# Oxidized Fiberglass



## Metal Dad (Jun 4, 2013)

My 2005 28BHS has a dull, powdery finish courtesy of the Florida sun. There are two nice shiny stripes from the protected section that's right behind where the awning poles rest against the wall when not in use. Any ideas on how to bring it back to life? I bought a rotary buffer, but wanted to see if there was a preferred product, perhaps a wax, for the fiberglass walls. Or would I just be making swirlies in the powdery, oxidized finish?

The decals are shot! Cracked, peeling, weathered... I'm having some new graphics designed and want to make sure I've got the sparkle back in the OB before I put them up!


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## Leedek (Nov 28, 2010)

Lots of good products out there. One thing I have been told a lot is to use fiberglass cleaning/polishing/protection products. Car polishes and compounds sometimes don't do the job. My bet is Meguiars Mirror Glaze #45 Marine/RV Polish is formulated to do the job by chemists that know fiberglass.

I Googled "fiberglass gel coat polish" and read some of the reviews of products. Clear coat and gel coat are not the same thing.

Opinions expressed by this poster are his own. They do not represent the Outbackers.com agents or representatives other than Leedek and his Silky Terrier Jax.


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## Rick P. (Apr 24, 2013)

Leedek said:


> Lots of good products out there. One thing I have been told a lot is to use fiberglass cleaning/polishing/protection products. Car polishes and compounds sometimes don't do the job. My bet is Meguiars Mirror Glaze #45 Marine/RV Polish is formulated to do the job by chemists that know fiberglass.
> 
> I Googled "fiberglass gel coat polish" and read some of the reviews of products. Clear coat and gel coat are not the same thing.
> 
> Opinions expressed by this poster are his own. They do not represent the Outbackers.com agents or representatives other than Leedek and his Silky Terrier Jax.


I've spent the past couple weeks cleaning up our new-to-us 2006 31RQS. Meguires #49 Oxidation remover first, followed by #45 polish and finally Meguires Flagship Premium boat and RV wax. If you've got heavy oxidation you need to use #49 to remove it before #45 because the polish is a polymer and will probably bond to it, making it even harder to remove. Our graphics are still in pretty good shape so I had to do most of it by hand - there weren't many places big enough to really make the buffer worthwhile. Results are really good but it's been a ton of work...

Rick


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## Bill & Kate (Apr 28, 2012)

Another option - especially if the fiberglass gel coat is severely oxidized - is to use one of the acrylic polishes. There are several marketed to the RV and boating market like PoliGlo, but many RVers have reported good results with Red Max Pro or Zep floor polishes from Lowes or Home Depot. Personally, I haven't tried this on an RV, but I have been using it on my 1990 boat for years with good results. Here is a link to a thread on iRV2 that details the process: Floor Polish on Gelcoat


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