How do you wet sand a boat hull?

Asked by: Sandy Hulett

How do you wet sand a hull?

Here slowly sand in circles you got a power sandal there's probably a lot easier just be careful on the RPMs probably stick with lower rpms. So you just don't want to burn through your gel coat.

What grit do you use to wet sand a boat?

Wet sanding: Start with 600- to 800-grit wet-dry sandpaper. Pros we talked with prefer Sunmight, 3M, and Mirkasandpapers; they don’t load up as quickly and last longer. While you can wet-sand by hand using a rubber block, we suggest using a pneumatic or electric, dual-action (DA) orbital sander to make the job faster.

What is the best way to wet sand?

To wet sand a car, soak 1200 or 1500 grit sandpaper in a mixture of water and automotive or dish soap for 5 minutes. Next, wrap the soaked sandpaper around a sanding squeegee or pad and sand gently in circular motions, switching directions occasionally to ensure you sand the surface evenly.

How do you wet sand gelcoat by hand?

We always recommend starting light and going a lot heavier. Because it's hard to undo if you go the other way the other thing I'm gonna recommend is starting in an inconspicuous spot.

Can I wet sand with an electric sander?

You can use an orbital sander to wet sand, but should take safety precautions to ensure that neither your tools nor you get hurt. Additionally, wet sanding normally makes fine adjustments to a surface, something an orbital sander may not help you with.

How do I make my boat look new again?

You want to use a circular motion make sure you cover every little inch of the gel coat. And again you want to do two coats. Now here's the good news even though you have to apply a thick paste wax.

Can you wet sand fiberglass?

If you ever need to sand directly into the fiberglass itself, make sure to use wet sandpaper. Otherwise, the loose fiberglass particles will create gouges in the finish as you sand.

How do you sand the bottom of a boat?

Now we're going to use an 80 grit paper and we've got a Festool dustless sanding system here it's going to take care of a quart nicely. We are going to use a dust mask and some safety glasses.

How do you clean fiberglass After sanding?

fresh water is fine for cleaning up after sanding. denatured alcohol is another option but not really needed.

How do you restore the gel coat to shine on a boat?

This next step you can use either a marine polish or a carnauba paste wax. Both of them give a lot of shine. Although they aren't quite as protective is at paste wax.

Will wet sanding remove oxidation?

You want to make sure to wet sand it because if you don't wet sand it then you'll end up burning the gel coat you don't want to do that. So make sure you use plenty of water.

How do you restore chalky gelcoat?

Four Steps to Gelcoat Restoration

1. Step one: Remove all surface dirt. To remove the surface dirt, wash your hull and topsides with marine boat soap diluted in water. …
2. Step two: Remove the stains. …
3. Step three: Remove the oxidation and restore the shine. …
4. Step four: Protect the shine with a wax.

Can faded gelcoat be restored?

To help to restore the color, shine and appearance of your boat, choose a gelcoat restorer. Gelcoat restorers are suitable for fiberglass (GRP) gelcoats and can help to give long lasting effects, wetting the pigment to restore a strong and vibrant color and shine.

How do you restore heavily oxidized gelcoat?

This is 3m rubbing compound. And it works great for polishing out the scratches.