What is the best polish for GRP panels?

[ColB1]

Hi there! We've just changed our 'van for a 5 year old that has been kept under cover and shines like new! Our old van was about 7 years old and the front grp panel was faded and dull and every time we washed and dried it, a white powder came off on the cloth. Oue old van's front panel was obviously degraded by bright sunlight, and we want to preserve our shiny 'new' look van as long as possible. Any ideas?

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hi ColB
Not knowing how badly the front of your van has faded not quite sure what to recommend here .
I would suggest you try a small area with T Cut and then polish with Autoglym and if that works keep going and build up a good coat of Autoglym., but as I say try a small are first.
Sir Roger

 

[coburn]

I use SmartWax,
http://www.smartwax.com/
but buy it on eBay.
As with most/all polishes, the more often you use it the better.

 

[Past_it]

I use Mer, I think it's wonderful and removes the dark rain streaks immediately.

 

[forestgump]

if you want to make it gleam look on a marine (boating site ) for some of there glazes .

 

[Parksy]

A good wash down to remove any grit and dirt followed by the application of a good quality vehicle polish such as Auto Glym or Meguars Step 2, buff this up and then apply a good quality carnauba wax / sealant such as Auto Glym wax sealant or Meguiars Step 3 to seal the polished shine. If you wash the caravan down regularly and polish and wax a couple of times a year you should be able to keep a good shine on all surfaces of your caravan.

 

[Bigfoot]

"Panele szklanego" is the best I can do! It's Polish

 

[Delt1c]

I have also used Auto Glyn on the van with reasonable results. However last month I decided to use a Claybar kit on the car (for 1st time) and was amazed at the result. So I then tried the same on the front of the caravan and after 2 coats of wax and sealer it is gleaming like new.

 

[Beehpee]

Hi Delt1c, I like the sound of the clay bar kit just had a quick look after googling claybar and not the cheapest but if the results are as good as you say it will be more than worth it, wonder if you can answer couple of questions for me, where did you get yours from and how much did it cost, the one I just looked at which was at halfords said was 100g claybar and lubricant, how far would you expect to get on a caravan with that, as in would I do the whole caravan or would it need more than one, I think I'm def gonna give it a go cos my caravan is in great condition and comes up with a beautiful shine on the sides but front and rear is somewhat dull even after polishing it, any info would be great.

 

[Delt1c]

Hi
I got the Meguiars kit from Halfords , cost (I think ) £25 and as they were doing 3 for 2 I got Aoto Glyn polish and sealer. The kit includes Meguiars polish . It is not for the faint hearted and took me a full day to do the Jeep. I did it 1 panel at a time , 1st using the clay bar , then 2 coates of wax and finally the sealer. The kit includes a micro fibre cloth but I got an aditional cloth and also some dusters for applying the wax.
The finish is excellent , when you use the clay bar it leaves the surface of the vehicle feeling like glass. Have a look on the web there are several videos showing how to use the clay bar which are well worth watching. I would recomend it .

 

[Beehpee]

I spent 6 hrs yesterday ( too much time on my hands or sad?) giving the caravan a good waxing, I used regular caravan shampoo, think it is cara-tec but doesn't seem to be much different to using washing up liquid to be honest, I did tho buy myself a bottle of Maguirs Carnuba wax which I was absolutely delighted with, my van has aluminum sides and a GRP front, back and roof, the sides always gleam using some tesco own brand wax but the results on the GRP has always been a disappointment till now, the finish now is a massive improvement, actually looked out the window and shouted up to her indoors that someone had nicked our old van and left a shiny new one in it's place, I think as someone said in another post on here somewhere we caravanners all seems to be nutters, roll on the weekend let's hit the road.

Beehpee

 

[waffler]

Beware of using washing up liquid as one reader suggests- many are corrosive. I use Smart wax. Easy to apply, it's pink so you can see where you have been. Polishes off easily with no residue. I do my van twice a year and it keeps it good.

 

[Bri2]

Again, don't use wasing up liquid, its designed for cutting through grease fats, etc and will stripp all your lovely wax off your van. Use a good car wash to get old wax off, if needed, before you re wax. Do a google on car detailing and look at some of the forums and what they use, those guys realy know their wax's.
Bri

 

[sammysoc]

G3 by farecla apply to panel leave wipe off you will see a shine its a cutting compound make sure you dont get it on the windows

 

[Parksy]

Hi there! We've just changed our 'van for a 5 year old that has been kept under cover and shines like new! Our old van was about 7 years old and the front grp panel was faded and dull and every time we washed and dried it, a white powder came off on the cloth. Oue old van's front panel was obviously degraded by bright sunlight, and we want to preserve our shiny 'new' look van as long as possible. Any ideas?

