I have watched so many of your videos and have learned how to make my detailing stand out. I am a female in california on the delta. This will be my first season on my own. I worked under someone for 4 years. You are my knight in shining armor. Thank you. Your videos are awesome
First time commenter, long time watcher. What are your thoughts on cut+polish products. I have been using the maguires. Am I being lazy? 1989 boat, started out really chaulky, got it cleaned up with a rotary but having some trouble getting it to really shine again?
Hey bro! I’m not a fan of Meguires at all, haha. Typically those kind of products don’t strip away all the oxidation like they should and can leave it kinda hazy and the oxidation can kinda “come back” just because it wasn’t taken out right in the first place.
Well, i can't say I disagree with you!! I will watch one of your product videos and order from your links. Keep doing what you're broham! Love the content.
Hey man, just wanted to say thank you for your videos they are great. I have had a few boats over the years and really love the one I have now and plan to hang onto it and really want to take care of it. Its about 6 years old and has some light scratches and marks I would like to get out but I am not 100% sure where to start at this point. Any advise on where to start get it back to a showroom shine and protect it going forward?
Totally awesome and honest videos, thanks. I am a DIY"er boat owner with a white fiberglas bay boat. I plan to do my own detailing (buff, polish, seal) and have a question about using Meguiars Marine High Gloss Polish M4516 follwing the buffing step. The description of this product says no grit but plenty of oils to "nourish" the gelcoat. In your video you advise to wipe down the surface after polishing with alcohol to remove oils which can give a false sense of shine. I thought polishes had at least some grit to them to take out swirls and holograms but apparently this product does not. It also adds oils that you recommend against. Is this Meguiars product one I should stay away from? Can't see any benefit to applying oils then removing them with alcohol.
Hey bro! I would personally stay away from anything generic, such as Maguires. There’s a lot of cruddy fillers in those products that we’re right down and don’t create a good shine. I do use the Shane supply message of products. They have my farm in the most consistent as far as quality goes: shinesupply.com/collections/marine-products
Hi, i have a one year old boat. I always polish and wax my boats with machinery. But in this case the boat is very glossy, but i really dislike the holograms from the factory. Would a white polish pad With cut 30/100 and menzerna finale 30/100 suffice, i don’t want to use to agressive methods for something that probably only i see.
@drakesdetailing What would you have done if it was your own (brand new) boat? Not for business. I mean for getting out all of the scratches. An extra polishing step with a softer pad? And which menzerna, a middle variant or the milder version? Or a completely different plan? I want the best result without going to far. Preferably skipping wetsanding and rotary buffing with a to agressive woolpad. Machines i use, the dewalt rotary and a rupes DA 15mm (mark iii).
Hey Drake. I love your stuff. My question is that I’ve seen other videos that about if you don’t have oxidation then just polish and wax. Do you have any videos on just polishing? And what to use?
Hey bro! For just polishing I’d use a light grit compound as a polish with a forced rotation or DA polisher, then apply some Jescar polymer sealer with a DA and a black foam pad.
Drake, small problem. I polished by boat using Mernzerna 400 and a Rupes Mille. When I finished, there is a film on the boat that doesn’t wipe off, it just smears around. Any tips? Thanks!
Your work is amazing! Have you used this product on RV gel coat? I have a lot of swirls after using Meguiars marine one step with wool pad. What do you recommend I do at this point. Thank you.
It’s likely that the swirls came from the rotary, I would just use the same one step products with a medium cutting foam pad on a da polisher. You can go to harbor freight and get a decent one if you don’t have one.
After you're done with the power lock, since that is a sealant, do you need to apply a wax like Collinite? (Doing a marathon on your videos! 😂 Great job!)
For best results I would apply an sio2 ceramic after. Collinite will only last a few weeks as a topper. This stuff is the best Si02 out there drakesmarinedetailsupply.com/collections/starke-surface-technology/products/starke-replenish-silica-spray
Nope! Compound and Polish isn’t something that “stays on” the gelcoat. The shine behind I’d left from the products. This step is meant to remove the residual oils from the compounds and polishes, so that the polymer sealant can adhere to the surface better. The polymer sealant however does “stay at the boat”. So after you apply the sealant you would not want to use the alcohol because that will remove it, which is probably what you are thinking of. Hope this helps!
Love the content! Thanks for all the tips and tricks. I’m a little OCD and am looking for one line of products that has everything from start to finish. Any recommendations?
One brand that has literally every you’ll need and that is great is Starke yacht care. They are alittle pricy but their products are great! You can check it out here! You can also get 15% off with discount code “ DRAKE15” drakesmarinedetailsupply.com/collections/starke-surface-technology
Hi Drake, so to make it clear and understand it correctly, you remove the swirls using the orbital machine and after you clean all the surface with alcohol before the last step?? Or you can skip the alcohol and finish with the lock product right after the orbital?
