My Sharkhide Application

[dbj216]

Well, I bit the bullet against some good advice and purchased the Sharkhide metal preservative for our polished 86 Limited 34'. I am following Sharkhide application instruction exactly including purchasing their special "cloth diaper" package. The cloth is very thin and tightly woven.

I asked about possibly using a spray bottle to spray Sharkhide onto the cloth so I don't waste the stuff and don't get too much on. But Sharkhide instructions say specifically to "saturate" the cloth, so that's what I did. It also states to apply only in horizontal wipes, not cross hatch or circular motions. So okay, I'll do it that way.

Sharkhide makes special emphasis on the bare aluminum be perfectly clean with no contaminating chemicals. Well, that is a challenge on a polished Airstream. We have lots of polish residue left on the trailer. I've read here that polishing with Nuvite S as the last pass kinda "seals" the aluminum like a wax.

So I am rubbing my trailer down with lacquer thinner as Sharkhide instructed. I rub until my rag stays pretty clean, no black. Then I wrap my Cyclo with a clean terry polishing cloth and go over the cleaned area. But I still get black polish residue on the terry cloth after three passes with the Cyclo, but less each pass. Then I rub the cleaned area with a Scotts blue shop paper towel and the towel stays pretty clean.

So I decided to apply the Sharkhide and it went on without streaking. I am letting it "cure" now and I may give it a second coat as recommended later. We'll see what it looks like in the morning.

But I know the trailer will have significant corrosion on the surface after our summer travels if I leave it bare polished aluminum due to rain, bugs, leaves, sap, and bird droppings. It gets tiresome to do a maintenance polish every winter. I will see if the Sharkhide will help me out.

David

[Bubba L]

I’ve always heard of the product but never used it. When you’re far enough along, let us know the coverage you’re getting. We’re getting tired of annual polish touch up too. Please keep us posted. Thanks

[Ephraim]

From a “metallurgist” perspective, it is doubtful that anyone has ever seen raw aluminum in a normal atmosphere because it oxidizes so fast. Unless you are in a vacuum or inert atmosphere, you will always get black on your cloths until it is sealed.

[GOUSC]

I have used it in small areas where a little filiform was showing and on the end caps front and back where the potential for filiform exists per recommendations by Collin Hyde. Collin does a lot of repair work on Vintage Airstreams and uses this product. He isn’t real prompt on responding but if you can get a response he should be able to help if any issues. Collin is out of Plattsburgh, NY.

So far so good with my application following SharkHyde instructions.

[dbj216]

Hi Bubba: Of course I will post my results and opinions here. So far, no catastrophes to report. I think the "reflectivity" of the polished aluminum is the same after Sharkhide as it was before Sharkhide. I did observe some streaking at the rear of the trailer. I believe my "saturated cloth" got too depleted and I wasn't getting enough Sharkhide on the surface. The beauty of Sharkhide you can easily remove it if you don't like it, or second coat it if you apply it too thin. The instructions say a thin coat applied in a horizontal wipe is correct.

Ephraim: You are correct. We all get black hands or gloves working with aluminum. It oxidizes fast and turns our Airstreams into a lovely gray color. Sharkhide is a mixture of two solvents and the micro particles that I think embed in the pores of the aluminum to protect from such oxidation. Polishing our Airstreams improves the surface finish to a very low RMS, mirror like. The polishes we use have some type of carrier and of course rubs off the oxidation. All the polish residue has to be removed before applying Sharkhide as the solvents in Sharkhide will loosen the polish residue and could make dark streaks, like my lacquer thinner does.

GOUSC: Thanks for mentioning Colin Hyde. It is a strong reference to hear he uses the stuff in his shop. Yes, Colin is an vintage Airstream expert.

I meant to post a couple of photographs of the lacquer cleaner rag, then my Cyclo wrap after two passes, and then my blue paper shop towel, and finally the Sharkhide wipe on cloth. Maybe it is almost impossible to get the surface perfectly clean.

David

[GOUSC]

To the OP, I have an unrelated question but since you, and other posters, deal with vintage airstreams I thought you may know the answer. Collin did my front end separation repair that re-occurred after a factory attempt to do so. The panel in the pictures of the repair shows the outer skin of the repair. The real repair is behind the outer skin. However, the outer skin Collin uses is a higher grade aluminum and it does not have clear coat as the original skin does. I think it is the same grade used on vintaged airstreams.

He uses Sharkhide to provide the outer protection layer and recommended I do as well so I carry a can of it.

I carry my honda EU2000 generator on my tongue and have a sliver cover over the generator to protect it from the elements. When travelling the cover rubs against the aluminum skin and leaves a film of gray/silver. I have been unable to figure out how to clean it up and it's been difficult to get in touch with Collin.

