Guide to Boat Cleaning and Waxing:

Step 1 FSR application:

Shake well before using. As it's a weak acid, it's a skin and eye irritant, wear gloves and wear eye protection to be safe.

This is oxalicacid ina colored gel so you can see where you apply it.  Don’t wet the boat first as that dilutes things.  Use a cloth or sponge to apply to a small area (a few feet working time 2 minutes).  When done that section or after 2 minutes elapses, rinse that section then do a new section until the hull is done. You will see the stains disappear typically within 15-30 seconds of application. You don’t want to leave any blue gel on an area when moving to the next area after two minutes.  It can also be wiped off with a rag or sponge.

Step 2: Rinse

Rinse that small section immediately before moving onto a new section. The FSR is a viscous gel and needs to be rinsed and possibly agitated with a sponge or rag with water to remove after each small working area (that you can complete within a few minutes of application).  

When the entire boat is done, give it a secondary rise and dry the hulls with a rag.  It's okay using a damp rag but you don’t want the hulls to be very wet or any pooled water.

After the entire boat is cleaned with FSR, rinsed and dried, move on to wax and buff:

Step 3: Wax

3m marine restorer and wax (or similar car equivalent). Get the Ryobi power buffer that uses the same batteries as the drill and dremel.  You can remove the battery from the dremel and drill so you have two batteries and charge one while using the other to continue working.

Apply compound suitable for a 2’x2’ area to work at one time using a rag that you only use for product application, not the buffer pad as that can create areas with too much product and gum up the pad. After applied to the 2X2 area, buff with medium to light pressure and reduce pressure as it begins to dry. Do not let the product dry or haze after rag application before being worked by the power buffer, do it right away.  When a section is done wipe with a dry clean rag and repeat on the next 2 foot by 2 foot area until the boat’s hulls are completely waxed. 

For catamarans please ensure that all hull areas including the 1) inside, 2) outside and 3) top of the hulls are waxed as this protects the hulls from UV and oxidation and staining.  Don’t do FSR step if you are not able to do the wax step the same day as the hulls will re-stain if not waxed after and waste that effort and the FSR product.

If the power buffer is not charged, charge it, it does a much much better job faster than trying to apply by hand.