# Best teak treatment....



## Frozensurfer (Dec 1, 2009)

I was looking to see what people feel about the best thing to do with refinished teak. I have it sanded down to bare wood. This is a general question but the parts inquiring about are hatch covers, so exterior and some get walked on. 
I was going to use cetal natural teak just to protect it and make it easy to clean. 
Any suggestions comments?


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## cardiacpaul (Jun 20, 2006)

use Cetol on NOTHING you want to stand on, unless you have a rubberized azz. 

You're going to get 47 opinions on what finish to use, then 59 opinions on how to apply each of those finishes. 

For teak you're going to stand on, its my opinion to use teak oil liberally. Or, nothing at all. it'll wear to a light gray patina. (less the dirt and gunk)

For reflective, mirror, looking up the dress shine, there are a myriad of finishes that will work. (including Cetol)


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## Frozensurfer (Dec 1, 2009)

Would it be better to just use a double boiled linseed oil?


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## downeast450 (Jan 16, 2008)

Having been a professional finisher for 30+ years I have a very personal "professional" approach to the teak on my boat. I apply NO FINISH to any exterior teak on my boat. Teak is a wonderful wood. I like its silver appearance when it is weathered. Each spring I spray it with a 50% Clorox solution. I let the teak be teak and enjoy it. Other people's boats are a different story. I have earned many dollars flowing a mirror finish on beautiful teak. It does look spectacular! My interior is bright finished satin and that is enough for my taste. If you have all the old coating cleaned off this is your chance to end the varnish cycle and do something else with that time and money. Try it for a year. You can always "varnish" it next year if natural weathered teak doesn't work for you. As far as a surface to walk on, unfinished teak is a very good surface.

Down


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## Frozensurfer (Dec 1, 2009)

So what is your 50% clorox solution, the other part water I assume. What does it do? Just for cleaning? I think your right about leaving it be. What about wiping it with these teak oils or linseed oil?


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## mceveritt (Mar 19, 2010)

downeast450 said:


> Having been a professional finisher for 30+ years I have a very personal "professional" approach to the teak on my boat. I apply NO FINISH to any exterior teak on my boat. Teak is a wonderful wood. I like its silver appearance when it is weathered. Each spring I spray it with a 50% Clorox solution. I let the teak be teak and enjoy it. Other people's boats are a different story. I have earned many dollars flowing a mirror finish on beautiful teak. It does look spectacular! My interior is bright finished satin and that is enough for my taste. If you have all the old coating cleaned off this is your chance to end the varnish cycle and do something else with that time and money. Try it for a year. You can always "varnish" it next year if natural weathered teak doesn't work for you. As far as a surface to walk on, unfinished teak is a very good surface.
> 
> Down


I am interested in this as well. My entire cockpit deck grate and benches are entirely teak, not to mention numerous other handles and trim throughout the boat. Leaving it plain and simple appeals to me because of the amount of teak oil/finish i would have to apply. This is my first season with my own boat ever, so maybe I will give it a go and see how I like it. My girlfriend may want the shine though!

I am also interested in why you use the chlorox solution. is it just for cleaning?


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## MJBrown (Apr 1, 2009)

Another option is to use a product called Teak Guard. It leaves the teak with that honey gold look, isn't slippery, doesn't turn black like teak oil does and is easy to maintain. Goes on easily with a foam brush. Cleans off the gel coat with just a damp rag so no need to tape or worry about stains. Note you should clean up any spills or streaks as soon as possible since it can be more difficult to remove once it dries. I've been using it for several years and love it. Plus get a lot of compliments on the teak.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

LOL...tell us how you really feel....



cardiacpaul said:


> use Cetol on NOTHING you want to stand on, unless you have a rubberized azz.
> 
> You're going to get 47 opinions on what finish to use, then 59 opinions on how to apply each of those finishes.
> 
> ...


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## downeast450 (Jan 16, 2008)

I use Clorox, which I mix with water about 50%. I just spray it on and usually rinse it off with water after it has had its chance to clean things up. There is nothing magic about that percentage. It just seemed like it would work and it does. If you miss a spot it shows up and you just spray it again. It is really that simple. It just bleaches the wood to a uniform color. It is very bleached and new looking at first and gradually silvers. It should involve appropriate cautions. Don't spray into the wind unless the clothes you are wearing are an art project and keep it out of your eyes. No more sanding, masking, 5 coats of varnish, worry about dings, etc. It looks good, too. I did build a second set of drop boards for winter or during boat work so the potential damage I represent when working on the boat doesn't damage my beautiful silver boards. I still chuckle as I work my way around the boat spraying bleach from the dinghy to clean up the teak cleat pads instead of what most others spend time doing. I do this after launch. This time of year is for canoeing, trout fishing and a little late winter skiing. 

Down


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## wwilson (Jul 7, 2000)

Frozensurfer said:


> ...I was going to use cetal natural teak just to protect it and make it easy to clean.
> Any suggestions comments?


