Water spotting on polished finish

[ericjan2]

I'm about half way through polishing my 87 290 motor home. It looks fantastic but I've noticed each morning when the dew drop[s accumulate on the aluminum it leaves trails down the side and it takes more Nuvite S to remove them! That's a problem. Has anybody used a good quality wax polish after polishing with Nuvite to keep the shine on the final finish? I don't want to go through the whole addition of clear coat as they did in the factory in 1987! Any advive?

[Becky B.]

I use Maguires caranuba wax on my trailer. Make sure you put the polish on before you finish up for the day--that way you won't have one step forward, two steps back!! (don't ask how I know!!)

[dbj216]

I followed Becky's lead and polished our 86 some years ago. I call it a poor man's method of refinishing an old Airstream with faded clearcoat.

Becky didn't tell me about water spotting, bird dropings, hazing, swirl marks, and hail damage. A polished Airstream is more maintenance than one with a mill finish and clearcoat. Every blimish sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm betting that is why Airstream went with a mill finish and clearcoat way back in the 60s.

I have found that a polymer sealant like Nu Finish works for me. It lasts a bit longer than wax, and I don't get the haze from the wax quite a bad. It does help repel the dew and rain water spots.

Nuvite polish residue is a bear. I have not found a good way to remove it. Corn starch and micorfiber towel gets some of it. Otherwise just leave it as polished for a few months. I found that Windex will remove some water spots if you catch them early. It does seem to "wear off" after a while.

Then I apply the Nu Finish with my Cyclo.

David

[Becky B.]

Originally Posted by dbj216

I followed Becky's lead and polished our 86 some years ago. I call it a poor man's method of refinishing an old Airstream with faded clearcoat.

Becky didn't tell me about water spotting, bird dropings, hazing, swirl marks, and hail damage. A polished Airstream is more maintenance than one with a mill finish and clearcoat. Every blimish sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm betting that is why Airstream went with a mill finish and clearcoat way back in the 60s.

I have found that a polymer sealant like Nu Finish works for me. It lasts a bit longer than wax, and I don't get the haze from the wax quite a bad. It does help repel the dew and rain water spots.

Nuvite polish residue is a bear. I have not found a good way to remove it. Corn starch and micorfiber towel gets some of it. Otherwise just leave it as polished for a few months. I found that Windex will remove some water spots if you catch them early. It does seem to "wear off" after a while.

Then I apply the Nu Finish with my Cyclo.

David

Sorry I didn't tell you about all the bad sides of the polish job....you're right, it's a lot of maintenance! But it's also a lot of beauty -- especially a 34 footer! I've downsized the polishing to just 17' so I've go a lot less to polish!
I've found that clean up goes very fast with mineral spirits on a VIVA paper towel. Viva doesn't leave scratch marks on your polish & the mineral spirits cut right through the leftover black stuff round rivets & in seams. Make doubly sure you wax, with whatever you choose to wax with, before you finish up for the day, because you'll take any wax from the Nuvite with your clean up with mineral spirits!

[Gilmurr]

This is what I used. Works very well, good shine and protection.

[DaveFL]

Has anybody tried an acrylic floor wax to seal out the water? I found it holds up good when I did 3 coats after doing a super wash with barkeepers friend and a lot of rinsing on my fiberglass boat. Biggest problem is anything left on the surface, cracks, or rivets will be picked up by the wax and looks like mud on a white surface. Aluminum might have a problem with the ammonia solution when you decide to remove the wax, but it would be easier to remove than clearcoat.