Do you have any thoughts on how to clean it up since you probably deal with the same grade aluminum?

[mbubbaca]

I’ve use this product on my pontoon. Prep is the key to success. I went from needing a power wash on the pontoons yearly to at least 2 years. After a couple of seasons, doing the math, I stopped and just power wash yearly. The cost of the product and aggravation of prepping made it cheaper and easier to power wash the pontoons. I might try the leftover product on the nose where bugs commit suicide. Thanks for posting about your experience.

[dbj216]

Hello again GOUSC: I would first try automotive style aluminum polish like Diamond Brite or one of those. You just rub it on hard like you were polishing, let it dry, and then wipe it off. I was surprised how shinny it made a section of my trailer, but it is too laborious for me to do a whole trailer with the product. But you replacement front aluminum ought to clean up well with this type of product. I got mine at my local car parts store.

By the way, I don't believe Sharkhide would stop the staining from your cover. Sharkhide helps guard against corrosion like rain and the like.

David

[GOUSC]

Thanks David,

I know the Sharkhide won’t prevent it. I appreciate your providing a product to clean it up. I will use that to clean it up in between camping seasons.

[dbj216]

Hello Sharks: Well I have applied Sharkhide to the bottom half of our 86 Limited 34, the area below the midline trim. This is the area that sees the most road moisture with leftover road deicer. I wiped the area down with lacquer thinner and then rubbed it with shop towels until I got no black.

I used the Sharkhide cloth which is a very thin, lint free weave to it. You can see light through it. It would make a lousy diaper, but no matter. It came in the package folded so I just took one cloth, folded in half again to better fit my hand. This left maybe 8 layers or so of the thickness of the cloth. I didn't count them.

I "saturated" the cloth with Sharkhide which broke my heart. Seems wasteful to me, but I'm following instructions. It soaked through quickly, and I don't think I got the folded edges as wet as I should. I wiped it horizontally and found it is a little like "finger painting". I couldn't figure out how to apply it evenly and was leaving streaks where I didn't get it applied.

Today I have applied a second coat of Sharkhide to cover the streaks. I cut a cloth in half thinking less material is less to "saturate" and might make the application more even. I think I did do better at not leaving streaks. We shall see how it dries tomorrow.

I am about half done with the aluminum surface area of the trailer and I've used about a half a quart. I won't be doing the roof as I painted it white to reflect the strong Colorado sunshine heat.

By the way, Sherman's Lagoon is a very good comic in our paper. Sherman is a great white shark with a new problem every week.

Stay tuned...

David

PS: I forgot to mention. Sharkhide is easy to remove if you don't like it. Sharkhide says it comes off easily with lacquer thinner. I haven't tried it, but at least I believe I can remove it if I find it necessary.

[dbj216]

Well, I failed. I don't know how, but I failed. I applied Sharkhide to the area above the midline trim and have nothing but "brush marks" and missed streaks. And this was after the second coat. I did follow the application instructions on the can precisely. But I don't have any experience with this product.

Because our Airstreams are rather rounded, the area below the beltline is also brush marked and streaked, but you can see it because the light reflects differently. But I did lose some "reflectivity" due to the brush marks and my uneven application. Because this lower area sees the most road moisture I'm going to leave it that way. I expect the Sharkhide to protect that surface, except where I have streaks where I missed somehow. Sharkhide is thin and clear. I was unable to see where I was wiping it on or see missed areas.

I was able to remove my lousy Sharkhide application on the upper surfaces using a rag and lacquer thinner. I had to wipe it several times, but it did come off. I did try using my polisher with a 12" foam polishing pad thinking I could smooth the brush marks. But to no avail. Applied Sharkhide is tough stuff.

Bottom line, I gotta find something better for a polished aluminum Airstream corrosion protection. Your recommendations welcome.

David

[dbj216]

I'm disappointed I could not make Sharkhide work on my polished Airstream. It sure seems like an excellent product. I've tried automotive waxes and wasn't satisfied with those either. Maybe I will try Boshield or Corrosion X spray on next. But unsure about that.

Here is a photo kinda showing how Sharkhide diminishes the reflectivity of the polished finish. The top of the photo is bare polished aluminum, and the bottom is Sharkhide applied. (please excuse the phone photo. I wasn't standing on the wall.) The same thing happens to me with automotive waxes. It may be there is no corrosion preventative for polished aluminum. The next product I try, if there is one, I will apply to a mirror first and see what it looks like when it drys.

I am not knocking Sharkhide. It is an amazing product. It is just not designed for highly polished aluminum and/or I did not apply it correctly wiping with a saturated cotton cloth.

David