KM wrote:

Dan G wrote:

I sincerely hope it does not trap any moisture at all in the way skin
lotion does. Water is one of the mortal enemies of gel coat damage, the
others being UV light and flexing in very low temperatures.

Wax does not "trap" moisture.Most waxes are designed to go on a dry
surface (unlike Mer).

Mer can be used wet or dry.

You are correct that most gel coats are water
soluble but only if saturated over long periods of time (like with a
leaking trailer).This does NOT mean that you shouldnt protect your
finish from oxidation by waxing it.

AFAIK gelcoat isn't water soluble, but it IS porous. If you allow water
to get into the structure of the coating, it can result in freeze/thaw
damage in low temps, and provides a solution for chemical attack.


Any good car polish will protect against water and UV. I'd suggest
using Mer, mainly because it's so easy to apply you'll use it often.

Huge misconception here Dan! You should NEVER polish a gelcoated or
painted finsh without also waxing it.If you think about it, the main
reason to polish and wax anything is for protection and not just
appearance.By just polishing your finish you are leaving it exposed to
oxidation and UV.Go back and read the post about using a one step
product.

People get rather pedantic about the terms wax and polish; I'm quite
lazy and tend to use them interchangeably.

To be clear, Mer has a (very) light abrasive action, just enough to
remove the oxidised and dirt-contaminated top layer (on the microscopic
scale). Usually that layer is old polish, but if the surface has been
neglected then it will be the top layer of the gelcoat/paint/whatever,
which is likely in such bad state you'll want rid of the top surface
anyway. Don't worry, it's impossible to take off so much that you'll
rub through the gelcoat or even alter the profile of the wing. The Mer
then leaves a protective layer (i.e. water proof and UV resisting) on
the surface.

Here is another way to look at it; the main reason a finish exists on a
sailplane is to protect the structure from harmfull stuff like water
and UV.So it stands to reason that the better you take care of a finsh,
the longer your sailplane will last.

Yes.


Dan