I second your intuition. If the teak is brightwork (teak handholds, cap rail, hatch frames, etc) use Cetol. It is easy to apply, and very resistant to the elements - UV, saltwater, abrasion, etc. It can produce a very nice look for the brightwork - not varnish spectacular, but a good, lazy man's alternative.

I have had Cetol on the handholds and cap-rails for 8-seasons now, with an annual light sanding and reapplication of 2-coats of Cetol Gloss (un-pigmented). This year I am taking it down to bare wood and have coated it with 3-coats of Cetol Light and will finish with 2-coats of Cetol Gloss. I expect another 8-seasons out of that with annual updates.

http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa/hotlinks/sikkens_guide.pdf

I urge you not to use the linseed oil. It will build up to a sticky mess that will retain all the grit and dirt that it comes in contact with eventually blackening.

For deck teak, I agree that it should be left natural and cleaned 2-3 time a season with a dilute mixture of Clorox in water to kill mildew. Alternatively, try OxyClean, it does a great job of cleaning the deck and killing off the mildew/mold.


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## josrulz (Oct 15, 2006)

I love these threads. What to use on teak (or not to use) is like anchors, religion, and politics. 

Let the games continue!


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## poopdeckpappy (Jul 25, 2006)

I got a boat where the guy wanted Starbright Tropical Teak Natural light , looks very nice, takes me about 4 hrs when needed to brush & rag the foredeck, side decks, sundeck & flybridge of a 45 footer.

Me, I have no teak deck   but I use cetrol on everything else; you can work enough clear coat to get a really nice shine on stuff like handhold, bulwarks caprails bowsprits, hatches, dorade boxes etc,etc,

Everything that would be under wet foot gets just the base color coat, (x3)no gloss, I've had no issues as long as footwear with good deck soles are used


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## Izzy1414 (Apr 14, 2007)

poopdeckpappy said:


> I've had no issues as long as footwear with good deck soles are used


Who the heck wears shoes on a sail boat? That's just crazy talk, Pappy.


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## wwilson (Jul 7, 2000)

josrulz said:


> I love these threads. What to use on teak (or not to use) is like anchors, religion, and politics.
> 
> Let the games continue!


Shhhhhhh! Never say that word... (anchor).


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## bacinmass (Jan 31, 2009)

A related question for y'all -- I left my can of Cetol in the boat over the winter, do you think the stuff is still good to use this spring? (Boat is in MA, so we've had the usual freeze/thaw New England winter here.)


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## josrulz (Oct 15, 2006)

wwilson said:


> Shhhhhhh! Never say that word....


What word? I don't know what you're talking about.


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## svHyLyte (Nov 13, 2008)

While we use Cetol Light Teak and Clear Coat for "brightwork", for the teak on the seats and deck in our cockpit we have been using:










In Florida this needs be renewed annually but it is easy to do and turns out very nice looking and the non-skid properties of the decking are not compromised.

As for cleaning the teak, we used to use the Starbrigh Teak Cleaner kits but they are unnecessarily costly. What I have found works just as well for cleaning is a product known as "Greased Lightening" from Home Depot. After dampening the wood, spray this material on and allow it to sit for a few minutes and then give the teak a rub down (across the grain) with a Scotch scrubing pad and then rinse thoroughly with fresh water. To lighten the wood, a wash-down with a mild solution of Oxylic Acid and water will do the trick but we have not found this necessary. I finish up the surface prep with a mild scuffing using 320 grit sand paper although it's really not necessary but I do like the smoother grain. Before applying the Sealer I wipe down the wood with piece of cheese cloth mositened with 90% Alcohol which removes any dust/dirt remaining and dries quickly without raising the grain.

FWIW...


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## wwilson (Jul 7, 2000)

bacinmass said:


> A related question for y'all -- I left my can of Cetol in the boat over the winter, do you think the stuff is still good to use this spring? (Boat is in MA, so we've had the usual freeze/thaw New England winter here.)


It should be fine if the can was well sealed and it didn't get exposed to too much air.

Generally, the stuff will thicken if left too long in a partially filled can. You will notice it with application, harder to spread, goes on a bit too heavy. Unfortunately Sikkens recommends against thinning it with anything, so if it seems heavy and you are beginning a project large enough to make the cost of a new can seem trivial, don't gamble.


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## poopdeckpappy (Jul 25, 2006)

Izzy1414 said:


> Who the heck wears shoes on a sail boat? That's just crazy talk, Pappy.


The clutz that need to run around the boat from time to time and stub their toes on anything and everything  in other words " ME ", but I talking sanuks and they're not really a shoe type shoe, more of a sandal, but with a good deck sole to them...............hard to find now, certain board shops carry them though


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## poopdeckpappy (Jul 25, 2006)

bacinmass said:


> A related question for y'all -- I left my can of Cetol in the boat over the winter, do you think the stuff is still good to use this spring? (Boat is in MA, so we've had the usual freeze/thaw New England winter here.)