After you are done with all compound and polishing then you can do the alcohol step. The only thing you do after you do the alcohol step is the sealant
Two questions: Which is more aggressive, a wool pad or the heavy cut gray foam pad? Can you also comment when you would use one over the other. When do you have to go to wet sanding for scratches?
A wool pad is more aggressive than the grey foam. Typically, you would use a wool pad for cutting / compounding and you would use a foam pad for polishing.
Good Evening Drake. Thanks for your videos. Question, my boat was painted with gelcoat. They used a spray gun. I sanded the boat with 120 before painting. I sanded with 600, 800 and 1000. Used a wool pad with heavy cut compound to polish and the polisher with foam pad. I’m still seeing the 120 sandpaper marks. Anything you would recommend? They did 3 coats of gelcoat supposedly.
Hey Man! It sounds like you didn’t get out all of the 120 sanding marks out before you jumped up to 600. Start back with 120, and then add 220 and then 320 grit Mirka Abranet sanding paper between the 120 and the 600. Then do your regular buffing and polishing and you should be sanding mark free! Here’s a link to the sand paper I recommend! Hope this helps! drakesmarinedetailsupply.com/products/mirka-5-abranet-ace-mesh-grip-disc?_pos=3&_sid=db8e069bf&_ss=r
Incredibly informational. Thank you for the detailed process. Couple of questions: What is the average area you can cover with the 4 dots on the pad for the polish and the sealant? What type of pad are you using for the sealant? I just purchased from you the gray pad can wait to attack my boat.
I am correcting a red/black 27 foot Monterey, minimal oxidation, a lot of scratches and holograms. I have been wet sanding the bad deep scratches with 1000 then 1500 grit, followed by Menzerna 400 and wool pad on the rotary buffer-awesome smoothness and a lot of holograms. I have been polishing over with 2400 Menzerna to take out the holograms with a DA polisher-I have tried different foam pads but they don’t seem bite much (orange and yellow lake county). I ended up using some wool DA pads with the 2400-worked great-wondering why I don’t see much use of wool DA pads in the various steps?
Nice! I don’t have anything against wool da pads, just haven’t used them much. I guess I can be stuck in my ways. Iv just had great success with system and I stick with it. Thanks for the feedback, I always recommend people to find a system that works for you and stick to it!
So, to follow up on my original comment, I tried out the new Rupes Blue course DA foam pads with their course DA compound after correction with the Menzerna 400. Wow! The speed and finish quality was amazing. It took all the holograms out and even some mild scratching but left a super smooth finish. No more wool DA pads for me.
Good job Drake one question I have a stubborn stains on my nonskid deck can’t get them out I believe it’s some type of suntan lotion tried everything still there
Hey Drake awesome vid much appreciate the info and instruction! I have a red and black boat that has a ton of swirl marks all over as well as some oxidation. I purchased the griots buffer with the grey foam cutting pad and a microfiber buffer pad. You said the process in the vid works well for white boats. What do you recommend for the deep red and black boat? What products/compounds and process? TIA!
Hey there! if it’s really oxidized I would go with Starke Level R heavy cut compound on a heavy cut wool pad with a rotary buffer, then Starke Elevate on a Yellow wool pad with your rotary buffer, then Starke Ignition polish on a Lake Country orange forced rotation on a DA then Starke Hyperhold for sealant, the DA alone will not be powerful enough to cut through the heavy oxidation. You will need the rotary for the first two steps as stated above, then you can do your light polishing with the DA, as well as applying you sealant. All of the products mentioned above are available for purchase on my website 😎drakesmarinedetailsupply.com/ Also if you would like more detailing knowledge, I have an awesome live recorded detailing course available for purchase!www.detailuni.com/a/2147504321/GMGkUUpS
Appreciate all the great videos. Do you have tips or videos for a black boat? Have done my own boats in the past with white and light colors. First black boat and just want to remove swirls. Own the GG machine. Thanks in advance
Hey bro! extra swirl removing will be needed for a black colored boat, they just show more imperfections! I use all Starke Yacht cares line of compound and polishes and they work extremely well with dark colored boats. After you have done your initial heavy cut step with your rotary and Starke Level r, I would then switch over to the lake country purple foam-wool pad blend on the rotary with Stark elevate medium compound, then I would personally get yourself a Rupes Millie forced rotation to remove the remaining swirls, the GG DA polish would work, but investing in a Rules Millie would bring your work to a whole new level, and is an absolute must in my opinion if you own your own detailing business!! So after the elevate on the Rotary with the purple foam-wool blend pad, you then use the Rupes Mille with an orange lake country forced rotation pad with elevate. For the last step, you can use your GG da polisher to apply Starke Hyperhold polymer sealant for protection!! This is the system that works GREAT for me with colored boats! For maintenance, after every wash keep it protected with Starke replenish🔥🔥 here’s the links to all the products that I mentioned: Level r heavy compound: drakesmarinedetailsupply.com/products/starke-yacht-care-level-r-heavy-cut-compound?