light scratches

callforbids

I have a SD2000 in midnight black and white. I get a few light scratches on the midnight black sections of the boat and I was wondering whether anyone had any ideas on how to get them out. They are not very deep, but since they are white they become obvious on the black gelcoat. Thanks

Ernest_T

Hey Steve,

Meguiars makes a product called "One Step Compound" that works really well for light scratches in the gel coat, but does require a fair amount of elbow grease.  If you just have a few areas, I would recommend it.

I had a black car that showed swirl marks, scratches, etc., very easily.  I ended up getting a Porter Cable 7424XP random orbital polisher that really worked well for the car.  I've used it one time to wax my boat and the results were amazing.  You can get various different abrasive pads and different polishing products that will let you go from just putting on wax to compounding out fairly heavy scratches.  The nice thing about the Porter Cable is that it is very safe.  You don't have to worry about burning or damaging the finish like you can with the high speed orbital polishers.  I recommend it for more extensive scratches, or if you need to polish the entire boat.  You can also use the Meguiars products with the 7424XP.  [&:]

Horsefish

callforbids wrote:

I have a SD2000 in midnight black and white. I get a few light scratches on the midnight black sections of the boat and I was wondering whether anyone had any ideas on how to get them out. They are not very deep, but since they are white they become obvious on the black gelcoat. Thanks

This may sound strange but before you try anything more drastic, try taking some toothpaste on a soft cloth and rub over the scratches in a circular motion fairly agressively. Clean off with warm water.  I have taken scratches out of watch crystals and plexiglass many times this way.