How I Brought Tired Narrowboat Paintwork Back to Life

If you’ve ever wondered how to bring tired narrowboat paintwork back to life, this video walks through my polishing and waxing process I now use on the Grey Wagtail (for my earlier approach see    • I Tried to Polish My Narrowboat… and Learn...  ). After plenty of trial and error, testing different methods and pads, I’ve finally settled on an approach that gives me the best finish and longest-lasting shine. In this video, I show the entire step-by-step process, including: 🚤 Washing and preparing the paintwork 🚤 Removing scratches, dull patches and black marks 🚤 Applying compound with a machine polisher 🚤 Choosing the right polishing pads 🚤 Why microfiber cloths alone don’t remove all the abrasive 🚤 The importance of washing between stages 🚤 Applying polish and wax 🚤 How to avoid haze and patchy finishes 🚤 The final shine and protection results I also explain the mistakes I made previously and what I’ve learned from polishing both sides of the boat over time. This isn’t necessarily the “perfect” method, but it’s the one that has worked best for me and produced a finish I’m really pleased with. If you’re thinking about polishing your own narrowboat, widebeam, cruiser, or even caravan or motorhome, hopefully some of what I’ve learned will help you too. As always, all the products and tools I used are listed in the description below the video. 👍 If you enjoy the video, please give it a thumbs up 👍 Click the Hype button if available 👍 And don’t forget to subscribe for more narrowboat life, maintenance, cruising and canal videos Products used for polishing (* are affiliate links) 🛒 All the products used to polish my narrowboat - https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/nickswa... BATOCA - Cordless Car Buffer Polisher* - https://amzn.to/49NdY1P Meguiar's Ultimate Compound* - https://amzn.to/4wq29Ze Meguiar's Ultimate Polish* - https://amzn.to/4uK7n0d Meguiar's Wax* - https://amzn.to/4tDTdN7 5 Inch Velcro Car Polishing Pad* - https://amzn.to/4dmJ0yv ShinyCar® UK: Premium Foam Polishing Pad Kit* - https://amzn.to/4da5rZ3 DCS Microfibre Cleaning Cloth* - https://amzn.to/4nsZcTu 👉 To keep up with my adventures on the Grey Wagtail, check out the newsletter - https://nickswanderings.substack.com 🛒Channel Amazon Shop - https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/nickswa... - things bought from the shop help to support this channel ☕️If you would like to help support my efforts, then please feel free to Buy Me a Coffee - https://buymeacoffee.com/nickswanderings Video Equipment Used (* are affiliate links) iPhone 17 Pro Insta360 X5* - https://amzn.to/4jJnQvP Insta360 Mic Air Transmitter* - https://amzn.to/4fBaHVn Insta360 Folding 2-in-1 Selfie Stick with Remote* - https://amzn.to/4fdCieK SMALLRIG Phone Monitor Screen* - https://amzn.to/3YQwD7w Memory cards* - https://amzn.to/4fTCC1k External hard drives* - https://amzn.to/40SbXOe Hollyland Lark M2 Wireless Lavalier Microphone* - https://amzn.to/48OMLdy Phone Tripod Stand* - https://amzn.to/42foYBU Edited using Final Cut Pro on an iPad - https://www.apple.com/uk/final-cut-pr... Edited on an iPad Air M3* - https://amzn.to/4mKl1gF Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 00:44 - Previous Attempt at Polishing My Boat 01:25 - The problem paint work 02:28 - Start of polishing - wash down and rinse 04:31 - Applying Meguiar's Ultimate Compound 07:28 - Results from Application of Meguiar's Compound 08:20 - Applying Meguiar's Polish 11:15 - Results from Application of Meguiar's Polish 12:26 - Another wash down to remove Compound and Polish 13:30 - Applying Meguiar's Wax 15:07 - The final result of polishing the narrowboat 16:30 - Summary, Conclusions and Thanks Social Media 🦋 - https://bsky.app/profile/nbgreywagtai... #Narrowboat #CanalBoat #BoatPolishing #NarrowboatMaintenance #UKCanals #BoatWaxing #CanalLife #NarrowboatLife #BoatRestoration #GreyWagtail