_pos=1&_sid=bf48c3eb5&_ss=r Pad for the lever r: drakesmarinedetailsupply.com/products/8-x-1-25-buff-and-shine-double-sided-heavy-cut-wool-pad?_pos=2&_sid=01121da36&_ss=r Elevate medium cut: drakesmarinedetailsupply.com/products/starke-elevate-medium-cut-compound?variant=37398819602608 Purple foam wool pad for the Elevate on the rotary: drakesmarinedetailsupply.com/products/lake-country-purple-foamed-wool-pad?_pos=1&_sid=48de9d21f&_ss=r Rupes Mille forced rotation: drakesmarinedetailsupply.com/products/rupes-bigfoot-lk-900e-mille-gear-driven-polisher?_pos=1&_sid=6d41bbb8b&_ss=r Pad for the Mille: drakesmarinedetailsupply.com/products/lake-country-sdo-orange-polishing-pad?_pos=2&_sid=99bb7880a&_ss=r Starke Hyperhold : drakesmarinedetailsupply.com/collections/sealants/products/starke-hyper-hold-polymer-sealant (this can be applied with any soft pad on the GG da) Starke replenish: drakesmarinedetailsupply.com/products/starke-replenish-silica-spray?_pos=1&_sid=4d2515a82&_ss=r Hope this helps bro!!!! 🔥🔥😎
@@DrakesDetailing I appreciate you taking time out of your day to give me this info. While I work in the marine industry (boat dealership) the detailing portion is just my hobby for my own toys. As I own the GG, can I use the same pads and processes you mentioned? Again, I know your a busy guy, your work looks amazing I’m the videos, and thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction. Worst case scenario I send it to our detailers in the back to fix my mistakes! (Still not as good as the stuff you do)
I just started applying compound to my black boat . This is the first time I have ever tried this. It seems to be working pretty good. I just noticed that I have some swirl marks on the last part so I stopped. I think the problem is the my wool pad is looking bad. So how often do I need to change my pad? Also, can I wax the boat without polishing it? Thanks
I would polish it with a finer compound in between the compounding and sealing stage for sure, it will help take those swirls out. I’d change my pads out every 40ft
Hey brotha Greg here from rockport Texas I did a yatch here in port aransas and I see swirls marks on the eyebrow do I do the same process your doing to it. With the alcohol
About to try this on my new 21CC. Finish is pretty good but there are some light holograms that I want to remove before sealing. Thinking about using the lake country CCS orange with menzerna 400 on my griots random orbital. Does this sound good? Do I need to go with a lighter compound or pad on the painted bracket and engine cover? I have grit style non-skid on the boat. Since it’s new I’m thinking i should just go straight to Jesco power lock or nautical one non skid sealer and skip the polishing. Thanks!
Hey bro! Yeah 400 and a orange pad with a forced rotation should be plenty to remove the swirls. As for the motor cowling, 400 should be fine. It’s a very fine compound. If you non skid is clean and oxidation free, it’s totally cool to just apply some sealant over it 😎
Only wipe with alcohol after compounding or polishing. Then wax. The reason is One to see if you removed all swirls and two so the wax / sealant will stick to the gel coat. I try to always wipe with alcohol or wash with dawn before applying any wax or sealants. It will help it stick to the gel coat better!
I like 90 proof rubbing alcohol! Only thing is it may be hard to find some right now with the covid... if you can’t find Andy rubbing alcohol then denatured alcohol will work as well. But not as good as 90 proof
Can you use a rotary buffer with a foam pad and variable speed instead of a forced rotation buffer. Not sure what a forced rotation is that’s why I ask.
Hey bro, this video should clear it up for you! m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AyQXfthyMDM.html At the end of the day, nothing will remove swirls as well as a forced rotation
Would you say the Maguire's medium cut is good product. I have been using it on our boat and it takes the oxidation out but after I polish with the step 2 and it still has swirling
@@kylepothast8027 it's very hard to finish out perfectly on a rotary with anything other than an ultrasoft polishing pad and a very fine finishing polish/glaze. Even then, it can be challenging. That's why we grab a DA to remove them quick and easy.
Is 3M cut compound /polish a good go to product to a heavy to medium oxidation on a boat ? I am starting from scratch hasn’t been washed, compounded for years. Playing to clean and strip it down from top to bottom. What product do you suggest and what video do you recommend that I should watch? Thanks for the great content. Not in business, just trying to bring my 40’ silverton I just got back to life.
Hey, Drake. Loving your videos. I have a boat that is red in color and has oxidation and swirl marks. I used a DA on it last year with Meguiar's 3 step process. What do you recommend I do at the start of this season? Thanks!
