To wax or not to wax....

I’ve had a couple of customers asking about waxing the hull on their canoe.
I’ve always thought it was a bad idea because it could cause fish eyes in the paint if some residual wax remains after sanding and prep for repainting.
I have heard of a few folks that do wax their hulls claiming it protects it somehow and reduces drag.
Anybody have an opinion??

 

Silicone (or boat waxes or "miracle" polishes which contain silicone) is much more likely to cause fisheyes than wax is. Even a painted surface has pores in its surface and wax will fill them to some extent, helping to protect the finish, as well as removing or covering (hiding) a certain amount of oxidation. Wax isn't hard to remove prior to a repaint.

The drag question gets debated frequently in the sailboat racing world. One year they will be claiming that a perfectly smooth surface is fastest, the next year they're all wet sanding the bottoms to provide a very fine texture to eliminate "suction" and speed up the boat. Some of the America's Cup boats over the years have even been covered with peel and stick sheets of film covered with tiny ridges. The same thing gets done to the bottom of cross country racing skis, since skis slide on a thin film of friction-melted water. Honestly, on a canoe it isn't going to matter. For every mile you paddle, missing a couple strokes while you swat a fly or reach for your water bottle is going to cost you more time than a "speed doctored surface" is likely to gain.

 

Dave, I always put a coat of quality marine wax on my canoes after I finish them. Cleans much better after the water scum line develops, certainly the bug splatter from car-topping and occasional pitch or bird droppings.

 

With today's paints, Interlux, Pettit, epifanes you really don't need anything more. As long as you take care of it. It's a personal preference, it may help with keeping it clean. Probably best on a paint job that's had a few years of use on her to clean and freshen her up.

 

Hi Dave,
I'm no expert but Jack Lapointe of Wesport Canoes told me to always wax the hull after painting as it can take up to 5-6 weeks for the paint to "cure" or reach it's finished hardened state. He only uses a carnauba wax which is a natural product practically insoluble in water, and one of the hardest of natural waxes. The idea being that the wax when applied and buffed off gives the paint a layer of protection while you get the canoe in the water as soon as possible after painting it. Lets face it no one wants to wait to get her out for a paddle after all that hard work of getting her back to a water ready state. I've included a photo of a UFO I restored this summer showing the waxed hull.

 

I waxed my Chestnut with carnauba wax after finishing her with Epifanes.

When the canoe is wet, getting her back on the car roof give bystanders entertainment as its rather like lifting a greased pig!!

Nick

 

I'm no expert either but whenever I used to paint my motorcycles I'd always wait a couple months to wax them so that the paint could most easily continue to fully dry. Those were acrylic lacquers and enamels so I don't know to what degree it would matter with today's finishes. Hard for me personally to imagine how a few microns of wax would offer any mechanical protection to paint that's not fully hard.