I have repaired my gel coat scratch and the kit says to use a rubbing compound and wax. Any recommendations . I looked the product at West Marine but it’s too much money for such small repair , I’m thinking an auto rubbing compound and wax should work.
FishHawk
Auto
Polishing compound will work fine.
Yup
Depending on how fine you sanded the gelcoat (did you sand to 1200/1500 grit?) and how perfect you want the surface to be, you may need to start with rubbing compound (the orange stuff), then polishing compound (the tan stuff). Personally, I never bother to wax my boats - especially the hulls - as it’s a waste of time.
I like 3M heavy duty rubbing compound
and 3M Finesse It polishing compound. You might be able to get a body shop to sell you a cupfull of each as they are kinda pricey at the auot parts store. The only real value in waxing your hull is if you paddle in areas that tend to leave a scum line. Wax fills the voids in the suface and makes it harder for things to stain your gelcoat. Either way it wipes off, just with less effort if you wax it. Bill
Waxing
I usually don’t wax my boats but during this past Summers trip to the Adirondacks after paddling up one of the feeder brooks to Lake Abanakee I had this nasty Tannic acid stain from all the tree’s and debris in the water. Needless to say it took plenty of elbow grease to remove with some polishing compound working the best. Perhaps a little wax before my next trip.
Buffing out the gelcoat
Use the 2000 grit buffing compound for gelcoat with a high speed buffer. I usually finish sanding with a 600 or 800 grit wet sand paper and then buff out the gelcoat. The finish looks like it just came out of the mold. Don’t forget to use waxed gelcoat or add it in your last coat of the gelcoat so it will harden. This is much better than trying to seal it with wax paper etc.