Use starke level R with a wool pad on a rotary Follow up with starke elevate with wool pad Use a white lake country ccs foam pad with elevate to polish then apply a sealant like Jescar power lock or starke hyperhold
After you use the heavy cut, then wipe with alcohol. Do you then put a coat of wax on top like the one I saw you putting on that small black center console, I think it was like a black bottle you said was like $40?
Hey drake. Thanks for what u do. I have some micro swirls. I’ve tried almost everything. 3m heavy, medium, swirl remover, heavy cut down to polishing pads on my shirhold da on 6 (max). I can only see these in the light. Any more ideas?
I would definitely try a fourths rotation machine. They are the best for getting swirl marks out of gelcoat and paint. They are a little pricey, but worth it if that’s what you are trying to achieve. My personal favorite is the Rupes millie.
I want to give this a shot on my boat. What are the odds I'm going to screw this up and "burn" through the gel coat? Any huge risk in using a budget DA polisher from Harbor Freight?
I would say it’s impossible to burn through with a DA! You Would literally have to try to burn through ha You should be be safe! Harbor freight DA is fine!
Hi again. I put in my orders for the Menzerna 400 and grey pads. I have a buddy that will loan me a really nice DA buffer. After I get it all buffed/polished out, can you recommend a good spray and wipe sealer or wax or do I have to go over it all again with a wax n buff application?
Hello Drake! I had my boat waxed and buffed $4000,00 When I arrived to see the job I can see swirls. The people that did it said the swirls will never come out unless it is wet sanded. Are they wrong? I have a 47 foot Silverton I also waxed it myself every year but I'm not good at it thats why I hired a company, Did I make a mistake?? darn
do you recomend anything for water spots? i had a job the ohter day and couldnt get hardly any out. is there any products or solutions you might recomend?
Question for ya. I bought a used bass boat that has chips of wax flaking off or lifting from the surface. I want to get rid of that and do it the right way. What's the best, and hopefully easiest, way to remove them? Wet sanding?
The pads will last pretty long depending on how long and often and how much speed you put behind them. Yes you can wash them and reuse them. You can also use them for compounding.
Drake, I have a boat with some halo lines down it on black gelcoat. Boat was apparently done with heavy compound and then a polish plus with a spray wax. My question is, if i want to redo this work and get out the halos, do i need to strip the wax before i polish or can i just polish over the wax?
Hey man! The halo marks are swirls left begins from the heavy compound, wool pad and buffer. I personally like to remove the wax by washing with Dawn, plus it just helps clean the area do you can start on a nice clean slate😎
What if the customer is not paying to remove the swirl marks? I once had a customer tell me that I was milking him because I put correction lights on the Gelco and he said I was literally just milking him. He said I was trying to pull a fast one on him. What do you do in that situation?
Walk away.. ha no but really, you can only do what the customer is paying for, now I do believe In going to extra mile but if a customer is acting like that... then you’ll be getting what you pay for. Just detail and wax it and move on...
I find that if you inform customers and serve them to what they need you’ll get better responses, not trying to sell them on something! You are helping them, not selling them! But then again you’ll never be able to make everyone happy! Ha
I would do orange just to be safe, if you use the grey it will remove the heavy swirls, but it may leave lighter swirls because the grey is to heave of a cut. You would have to follow up with the orange or white after, so just to be save use the orange
Hey, I have a white gel coat hull and I compounded it with 3m medium compound+wax and now when the lights hit it in garage there are swirl marks all over it. Can I get these scratches out without wet sanding and how do I avoid swirl marks in the future?
Hey Jake! You need a heavy cut compound, you only used a medium. Swirls marks can be removed with polish after you do your heavy compounding with a forced rotation machine
Hey Drake, would there be a difference if you applied wax with your FLEX 3401 vs Griot's Garage DA? If I buy the FLEX could I wax on a low RPM. Thanks once again. Set up shop in Spain jeje
Yes, micro swirls will still kill the wax on your tv gelcoat. Remember though, RV gelcoat is a lot different and a lot of times thinner than boat gelcoat. A DA/forced rotation should remove light oxidation and swirls in your RV’s gelcoat
Help! I hand waxed my boat with Collinite Fleetwax heavy duty paste wax and when i finished and stepped back, it was was a swirl awful mess. I should have watched your RU-vid first. Before if i make it worse, what is the easiest way to fix it?
Hi Drake, I have the problem of looking at gelcoat after polishing from one angle and it looks amazing! But when the sun shines on it, I can see all the buffing marks. These boats are usually old, oxidised and not looked after. I don’t understand what I am doing wrong.
Do you always use a DA or Force Rotation to remove the swirls & holograms ? Or can you also use a rotary? If so what pad would you use on a rotary? They show up horribly when the sun hits them! 😡
