Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hey guys and gals! After having this boat for a couple of years, I finally got to the point of "not being able to handle it" anymore. Decided to spend some time polishing the toons. Tons of work but happy with the results. Used white diamond metal polish, a dual action polisher, lots of buffing pads and microfiber towels. Ended up doing around 4 coats to get the right shine. Used 2 coats of sharkhide protectant and took to the lake last weekend. After hosing off with fresh water, the toons wiped right off with absolutely zero water spots. If the sharkhide works like its supposed to, I'll just have to reapply once a year, which only took 30 minutes or so. Hopefully it works as advertised because I don't want to ever polish like that again!

That looks terrific! I've been hesitant to do mine because I'm not sure if I'll like the reflection out on the water on a bright, sunny day.

Did you find the reflection to be any problem?

More info about the actual process would be appreciated, any lessons learned, product recommendations or tips for newbies.

WOW, the difference is night and day... your toons now look like those mirror like tankers you see going down the highway... just curious, how long did it take you to do.. they look amazing.

Beautiful job!

Great Job! This just makes me realize I need to redo mine. Mine have lasted about 7 years now, and although they look better than most boats around here, they could use a refresh. Be sure to Shark Hide those babies to keep them looking good.

EDIT: After re-reading the post, I see you did use SharkHide, so good on you. You may not need to reapply every year though.

That looks absolutely incredible!

Good job! Looks great. You'll get a lot of compliments on it every time you go out.

[quote="Jayjoans"]That looks terrific! I've been hesitant to do mine because I'm not sure if I'll like the reflection out on the water on a bright, sunny day.

Did you find the reflection to be any problem?

More info about the actual process would be appreciated, any lessons learned, product recommendations or tips for newbies.[/quote]

Thank you all for the compliments.

As of yet, I haven't noticed an issue with the reflection.

As far as process goes.. (all application and removal was done with a dual action polisher with the appropriate pads)

1. White Diamond Metal polish with an applicator pad. Small sections at a time. Let dry (couple of minutes)
2. Drink a beer
3. Wipe excess polish off with microfiber towel
4. Use polishing pad and go over surface thoroughly
5. Repeat process on same section until desired shininess is achieved
6. Once you're satisfied with shine, finish with a finishing pad over section.
7. Drink another beer and proceed to next section

For areas that are more stained, I used mothers rubbing compound on the applicator pad first and then started the process at step 1 listed above.

After all tubes are finished, I went back over everything with mothers finishing compound to reduce the swirl marks which made a huge overall difference. Once thats done, you just apply sharkhide protectant as directed. This is the easiest step as it just wipes on.

All in, this could've been finished in 2 days. I took my time and drank plenty of beer....my OCD led to it taking 3 days.


If you decide to take this journey, just know that it is lots of work, but the results (IMO) are worth it.

You did this all by hand? WOW.

I've seen a youtube video of a guy doing it an orbital sander and a high speed buffer, but clearly he was a pro. I would be worried about causing some damage. His results were a mirror finish, which I'd be concerned about on the water. Think of all the fish that would just swim right into your pontoons and bump their little heads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyOodLNI4BQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IdT2o6rEKg

[quote="Jayjoans"]You did this all by hand? WOW.

I've seen a youtube video of a guy doing it an orbital sander and a high speed buffer, but clearly he was a pro. I would be worried about causing some damage. His results were a mirror finish, which I'd be concerned about on the water. Think of all the fish that would just swim right into your pontoons and bump their little heads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyOodLNI4BQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IdT2o6rEKg[/quote]

My apologies... I'll go back and edit the steps. I used a dual action polisher for applying and removing. Cannot even to begin to imagine doing this by hand!

I'm assuming this wouldn't hold up if you boat is wet slipped, correct? I've heard the Sharkhide doesn't really last in below water applications.

That's really nice looking; better than new!

That said; my back hurts just looking at the pics.

Mine stays in the water year round, so It'll be what it'll be.

Well done..... It warms my heart seeing people care for their stuff.

I'm looking at a DeWalt polisher on Amazon, what specific pads do you recommend that use hook and loop?

I don't know the difference between applicator, polish and finish pads.

A Dewalt would most likely be higher quality, but I've seen recommendations here for a specific Harbor Freight model. A search should turn up the discussions. If you catch it on sale and apply the 20% off coupon, it's pretty inexpensive