best detailing products??

With Meguiares One Step Cleaner Wax, we achieved this result

MeguiarsDirect.com:One Step Cleaner Wax 1 Gal One Step Cleaner Wax

Maguires is excellent. So is Collinite (which I prefer). Depending on the oxidation you may also want to look into compounding or at least using a compound wax. Although few do it these days, hand buffing is best.

The Meguiars in the blue bottles is junk, all of the waxes and such are watered down now and don't last a month or two. The Flagship Meguiars is pretty decent. I prefer the Collinite Fleet Wax over Meguiars, many times over and that is what I use on my management boats. If you have oxidation you are going to need to high speed buff it with a good compound. The 3M products are good for compound. I prefer to put and take off wax by hand and not a buffer. Or you can put it on with a buffer on the slowest speed setting and a foam pad, and remove by hand.

I wouldn't waste my time with any true wax product. Even Collinite paste. Which was the best of the lot. The polymer products out there are just far superior to any old school wax in terms of ease of application, longevity, shine, etc. Look at Zaino, Pro Polish, Rejex, etc.

As to bringing back faded gelcoat. If it's bad enough you have to multi-step it. Starting with perhaps wet sanding and ending with a fine swirl removing polish like 3Ms Finesse It.

If you don't want to spend the time to do a 3 step process you could try starting with 3Ms restorer wax and the finish with 3Ms cleaner wax using a power buffer. Just use a foam pad with the cleaner wax so you don't leave swirl marks. Then in a few months before the hull loses any shine wash the hull with Dawn or deluded degreaser and then apply a polymer coating.

We have excellent results with Starla cutting crème for buffing brings it back to like new. Then we use fleet wax paste has always held up well.

I've always had good luck with 3M compounds as well as Tiger Cut and Aqua Buff. The key to using compounds is to use the correct pressure and pads to let them cut correctly and so as not to leave swirl marks. As I type this I'm sitting in Atlantis looking at newer Viking sport fish and a 40m that both appear covered in swirl marks in the right light. That drives me crazy thinking of all the time, material and money wasted on so called "professionals", whether they be crew or outside contractors, just to end up with a second rate job.

If you have never compounded before, your best bet is to use a heavy duty orbital machine with foam pads. Yes it will take longer to cut through the old chalking gelcoat or paint if it's real bad. But it's almost impossible to leave swirl marks or cut through the gel/paint with an orbital. Look at using a Porter-Cable 7346SP 6-Inch random orbit sander with Polishing Pad or something like it.

I have used Zaino for years with great results. I also have used Rejex and Pro Polish and have been happy with the results as well.

Poly Glo is only to be used IMO if you are going to sell your boat and want it to look good for marketing purposes. While I have heard of a few people having good luck with it if they religiously keep up with it, I've heard and seen way more horror stories involving it going yellow, flaking off and then being a major PITA to remove.

The problem with the polymer products is the application. For example Rejex, you pretty much have to apply it in a covered shed, here in South Florida or it will not work. It has to be applied in under 85F and cannot get rained on or debris on for at least 24 hours. I have had good luck with Collinite Fleet Wax lasting on most boats a good 6 months in the South Florida sunshine and rain. I think that's about all anyone can expect. You're lucky to get 2 months out of the Meguiar's blue bottle waxes.... and I've gotten 4 months out of the Meguiar's flagship waxes (although these are by far the easiest to work with, they go on and come off really easy).

With Rejex it's 12 hours to fully dry as I recall. And while that might be a issue with Rejex but it's not with others. Zaino dries very fast. 20-30 minutes or so depending on the temp and humidity at the time. And you can apply one coat right after wiping down the last dry one. It also can be applied in high temps and in direct sunlight with no problems.

I've never seen Collinite, or any wax, really last that long in Florida with normal weekly washings. Especially if the boat has a soot issue and you have to use any degreaser or Dawn on the transom and/or sides. Were as with a transom coated with 3 or 4 coats of Zaino I've seen it last through multiple washings with say straight Simple Green and still had the rinse water bead up on the coated surface.

But in the end as always, YMMV.

I usually wash the transom with only boat soap, if that doesn't work then I use some Rolloff, but nothing harsher. If it won't come off, I'll just cleaner wax the remaining soot off.

Considering Roll Off is a degreaser I'm not sure you can use anything much harsher. But that works and I've done the same myself. The cleaner wax thing that is.

But if it's a busy boat, large boat and/or has a bad sooting problem you don't really have time to rewax it after every run. And there is less or no need to if you use one of the better polymers. With those in most cases I find boat soap will take off the soot. Or just a mild solution of Dawn or degreaser will do the job and not strip off the sealant like it will wax.

You can cleaner wax a transom in an hour or less usually......but, I am testing that exhaust shield polymer stuff on one boat to see how it works out.

If you are talking about Sea-Shield's Exhaust Guard, I'm using that myself and I've been happy with it so far.

If you've got a real bad area, say like the area of a hull around a side discharge genset, nothing beats sealing that area with a ceramic clear coat for ease of cleaning.

Rolloff is Ammonia based like Orpine boat soap, not an acid like a degreaser, but it is a little on the harsh side nonetheless. I've gotten away from Orpine altogether except the bilge cleaner and have had great results with the Aquatech boatsoap which is not Ammonia based.

Whink rust stain remover.

+1

And to help keep them from coming back I use Spotless Stainless Steel treatment. Home - Spotless Stainless Removes Rust, Protects Stainless Steel

I use the collinite #920 first- it's the precleaner. Goes on and off similar to wax. Then I either wax or polymer after. Neither wax nor polymers seem to last more than a month, and both attract and hold dirt washed down from rain. The Collinite fleet wax seems like a wax infused with the 920- but I find it better to use the 920 then the #925 fiberglass boat wax. The 925 seems to last longer than the fleet wax. I always hand do all jobs- never with a buffer or RO.

Picked up Smoove at the Annapolis boat show last year. so far these are the best products I have used to both bring back the shine and keep it looking great in between waxing.