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I have a Warrior 165 that i want to clean up and polish to get back the lovely shine it used to be. I bought a buffer / polisher from Halfords that i havent used yet because it looks and feels too big plus the bit that the actual bonnets go on seem too hard for the job. I havebought some cleaning and wxng / polishing products from "Starbrit" but would like to getthing smaller in the way of a buffer / polisher. Can anyone point me in the right direction

 

Thanx

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When I picked up a new boat from the Warrior factory a couple of months ago I discussed polishing with Phil Byrom. Phil's opinion was to not use any type of mechanical polisher as they're all too harsh. Instead he said get some "Mer" polish, which just wipes on and off with a cloth.

 

That wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear because it sounded like hard work and I'd only just bought probably the same big buffer from Halfords as you did. But I did as I was told and the results were very impressive. Best of all it went on and off again with hardly any effort.

 

I know my aim was sealing/coating new GRP rather than restoring it, but worth a try nonetheless.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Duncan

 

 

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I used to do my previous Warriors by hand.

 

Find a decent quality carnauba wax polish. Apply by hand with a stockinette cloth - damp if possible, it makes the polish work harder and go further. When it is applied and dry, buff it off with the mechanical polisher.

 

Like many things a little and often is better and less work than once a year....

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this is an interesting topic everytime it comes up - mainly because there are different degrees of 'polishing up'!

 

Mer is great for an easy wipe on wipe off finish and if you are using it weekly it will give you some protection. As an annual (bi-annual or in my case every 5 years) makeover product it's useless.

 

The 3 key process elements are

 

1. repairs

2. cutting

3. adding protection layer

 

it's obvious to do 1 properly before the other 2 - and even more so when you try and do it after no3!

 

for a reasonable level of cut (a couple of years neglect) I use Farclea G4 on a Meguiar's soft buff foam cutting pad (w7006).

 

These will last a long time and are a world away from "a bit of foam on velcro". Keep the surface well moistened and 1500-2000rpm.

 

When that's finished and all washed off you get to work with a good wax, as Adam say's above. No real substitute for doing this by hand and using a good microfible cloth to buff it up. I used collinite wax.

 

Everything you could ever want about this stuff is available at

 

www.cleanandshiny.co.uk

 

Eye openers for me were (1) how much difference a good buffing pad makes and (2) just how far one small tin of wax goes!

 

The above will get you to showroom (or better) finish from just about any condition.

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