Guest DARREN Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 I HAVE JUST PURCHESD MY FIRST GRP BODYED VAN INEED HELP WITH NOWING WHAT WAX /CLEANING PRIDUCT TO BYE. I HAVE BEEN TOLD TO BE CARFULL AS WRONG WAX/CLEANING STUFF WILL DAMIGE GRP BODY BEST REGARDS DARREN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Will Redfearn, Wirral Motorhome Club Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Fenwicks Motorhome Cleaner and Bobby Dazzler-because she's worth it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 This has come up several times before on the forum. It is normally advised that polishing products that contain silicone should NOT be used on GRP surfaces. This is because silicone can have a damaging effect on the gel-coat's shiny outer skin. I recall Mel Eastburn saying that most ordinary 'car' polishes contained silicone and I believe he recommended an aviation-oriented product. (If Mel doesn't respond to your posting, you can search the Old Forum if you want details.) I'm not sure what the Fenwicks products contain - the Motorhome Cleaner is a high-strength detergent and Bobby Dazzler is a surfactant that causes water to run off the treated surface - so neither is actually a polish. When I last discussed this subject with Auto-Sleepers I was told that they recommended only cleaning products from Farecla (see www.farecla.com) for their vehicles. Personally, I used Fenwicks Motorhome Cleaner to get the muck off our Herald, followed, very occasionally, by Mer polish (on both metal and GRP areas). I believe Mer contains silicone but it seemed to have no damaging impact to the Herald's GRP. If you are really concerned about using the 'wrong' polish, I suggest you take Mel's advice or use a marine polish intended for GRP boats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DARREN Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 tHANK YOU VERY MUCH DEREK , THE INFORMATION AND WEBSITE ADDRESS YOU GAVE WILL BE USEFUL , Thank you for taking your time to read my forum ad. Regards Darren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 My pleasure. If you Search the Old Forum using keyword "silicone" (omitting the inverted commas) you'll find Mel Eastburn's posting of 31/7/2003 referring to a product called Karlack. This search will also pull up other comments on polishing GRP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel E Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Sorry I'm late - the product I recommend is called Carlack (with a 'C'). It's actually a car polish but is free of silicone. Available from RD Aviation (Mail Order sales 01865 841441). They sell it as it is great on gel-coat finishes on gliders. It also gives a superb polish! Incidentally, using a silicone-containing polish softens the gel coat, especially under UV light (i.e., bright sunlight) but the effects will probably only be visible to later owners, in 5 or more years' time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 Not too sure about Silicone softening GRP as I've used it on my boat for 16 Yrs with no ill effect. Looks like scaremongering to me. The only problem I know of it's more difficult to repair as all the Silicone must be removed beforehand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Peter, It depends on the particular gel coat formulation used. Up until about 12 years' ago, there was no problem, except that they discovered the formulation widely used at the time was highly toxic to the sprayers. So, for most applications, they switched to non-toxic alternatives which, naturally, are less good and more prone to problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 I agree, but I would think that as Motorhomes are made out of flat panels of GRP, I imagine that the whole process would be automated and the panel made in one continuous length, negating the need for human input and hence no toxic dangers. Or am I imagining that manufacturers are more clever than they actually are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted September 20, 2006 Share Posted September 20, 2006 Peter, I think few m'homes are made from cut, flat panels. Mostly, the GRP parts are moulded. And you'll doubtless have noticed that, since the industry has moved increasingly away from aluminium skins to GRP, the vehicles have taken on more and more curvaceous shapes - just 'cos you can do it with GRP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted September 20, 2006 Share Posted September 20, 2006 You'll find that some of the new models have gone back to aluminium sides instead of GRP, goodness knows why, I know which I'd rather have!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 I dropped an email to Mer Ltd ( Well known Supplier of polishes etc) and have enclosed their reply below: ++++++++++++++ Hi There are 15 different ingredients in mer 1 of which is a silicone but it is a non-volatile silicone so if you are talking about re-spraying there will be know reaction. The polish is used world wide on gel coat boats, gel coat light aicraft etc, and as far as I am aware no one has reported any of the problems you are describing, but please do check with the manufactures of your vehicle, if they wish I can send a data safety sheet which has chemical breakdowns. Regards Dawn Lewin Customer Services/Sales Tel: +44 (020) 8401 0002 Fax: +44 (020) 8401 0003 Email: sales@merproducts.com Visit our website: www.merproducts.com This e-mail message is confidential and for the use by the addressee only, If the message is recieved by anyone other than the addressee, please return the message to the sender by replying to it and then delete the message from your computer. Internet e-mails are not necessarily secure.Mer Products Ltd do not accept responsibility for changes made to this message after it was sent. -----Original Message----- From: Tony Ish [mailto:] Sent: 22 September 2006 12:2 To: sales@merproducts.com Subject: Motor Home Gel coat Hi I would be grateful for your assistance, I have used Mer on cars and caravans for a while. However my present Motorhome (maker Rapido of France) states that silicon polish should not be used as it can lead to softening of the gel coat and crazing over a period of time. Does Mer contain silicon (the contents on the side of my can are a little unclear) or do you market a silicon free polish ? Thanks for your assistance. Rgds Tony Isherwood. +++++++++++++++++++++ Edited to remove email addresses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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