I am always moving skis from here to there getting ready for the next Middle Tennessee Personal Watercraft Club (MTPWC) adventure. Recently, I picked up a friend’s ’14 Yamaha FX High Output (HO) Cruiser to load up on our four-place trailer and frankly, it was a mess. It had been stored for a while and was filthy, so I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to test out a box full of products from Jet Renu.
I looked over the ski it was pretty beat up and I knew there were many deep scratches that no product would help, running your hand across the hull of this ski was like running it across 200 grit sandpaper from end to end it had slight oxidation and was covered in water spots the dark color of the ski and amount of time this ski sat I didn’t hold out much hope I could revive it! The chrome trim looked painted flat gray & the rub rails & front and rear bumpers were almost gray from exposure!
I started off by giving it a good wash. First, as so many people do, I used dish washing liquid. While it broke off some built-up grime, it didn’t really clean the surfaces, mats and seat to my satisfaction. So I washed it again using Jet Renu Purple Boat Wash. After drying the ski, the difference was noticeable. The surfaces were clean, but the finish still about the same condition – which again, was pretty poor.
Wanting to complete the job using as few steps as possible, I looked through my selection of products and decided to use Finish Renu’s Renu Glaze 2.0. Finish Renu is the parent company of Jet Renu targeted for professional detailers and service departments. The Renu Glaze is a medium synthetic compound formulated to effectively remove 2500-to-3000 grit scratches and other surface imperfections such as swirl marks and hazing. Using a Porter Cable orbital buffing machine with an orange light cutting foam pad, I worked the hull in a cross-section pattern a small section at a time, removing the haze using a micro fiber towel from each section before moving on to the next.
Almost immediately, I could tell I was moving in the right direction. After completing the entire ski I was totally impressed; all of the hard water spots were gone as was the light oxidation and so many of the finer scratches. It was looking 100-percent better, so I swapped buffer pads to a black finishing foam pad. For this I chose to apply Finish Renu’s Banana Wax, a finishing glaze that contains polymers and carnauba wax. Banana Wax also removes any light oxidation and minor surface scratches.
Again using the same cross-section motion and removal process moving section-by-section, the process went smoothly. The final result completely blew me away. The once filthy, heavily scratched Yamaha had a brilliant, polished surface. I rolled the ski out of the shop into the sunshine where I could see the clouds floating overhead deep into the paint of the ski, the color depth almost completely restored.
The FX HO Cruiser had come a long way but I still had to address the chrome and plastics; back into the shop for the finishing touches. I used a small amount of Metal Renu on a microfiber towel to go over the chrome pieces on the ski with very light pressure. BAM! The once discolored, gray chrome popped back to life! The one last thing to address was the faded plastics, rub rails, front and rear bumpers, and the grab handle around the rear seat. Finish Renu’s Bumper Renu it is a silicone-based protectant that was developed to provide a high shine silicone shield on bumpers, moldings and trim. Bumper Renu is enriched with UV protectants that create a barrier against harsh elements.
I went over all of the plastics twice with this product and once again was totally impressed! Bumper Renu leaves a high gloss shine whose film also beads water, giving the plastics a protective coat. The final result was night-and-day. All-in-all I spent about four hours and I can’t say enough good things about the Finish Renu and Jet Renu family of products. They definitely work!
