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Awlgrip has had some severe problems with their finishes since the paint was reformulated roughly 3 years ago. They are now running a major dog and pony show at various sites worldwide (40-50 of them) to try convincing people that they've got the problem licked, but there's still an awful lot of the bad paint out on the market. They were at the 2010 American Superyacht Forum, for example, with discussion of how they are remedying their defective product along with sample paint demonstrations allowing yard painters to test the old vs. future formulae on metal panels. This paper and demonstration were delivered 25.May.2010 at noon by Ken Hickling, International Manager for Awlgrip/AkzoNobel.

Symptoms of the defective paint are not immediately apparent, but show up in the first few weeks after application. These include dimpling, mottling, hazing/dulling, and irregular surface effect (think of privacy glass as used in bathroom windows or glass shower enclosures).

In the meantime there are other products that are reliable and at present superior to the storied Awlgrip brand.

Hopefully Awlgrip DOES have a good handle on the problem and returns to its former - and well deserved - position at the top of the market. In the meantime, safer to stay away from it for a while.

In case anyone decides to question the validity of this information, they are welcome to read more info at http://www.synfo.com/news/allnews.asp?news=&id=15307