any trace polishing oils the coating will not be able to make a proper bond and this could have a negative affect on the coatings performance and longevity. While other products can work, this product works great and won't offend your sense of smell.
Review: Marine 31 Captain’s Boat Coating with UV50
I've been using the original formula since it's introduction and I'll be the first to say the application was a tick sticky and the wipe-off was also on the sticky side. This new, updated formula spreads out so much easier and wipe-off is a breeze as long as you don't wait too long. One minute is a good rule of thumb after spreading the product out. I purposefully waited 2-3 minutes before wiping the coated surface and wipe-off was still easy. I don't know if I would wait much longer than that especially in warm to hot temperatures.
Because many people don't have access to an air-conditioned garage to detail their boat, one tip for working in warm to hot environments is to shrink the size of your work area down, (compounding and polishing), and in the same way, shrink the size of your application area down when chemically stripping and then installing the coating.
Below in the next post are some pictures of the boat we tested this new formula out on. You could EASILY see the coating increase gloss and clarity upon application and this visual result remained after wipe-off.
The resulting gel-coat surface had a very high gloss finish with a slippery feel. Water beading was also excellent. (I poured some water onto the hull to test for water beading).
As a boat owner for years, I completely understand the drawbacks of traditional waxes as far as longevity goes. And while quality waxes, sealants and this new updated coating will easily create a beautiful finish on your boat, the benefit to a gel-coat coating is longer lasting protection with less frequent maintenance.
For a lot of boat owners, a long lasting ceramic gel-coat coating is exactly what you've been waiting for from the boat detailing industry. This newly updated formula will give you both a stunning looking finish on your boat and the long lasting protection you've been hoping for to protect your investment. The Marine 31 Captain's Boat Coating will extend the time between regular maintenance as well as holding up longer to the destructive effects caused by harsh marine environments.
On Autogeek.com
Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray
Marine 31 Captain's Boat Coating with UV50
Blue All Purpose Microfiber Towels - 12 pack
Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray & Captain’s Boat Coating with UV50
Video: How to use the Prep Spray and apply the Captain's Coating
NEW! - Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray
What it is?
A safe solvent wipe to remove any residual compounding or polishing oils off the surface and out of the pores from gel-coat surfaces AFTER correction and polishing work and BEFORE applying a gel-coat ceramic coating.
What does it do?
It ensures a surgically clean surface, free from any substances that would interfere with the proper bonding of a ceramic coating to a gel-coat surface.
When to use it?
Use it immediately after the last polishing step and right before applying a ceramic coating.
Safety equipment needed?
It's recommended to wear protective gloves when handling any brand of solvent prep.
Good news!
This is a much needed product in the Marine 31 line and I'm happy to announce it's here. In the past, Marine 31 did not have a dedicated solvent wipe also called panel wipe, for chemically stripping gel-coat boats before applying a ceramic coating. In place of a proper solvent wipe, Marine 31 recommended to use the Marine 31 Port to Starboard All Purpose Cleaner, which will work but in my opinion it was too strong for the task at hand and for this reason it would tend to dull the gel-coat surface you're trying to make look beautiful. I call this working backwards. With the addition of the Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray you can now quickly and easily chemically strip the gel-coat surface to ensure maximum performance from the Marine 31 Captain's Boat Coating with UV50 or any other gel-coat ceramic coating.
How to chemically strip gel-coat surfaces
I know this can sound harsh, it's the words chemically strip that creates a negative picture in your mind's eye. But it's not like anyone's worst imagination - all you're doing is removing any left over polishing oils (used in all compounds and polishes) so they won't interfere with the bonding process between the ceramic coating and the gel-coat.
The Mike Phillips Method --> Wet Pass followed by Insurance Pass
This is my method, you can come up with your own if you don't like mine. I wipe a car down twice. My first how-to article showing how to apply a coating dates back to 2011 - as I type this how-to article in the year 2019 that's 8 years ago. I have 8 years of perfecting my coating prep technique and I'm glad to see others have adopted this technique for their own best practice.
First Pass = The Wet Pass
The first pass is a very wet pass to remove 98% of any trace oils or other substances. This is called the Wet Pass.
Second Pass = The Insurance Pass
After wiping down all the gel-coat surfaces I intend to coat, I then wipe these surfaces a second time only I dramatically reduce the amount of Gel Coat Prep Spray I use for this second pass. I call the Insurance Pass. This second pass insures I have thoroughly removed any and all trace compound and polish residues.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step 1: Start by spraying a heavy saturation of the Gel Coat Prep Spray directly onto a section of gel-coat. Spray enough product onto the surface to see a wet application of product on the surface.
Step 2: Use a clean microfiber towel folded 4-ways. Spread the product over the area to be wiped with one side of the folded towel and then flip to the other side and make a second wipe until the surface is dry.
NOTE: These two sides of this towel are now contaminated. Re-fold the towel often so you always use a clean side to wipe-off the Gel Coat Prep Spray. Out of one towel you can wipe 4 sections. Then place this towel into a clean bucket and continue working around the boat using as many clean microfiber towels as necessary to chemically strip the boat using the Wet Pass method.
Step 3: After using the Wet Pass method over the boat, next use the Insurance Pass method. This second pass goes much faster. Now instead of spraying the Gel Coat Prep Spray directly onto the gel-coat, simply mist a spray or two onto one side of a clean, dry folded microfiber towel. Use this lightly dampened side of the towel to re-wipe a section previously cleaned using the Wet Pass method. After wiping with the dampened side, re-fold to a dry side to give this section a final wipe.
Note: The gel-coat surface should look clean, dry and streak free after the final wipe.
