MAT1955
Well-Known Member
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After recent lengthy discussions about ceramic coatings and past discussions about waxes I thought I'd share my process for protecting my paint on my new 2026 Mustang GT.
Background: I have lived on the water most of my life and had many boats with custom gel coat colors, particularly black hulls. They were very prone to water mark spots, particularly from washing them with "tap" water. I spoke with a well known gell coat guru and he said after working on custom designs he had a team member wash the hulls with PH neutral soap (they used to use Johnson's No More Tears baby shampoo) and SOFT water. His shop had a big commercial water softener SO that got me thinking. After a LOT of discussion on boating forums I decided to try a highly recommended portable water softener from West Marine. The product was On The Go portable water softener. It was AMAZING. It took my wife and I three days to wax and polish our last big cruiser's black hull and the last thing I wanted after all of that was a bunch of water spots marring the surface when I washed the hulls ..... frequently..... (think bird $hit etc.) Using the On The Go unit there were No more water spots on my black hulls, windshields or canvass isenglass. As well it is FDA certified as a source of drinking water so we filled the 100 gallon water tanks with it. To clean its filter medium bed you use regular household salt to backflush the unit. 5 Star effective and easy to maintain. When I sold our last big cruiser I included that watersoftener in the sale. I'll try to post a couple of pictures of the boat and the water softener so you can see what I mean.
Present Application: Having just had my 2026 GT paint corrected and ceramic coated I did not want harsh mineral laden water to form deposits on the new coating. I wondered if the same water softener (On The Go) was still for sale. Yep, on Amazon for about $200.00 which includes a short hook-up hose, back flush valve and instructions. Using this, whether on a ceramic finish or waxed finish will absolutely prevent any mineral water spotting and I expect it to also make for water so soft that it just beads-up and sheds easily like it did on my gel coated hulls. Going to hook it up in the garage this week. I'll try to attach pictures of its use at the boat and what arrived yesterday. It weighs less than 5 pounds and is very portable. When cruising we stored it in the swim platform locker room. It is THAT easy to handle and is so small it would not take space in your garage. Hope you find this interesting and useful.
Boat hook-up
The BOSS aka my wife waxing the hull.
Still available and arrived from Amazon yesterday!
Background: I have lived on the water most of my life and had many boats with custom gel coat colors, particularly black hulls. They were very prone to water mark spots, particularly from washing them with "tap" water. I spoke with a well known gell coat guru and he said after working on custom designs he had a team member wash the hulls with PH neutral soap (they used to use Johnson's No More Tears baby shampoo) and SOFT water. His shop had a big commercial water softener SO that got me thinking. After a LOT of discussion on boating forums I decided to try a highly recommended portable water softener from West Marine. The product was On The Go portable water softener. It was AMAZING. It took my wife and I three days to wax and polish our last big cruiser's black hull and the last thing I wanted after all of that was a bunch of water spots marring the surface when I washed the hulls ..... frequently..... (think bird $hit etc.) Using the On The Go unit there were No more water spots on my black hulls, windshields or canvass isenglass. As well it is FDA certified as a source of drinking water so we filled the 100 gallon water tanks with it. To clean its filter medium bed you use regular household salt to backflush the unit. 5 Star effective and easy to maintain. When I sold our last big cruiser I included that watersoftener in the sale. I'll try to post a couple of pictures of the boat and the water softener so you can see what I mean.
Present Application: Having just had my 2026 GT paint corrected and ceramic coated I did not want harsh mineral laden water to form deposits on the new coating. I wondered if the same water softener (On The Go) was still for sale. Yep, on Amazon for about $200.00 which includes a short hook-up hose, back flush valve and instructions. Using this, whether on a ceramic finish or waxed finish will absolutely prevent any mineral water spotting and I expect it to also make for water so soft that it just beads-up and sheds easily like it did on my gel coated hulls. Going to hook it up in the garage this week. I'll try to attach pictures of its use at the boat and what arrived yesterday. It weighs less than 5 pounds and is very portable. When cruising we stored it in the swim platform locker room. It is THAT easy to handle and is so small it would not take space in your garage. Hope you find this interesting and useful.
Boat hook-up
The BOSS aka my wife waxing the hull.
Still available and arrived from Amazon yesterday!
Sponsored
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