Which Was/Polish?

[Kingbiscuit]

We'll be picking up our 19 the end of March. I'm already starting to think about care and feeding.

That said, I'm wondering which was/polish is recommended to keep the exterior looking great. I've heard good things about Zep Wet Look floor polish. It made a friend's Scamp 5er look good and I hear it lasts a long time....with no buffing.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/ZEP-128-...F128/202859659

My wife and I spent well over 20 years maintaining fiberglass sailboats and I'm looking for an easier way. I've tried about everything except this Zep polish.

Any thoughts?

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Kingbiscuit

We'll be picking up our 19 the end of March. I'm already starting to think about care and feeding.

That said, I'm wondering which was/polish is recommended to keep the exterior looking great. I've heard good things about Zep Wet Look floor polish. It made a friend's Scamp 5er look good and I hear it lasts a long time....with no buffing.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/ZEP-128-...F128/202859659

My wife and I spent well over 20 years maintaining fiberglass sailboats and I'm looking for an easier way. I've tried about everything except this Zep polish.

Any thoughts?

My take is, Zep is a floor finish. Some people use it on oxidized gelcoat to restore the shine. There is no need to use such a product on new gelcoat. It's already shiny and not oxidized.

I recommend a good Marine polish like Starbrite or a high quality Marine wax designed for fiberglass. Any number of products will protect the finish, prevent oxidation, and provide a smoother more shiny surface than Zep ever could.

Use it a minumum of once a year, twice a year being more preferable. Do that and you'll have a shiny trailer for a long time. Doing a proper wax job doesn't really take that long when you think about it - maybe an afternoon of your time.

If you ever do develop oxidation and loss of sheen, instead of resorting to a floor finish, I'd say do a proper job and buff the surface back to a high gloss with a high speed polisher (like my Porter Cable) and some compound.

[Eggscape]

Escape industries has some products on their shelf for keeping the finish polished.

[gbaglo]

Besides, if you use Zep, you have to get one of these:

[rubicon327]

We’ve had a good experience with this wax by Meguiar’s:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[padlin]

The easiest way to maintain the finish is to marry off a daughter to someone who likes waxing.

Having covered storage helps minimize oxidation and black streaks.

The 1st year or 2 just waxing does the job, after that you start fighting the oxidation. You already know all about what's involved in that. The roof takes a beating, it's the hardest part to maintain, if you worry about such.

I found polish, like Starbrite lasts a lot longer then Caruaba wax but is not as deep a finish.

[cpaharley2008]

Here I thought this thread was about Poland......

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Besides, if you use Zep, you have to get one of these:

Sure that floor buffer will work but it’s hard to hold over your head to do the sides. The top
aint bad but there are a lot of obstacles. We use Rejex polish at least once a year and wash the trailer with Meguiars Gold car wash when we come back off the road. Our 2010 19 looked like new when we sold it last August. The new to us 21 had been well maintained by AZJack and was kept under a “camperport” in Arizona and looked good when we got it. Once home, we used the Rejex on the exterior and it looks like new. Like many other campers we’ve camped with, Rita will give the 21 a sponge bath once we’re set up, especially at a rally. Keeping the trailer in a building when not in use is a great help.
Iowa Dave

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Sure that floor buffer will work but it’s hard to hold over your head to do the sides. The top
aint bad but there are a lot of obstacles. We use Rejex polish at least once a year and wash the trailer with Meguiars Gold car wash when we come back off the road. Our 2010 19 looked like new when we sold it last August. The new to us 21 had been well maintained by AZJack and was kept under a “camperport” in Arizona and looked good when we got it. Once home, we used the Rejex on the exterior and it looks like new. Like many other campers we’ve camped with, Rita will give the 21 a sponge bath once we’re set up, especially at a rally. Keeping the trailer in a building when not in use is a great help.
Iowa Dave

Hi: Iowa Dave... I'll try to "Sponge off" when we camp next to ya!!! That must be what that external shower's for...really. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[rjbny]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

We’ve had a good experience with this wax by Meguiar’s:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yes, Meguiar’s works great.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by escape artist

Hi: Iowa Dave... I'll try to "Sponge off" when we camp next to ya!!! That must be what that external shower's for...really. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

Paints a picture don’t it? Early in the day, Showers at Riverside all empty, bunch of old fat guys with sponges, leaning against their Escapes, scrubbing the barnacles off, grunting trying to reach the tough spots. Alf breaks into singing in the rain, Jim Norman honors West Side Story with a Pavarotti rendition of Maria.
Iowa “Forty Creek” Dave

[thiggins]

Don't use floor polish!...

We've had our 2004 Casita (21 Escape in June !) about 10 years, and it arrived with the top pretty oxidized and dull. I tried buffing, waxing...pulled my hair out...then after reading about the Zep thing, I tried that.