G3 by farecla apply to panel leave wipe off you will see a shine its a cutting compound make sure you dont get it on the windows

I'm not quite sure why these old threads are being revived, this topic is from May 2011.
The advice remains the same- DO NOT USE CUTTING COMPOUNDS ON GRP PANELS

A grp panel is made up of glass reinforced plastic with a gelcoat surface finish and a cutting compound will destroy the gelcoat finish resulting in a dull panel with no possibility of the shine being restored.
The OP wrote that his old caravan had dull end panels (somebody probably used cutting compound on them

) and that he wants to preserve the shine on his new caravan.
The best way to preserve a good shine on caravan paintwork or grp end panels is to wash the caravan with a good caravan shampoo, polish if necessary with a good car polish ( Autoglym or Meguiars) and then wax the surface using Autoglym sealant or Meguiars stage 3 wax. The surface should be washed and waxed regularly after the initial polish and the shine will be preserved.
You don't need to polish and cutting paste or compounds should never be used on caravans.

 

[sammysoc]

Hi there! We've just changed our 'van for a 5 year old that has been kept under cover and shines like new! Our old van was about 7 years old and the front grp panel was faded and dull and every time we washed and dried it, a white powder came off on the cloth. Oue old van's front panel was obviously degraded by bright sunlight, and we want to preserve our shiny 'new' look van as long as possible. Any ideas?

G3 by farecla apply to panel leave wipe off you will see a shine its a cutting compound make sure you dont get it on the windows

I'm not quite sure why these old threads are being revived, this topic is from May 2011.
The advice remains the same- DO NOT USE CUTTING COMPOUNDS ON GRP PANELS

A grp panel is made up of glass reinforced plastic with a gelcoat surface finish and a cutting compound will destroy the gelcoat finish resulting in a dull panel with no possibility of the shine being restored.
The OP wrote that his old caravan had dull end panels (somebody probably used cutting compound on them

) and that he wants to preserve the shine on his new caravan.
The best way to preserve a good shine on caravan paintwork or grp end panels is to wash the caravan with a good caravan shampoo, polish if necessary with a good car polish ( Autoglym or Meguiars) and then wax the surface using Autoglym sealant or Meguiars stage 3 wax. The surface should be washed and waxed regularly after the initial polish and the shine will be preserved.
You don't need to polish and cutting paste or compounds should never be used on caravans.

Our Abbey came up gleaming after we used G3 and also used super resin polish after

 

[Parksy]

I'm not disputing that your Abbey came up gleaming after using this g3 stuff and resin polish Sammysoc.
What I'm saying is that cutting compounds should not be used on caravan paintwork or GRP panels because the abrasive cutting agent will quickly rub the paint off in places and totally destroy the gelcoat of the GRP panel if you continue to use it.
You seem to have got away with it so far but I can tell you that cutting compounds such as G3 are not suitable for caravan use instead of polish and wax.
The super resin polish is mildly abrasive and should lift road film, tar deposits and grime. The way to preserve the shine on GRP and caravan paintwork is by using wax which contains no abrasive agents.

 

[sammysoc]

I'm not disputing that your Abbey came up gleaming after using this g3 stuff and resin polish Sammysoc.
What I'm saying is that cutting compounds should not be used on caravan paintwork or GRP panels because the abrasive cutting agent will quickly rub the paint off in places and totally destroy the gelcoat of the GRP panel if you continue to use it.
You seem to have got away with it so far but I can tell you that cutting compounds such as G3 are not suitable for caravan use instead of polish and wax.
The super resin polish is mildly abrasive and should lift road film, tar deposits and grime. The way to preserve the shine on GRP and caravan paintwork is by using wax which contains no abrasive agents.

could you please suggest some wax that helps keep the shine we tried met and it went patchy

 

[Parksy]

If the shine was patchy you should wash and polish the panel again using Autoglym super resin polish if you've still got some left over. Buff using a clean microfibre cloth
The Autoglym super resin polish contains a very mild abrasive that will remove and wax and road grime.
Mer is a polish rather than a wax and is also mildly abrasive, it's great for renovating neglected caravan paintwork and for shifting bugs, grime and tar but it won't give the caravan a lasting shine.
I use Meguiars stage 3 Deep Crystal to provide a sealed shiny surface, I find that the shine lasts for about 4 months before I have to re-apply the wax and when I wash the caravan the dirt and grime runs off the waxed surface.
Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection paint sealant will provide a similar finish, imho the shine doesn't last quite as long as Meguiars but it's a matter of personal preference which one you use. Just wax one section at a time so that you know which parts have been done.
With regular washing and waxing, polish need only be used rarely to remove wax build up, tar and road film always use a clean microfibre cloth to buff up the shine.
A quick way to get a temporary shine is to shampoo and wash the caravan and use a garden spray bottle from the pound shop to spray a diluted mixture of Fenwick's Bobby Dazzler onto the paintwork. The shine doesn't last very long but if you wash your caravan regularly and don't fancy waxing it the Fenwicks product will provide a shiny surface.