Gel-coat, the exterior finish on fiberglass boats, is a porous mix of polyester resins and pigments that must be sealed from the damaging effects of salt, dirt, weather, and ultra-violet (UV) radiation.

The primary purpose of gel-coat is to protect the underlying core from water, air and sunlight, which in combination will quickly loosen the chemical bond and render the structure useless. Neglect this gel-coat, and it becomes more porous, resins oxidize and what remains is a faded, dull finish prone to absorbing water into the laminate and destroying it

The Players

Unlike the modern marvels of chemical engineering, Carnauba comes from a tree, the Copernica Cerifera palm tree, to be specific. The color and quality of the wax are governed by the age of the leaves and care used in processing of this hard, brittle, lustrous wax. It runs from a golden yellow in color to nearly white and has an unmistakable but pleasant "tree" smell to it.

Due to the fact that carnauba is a natural plant by-product, it will not react with gel coat or painted surfaces. The Carnauba Wax acts as a protective barrier providing a very hard film over your boats surface that protect against sun and weather damage, airborne contaminates, such as acid rain, spills, fish remains, salt and bird droppings, etc.

Carnauba even swells and closes its pores tighter when exposed to water. In addition, Carnauba dramatically reduces gel coat oxidation by diffusing the UV and infrared radiation from the sun which will oxidize and dull your boats finish.

Pure Carnauba in its natural state is harder than concrete.

A protective layer of Carnauba wax keeps airborne contaminants from reaching the gel-coat and starting a chemical reaction.

This wax layer diffuses (refracts) both UV and infrared radiation from the sun. Without it the radiation is absorbed by the pigment in the gel coat causing it to over heat, and trigger the chemical reaction that will dry out, dull and oxidize the surface.

A waxed boat will have a lower surface temperature than an unwaxed one.The darker the color, the greater the difference.

Using a high quality paste wax applied over a clean polished surface will give you 3 to 4 months of protection here on the Emerald Coast.This doesn't mean the wax is gone in this time but the appearance and protection will begin to fade rapidly.