BIG mistake. It turned brown in the sun and got very splotchy. I finally got all the brown places nearly cleared off after about 5 years of frustration !?!?

I quickly switched to a purpose made product that actually works ( no I don't own their stock...), Poly Glow. I've been using it for years, and I works great. The camper now looks better than new, very shiny and white. It does require a TON of hard prep work, and the fiberglass needs to be pretty spotless before you apply it, but after you do, it's sealed. No more wax or buffing. If it does peel (improper prep!) or you need to fix a spot, it's pretty easy to clean that spot and redo the finish. It's very similar to applying a clearcoat finish, which it what it actually ends up being. Since it was already pretty flat, I use barkeeper's Friend on the top half ( oxalic acid ) to clean and bleach it. It works great. Then dry, and apply the poly glow. Done.

https://poliglow-int.com/

You can usually find better prices at boat supply places or Amazon.

Don't even bother with the floor finish "solution", Zep or otherwise, it's a cheap waste of time, you'll probably regret.

( This is another contentious/religious subject, so I'll refrain from comments after this. I'm just stating my personal opinion and real-world experience with a white fiberglass trailer. That's all...thanks. )

BTW: My plan on our new 21 Escape (June) is to keep a good coat of expensive wax on it, and keep it under cover as much as possible ( we built a pole barn for it ). The less sun the better. Hopefully that will take care of it for many years to come. We can't wait !

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by thiggins

Don't use floor polish!...

We've had our 2004 Casita (21 Escape in June !) about 10 years, and it arrived with the top pretty oxidized and dull. I tried buffing, waxing...pulled my hair out...then after reading about the Zep thing, I tried that.

BIG mistake. It turned brown in the sun and got very splotchy. I finally got all the brown places nearly cleared off after about 5 years of frustration !?!?

I quickly switched to a purpose made product that actually works ( no I don't own their stock...), Poly Glow. I've been using it for years, and I works great. The camper now looks better than new, very shiny and white. It does require a TON of hard prep work, and the fiberglass needs to be pretty spotless before you apply it, but after you do, it's sealed. No more wax or buffing. If it does peel (improper prep!) or you need to fix a spot, it's pretty easy to clean that spot and redo the finish. It's very similar to applying a clearcoat finish, which it what it actually ends up being. Since it was already pretty flat, I use barkeeper's Friend on the top half ( oxalic acid ) to clean and bleach it. It works great. Then dry, and apply the poly glow. Done.

https://poliglow-int.com/

You can usually find better prices at boat supply places or Amazon.

Don't even bother with the floor finish "solution", Zep or otherwise, it's a cheap waste of time, you'll probably regret.

( This is another contentious/religious subject, so I'll refrain from comments after this. I'm just stating my personal opinion and real-world experience with a white fiberglass trailer. That's all...thanks. )

BTW: My plan on our new 21 Escape (June) is to keep a good coat of expensive wax on it, and keep it under cover as much as possible ( we built a pole barn for it ). The less sun the better. Hopefully that will take care of it for many years to come. We can't wait !

Poli Glow is a good product for restoring a high shine to faded/oxidized fiberglass. But no need to use such a product on a new trailer with shiny gelcoat.

[steve dunham]

I give my trailer 2 coats of polish / wax in the Spring , one coat per month in the Summer and 2 coats in the Fall before storage.
I've used Meguiars, Nu Finish , Mother's and high buck boat wax and to be honest I can't see one cents worth of difference between any of them.
Expensive wax that sits in the can and is never used does nothing.
A coat of cheap NU Finish polish at least does something.
Waxing my trailer once a year may make me feel better but it does little to protect the gel coat IMHO

[Rossue]

In the final stage of my oxidation removal project I had a problem with holograms and swirls. Meguiars #67 was great for oxidation removal, however at a certain angle of the sun I could see some swirls and holograms on horizontal surfaces. Their Marine Wax didn't help, so went to a detail shop and the owner sold me a bottle of the product he has been using for a long time and it worked great. He showed me the gallon jug; comes from a distributor in Hayward, CA.

[Vermilye]

I also use the Meguiar’s Marine wax. You need to buy it on line or at Marine Dealers - I've been told their high grade automotive wax (Meguiar's G18216 Ultimate Liquid Wax) is formulated for automotive paint, while their marine products are designed to work with gel coats. No idea if it is true, but the marine version seems to go on easy & hold up well.

[richardr]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

I also use the Meguiar’s Marine wax. You need to buy it on line or at Marine Dealers - I've been told their high grade automotive wax (Meguiar's G18216 Ultimate Liquid Wax) is formulated for automotive paint, while their marine products are designed to work with gel coats. No idea if it is true, but the marine version seems to go on easy & hold up well.

This is what we have used. You can get it on Amazon $24.80 for 32 oz.