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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

What is 'wet sanding'?

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seastream
Navigator

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USA
242 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/30/2004 : 21:05:47

I was told by my boatyard guru that I should 'wet sand' my '83 hull so as to remove built up oxidation before polishing, for best results. Up close it's pretty dull, at 20 feet or so it looks OK but doesn't shine. I bought it March 2003, no idea when it was last polished. Boatyard will cheerfully do this process for me @ $15/foot. So, what's this 'wet sanding', how's it done & can I do it without lousing up the hull?

Seastream

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eric.werkowitz
Captain

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USA
283 Posts

Response Posted - 03/30/2004 : 22:31:45

Wet sanding is done with special wet or dry sand paper with a fine grit. It can be done by hand using a small stream of water flowing over the area you are sanding. The water washes away the dust from the sanding process and keeps the paper from "loading up."

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 03/30/2004 : 22:40:55

You mean they didn't suggest Poliglow

???

I'd skip the wetsanding and just use a commercial grade polisher (purchased with the money you save by doing this yourself) starting with No. 7 Rubbing Compound, then No. 7 Polishing Compound. It may take a couple apps of the rubbing compound first time around.
After trying several different waxes I've settled on Collinite #870 which is applied and removed by hand.

Good Luck!

Edited by - OJ on 03/31/2004 10:05:52

Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 03/31/2004 : 08:02:09

I tend to agree with Steve (OJ). Get a good commercial goop. 3m makes a great oxidation remover.

To answer your question, wet sanding is a process that uses water and extremely high grit sandpaper. usually between 200 and 2000 grit...(by the way, 2000 grit is pretty darn soft).

dw

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svmoxie
Past Commodore

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USA
331 Posts

Response Posted - 03/31/2004 : 09:07:03

Pick up a copy of the April 2004 Cruising World. There is an excellent article on using wet/dry sanding plus compounding plus a polymer wax to restore an oxidized hull. They talk abouit specific products and tools. I found it to be very informative and accurate.

The rest of it is pretty good too!

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GeorgeB
1st Mate

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90 Posts

Response Posted - 03/31/2004 : 13:41:26

If you decide that wet sanding is the way you want to go, find a store in your community the servs the auto body shop trade and pick their brains and get your supplies. It'll be a lot cheaper and quicker than what you'll get from the marine suppliers.

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NuNees
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USA
125 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2004 : 22:44:58

Seastream,
George B has the right idea. Better yet, see if you can get a body shop guy to show you how wet sanding works. It is simple, but you must use a very fine grade of 'wet or dry' sandpaper (1000 or 1500), soak it in water, use a rubber sanding block. Then keep the surface sloppy wet, even running a small stream of water over it constantly. Count your strokes so you don't go too far. Be SUPER careful on any edge. Then polish and wax. OR use Poliglow ... he he he! Sorry, had to throw that in just for kicks.
Good Luck.

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 04/04/2004 : 15:53:21

I cannot imagine a hull in worse shape than mine was, we had no idea it was light brown rather than the white chalk color that we could see. We used softscrub with bleach because we did not have our vert glass kit yet and were in a hurry to launch. We only put two coats of vert glass on and we launched. Everyone complemented us on our hull. Yesterday my son washed the boat with the vert glass wash and put an hour's worth of coats on. (It was so easy he did not complain once!)

I cannot imagine why people would do anything else unless they wear hair-shirts and flagellate for entertainment. All this talk about sanding and wax reminds me of the people who were buying the last typewriters when everyone else was already on their second computer.

My wife tells me I am a bit testy today.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/04/2004 : 17:24:59

Now that's a shine!

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seastream
Navigator

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USA
242 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2004 : 21:35:38

OK, I'm in, particularly after seeing Franks' hull pix. Soft Scrub with bleach, it is. What is 'vert glass'?

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2004 : 23:15:17

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2004 : 23:58:37

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by seastream
 OK, I'm in, particularly after seeing Franks' hull pix. Soft Scrub with bleach, it is. What is 'vert glass'?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

The current issue of Practical Sailor rates the top three co-poloymer finishes and some Collonite products.

From their website...

[url="http://www.practical-sailor.com/pub/30_7/features/4941-1.html"]Gelcoat Restoration: Back From the Dead[/url]

We used hull restorers from Vertglas, Poli-Glow, and New Glass-2 to revive a beaten and battered powerboat, and included Collinite’s Fiberglass Boat Wax as part of the test, too.

In the January 1 issue, we reported the beginning of a long-term wax test. Included is a product called Poli Glow , which is actually not a wax but a "hull restorer" that has tested well for us before, and that continues to get good reviews from readers.

Then we decided it was time to face off the hull restorers again. Initially, we were going to stick to restorers only, but Nick Buchanan, proprietor of Scuba-Do Yacht Detailers in Sarasota, FL, assured us that he could bring back a fiberglass gelcoat the old-fashioned way, with wax. So we decided to include a wax, too, thus making sort of a mirror-image experiment to go with the wax story.

Nick recommended Collinite #92...

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