Continue around the boat using the Insurance Wipe method until all gel-coat surfaces to be coated have been carefully wiped twice. You are now ready to apply the Marine 31 Captain's Boat Coating with UV50 or any other quality marine gel-coat ceramic coating.
UPDATED FORMULA - Marine 31 Captain’s Boat Coating with UV50
What it is?
A gel-coat ceramic coating. Unlike modern basecoat/clearcoat urethane car paints, gel-coat, which is polyester resin with pigment is very different in that it is more porous. Another way of saying this is gel-coat is permeable and car paint is impermeable. The simple difference would be gel-coats can be penetrated by liquids while modern clearcoat paints cannot be penetrated by liquids.
This is one reason gel-coat oxidizes while generally speaking, modern clearcoats get swirls and scratches.
It's the porosity difference that makes it more difficult to make a ceramic coating that will bond and last when exposed to a marine environment.
I spoke with a personal friend and chemist at SEMA last year about the challenges of creating a ceramic coating for gel-coats and the above is what he told me, that is it's difficult to create a coating the will both bond and hold up welll to gel-coats or more specifically boats in the water. There are other forms of transportation that use gel-coat, for example RVs, but in the case of RVs, they are LAND transportation and not exposed to constant exposure to water, either fresh water or worse, salt water.
The Captain's Gel Coat Boating Coating is specifically formulated and tuned for porous gel-coat surfaces.
What does it do?
It seals the surface to help prevent future oxidation, staining and deterioration. Because of the stronger bond it makes to a gel-coat surface and that the nano size particles of silicon dioxide are more resistant to breaking down, it will last longer than traditional waxes and synthetic sealants.
When to use it?
You normally install (hand apply), a gel-coat coating after first correcting any imperfections in the gel-coat surface and then chemically stripping the surface to remove any residual polishing oils and other substances leftover from the polishing and/or compounding and polishing steps.
Safety equipment needed?
It's recommended to wear protective gloves when handling any brand of ceramic coating.
Good news!
This new and improved formula offers,
- Easier application.
- Easier wipe-off.
- Longer application time.
- Better protection.
- Longer lasting protection.
- Higher gloss and clarity.
Step-by-Step Directions
NOTE
Surface should be cool to the touch and out of direct sunlight.
Surface should be properly prepped including any correction work performed and then the surface chemically stripped using a panel wipe like the Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray.
Step 1: Working on an area no larger than 2’ x 2’, apply the coating directly onto a coating applicator and spread it over the surface using a back and forth and side to side motion.
Step 2: Wait approximately 1 minute and remove any excess coating or high spots using a clean, dry microfiber towel. Switch towels often.
Step 3: Repeat the above steps to the rest of the boat. Overlap a little into previous coated sections to ensure uniform coverage and maximum protection.
IMPORTANT: Avoid exposure to water for 24 hours while the coating cures.
Towel Maintenance
After coating the boat wash and dry all your towels immediately. After washing and drying, fold and store your towels to keep them clean and free from contamination.
Review: Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray
The Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray has a pleasant fragrance and makes working with this product enjoyable instead of antagonizing as is the case with some solvents.
The product easily dissolves any left over polish residues and wipes off clean and clear. Most important, this product doesn't dull gel-coat down like more harsh solvent wipes or panel wipes, which can alter the final visual appearance for the coating application.
At the time of this writing I tested a 16 ounce bottle. Because many boats have a lot of surface area to cover I hope to see it also available in 32 ounce sizes as well as 1-galllon refill jugs for practical reasons.
As the saying goes,
It's the prep work that makes or breaks the final results...
Without properly preparing gel-coat surfaces by removing any trace polishing oils the coating will not be able to make a proper bond and this could have a negative affect on the coatings performance and longevity. While other products can work, this product works great and won't offend your sense of smell.
Review: Marine 31 Captain’s Boat Coating with UV50
I've been using the original formula since it's introduction and I'll be the first to say the application was a tick sticky and the wipe-off was also on the sticky side. This new, updated formula spreads out so much easier and wipe-off is a breeze as long as you don't wait too long. One minute is a good rule of thumb after spreading the product out. I purposefully waited 2-3 minutes before wiping the coated surface and wipe-off was still easy. I don't know if I would wait much longer than that especially in warm to hot temperatures.
Because many people don't have access to an air-conditioned garage to detail their boat, one tip for working in warm to hot environments is to shrink the size of your work area down, (compounding and polishing), and in the same way, shrink the size of your application area down when chemically stripping and then installing the coating.
Below in the next post are some pictures of the boat we tested this new formula out on. You could EASILY see the coating increase gloss and clarity upon application and this visual result remained after wipe-off.
The resulting gel-coat surface had a very high gloss finish with a slippery feel. Water beading was also excellent. (I poured some water onto the hull to test for water beading).
As a boat owner for years, I completely understand the drawbacks of traditional waxes as far as longevity goes. And while quality waxes, sealants and this new updated coating will easily create a beautiful finish on your boat, the benefit to a gel-coat coating is longer lasting protection with less frequent maintenance.
For a lot of boat owners, a long lasting ceramic gel-coat coating is exactly what you've been waiting for from the boat detailing industry. This newly updated formula will give you both a stunning looking finish on your boat and the long lasting protection you've been hoping for to protect your investment. The Marine 31 Captain's Boat Coating will extend the time between regular maintenance as well as holding up longer to the destructive effects caused by harsh marine environments.
On Autogeek.com
Marine 31 Gel Coat Prep Spray
Marine 31 Captain's Boat Coating with UV50
Blue All Purpose Microfiber Towels - 12 pack