I find that a thin layer of cetol will harden on top leaving the rest of the cetol in good shape, just run a blade around the inside of the can and you can remove the hardened stuff out in one piece, lightly stir ( very lightly ) and go to work


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## CaptGriffiths (Apr 7, 2010)

Teak has become staggeringly expensive. To cover it over with something that resembles Mississippi Mud and at this point Cetol will probably want to sue me. a teak deck should be left bare and only, lightly scrubbed with salt water to produce the finest known non skid traction surface in the world. But there is nothing, absolutely nothing, should be done to preserve a fine skylight, or hatch on a boat, but to use the finest varnish in the world to give beauty to the most beautiful and expensive boat in the world. ie: do not use cheap things on very very expensive wood.


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## daydreamer92 (Feb 16, 2010)

I have posted about my adventures in teak finishing in my Old Boat Fun Means Old Boat Work topic, but here is a summary of my New To Teak experiences so far.

I am not one of those who think gray/silver teak looks great. It looks like old weathered wood rather than teak to me. But that's just me; a LOT of people love that silvery look. 

I cannot speak to teak decks much; don't have 'em. I would follow the advise of others who say not to make them shiny and slippery -- that's just common sense.

For cleaning teak, I have tried Teak Cleaners and Soft Scrub (you know, the bathroom cleaner stuff) so far. 

Frankly, Soft Scrub did just fine. It lightened up the wood nicely. Easy to apply too. I have finally found some wood bleach (oxalic acid) and am going to try that on the teak I didn't take off the deck yet to compare to the other two methods. 

I've oiled all my teak so far with Amazon's Gold. I think it's largely linseed oil because it didn't say anything on the label about the wonders of tung oil.

It did darken the teak substantially. For the cabin sole, not a bad thing really; it's a floor. I'm a little disappointed at how dark the other bits came out there and probably won't try linseed-ish oil again. 

I like the naked oil look a lot, just not the darkening. It's too dark. Part of that may be that I didn't get all the moisture out of the wood before oiling. I'm not sure.

Next time, I will try either tung oil, Cetol of some variation (I know there's Natural and something else), or teak sealer. I'm trying to avoid varnish for now.


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

I am a fan of Epiphannes


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## remetau (Jan 27, 2009)

I agree that this is one subject that you will get many opinions about. If you really want to refinish your brightwork, then I suggest that you go out and get a copy of Brightwork – The Art of Finishing Wood by Rebecca Wittman. IMO, this is the best book on the subject.

We have lived aboard our HC33 for 5 years now, and there are acres of teak to take care of. When we first moved aboard, we decided to refinish all the exterior teak by scraping all the Cetol off, sanding it down, wet sanding with and applying 3 coats of teak oil, and then finishing with 10 coats of Schooners varnish. Of course this was a ton of work, but it looked beautiful.

Then reality set in. We aren’t the type of people that can meticulously keep up with that much varnished brightwork, and if you want it to stay nice, you have to be meticulous about it. Here in Florida, the weather will eat varnish like a cop with a donut. To keep it up, we had to constantly wash it down with fresh water, lightly sand it and recoat it every 3 months at least. After a year and a half, we let it go too long, and it was ruined. We opted to let the cap rail and the side rails (not sure of the name) go bare. So we scraped the remaining varnish off and have been bare on the rails for about 3 and a half years now. The rest of the brightwork is still varnished, and what isn’t covered in Sunbrella needs to be recoated once again.

If you still decide to finish your brightwork, then consider it a labor of love and enjoy!


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## WanderingStar (Nov 12, 2008)

remetau said:


> Here in Florida, the weather will eat varnish like a cop with a donut.


What? You have something against donuts?
Just kidding. Thanks for sharing your experience. My (former Florida) boat has teak caprails that are also weathered. The last owner didn't want the maintenance either. They really need replacement, so I am postponing any treatment.


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## TakeFive (Oct 22, 2009)

All this makes me glad I have a "Tupperware boat."  

Although I have no exterior teak, I do have some interior teak that needs some work. The head enclosure, which is adjacent to the companionway, has some grey/black spots which I am sure are mildew. I believe that the wood is a thin teak laminate - about 1/8" thick over the fiberglass liner that forms the interior wall of the head. I would like to knock out the mildew, and would like advice on how best to do it. I believe that the wood is stained, so a bleach solution might harm the stain. I do not think there is a varnish. I have no objection to re-staining, but would first prefer to find a cleaning solution that could knock out the mildew with minimum possible damage to the current finish. Any suggestions of what product might be best for this? Or is there something I could mix together myself?


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## CaptGriffiths (Apr 7, 2010)

Basically it's better to have some small important parts of the boat carefully and beautifully varnished and let the rest of it go bare. (within the time limit that people are prepared to spend on it.)
It's better than a large acreage that you can't keep up with.


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## SeaMonkeyP22 (Apr 7, 2010)

I acquired a dinghy, which I believe is a fiberglass Dyer Dhow... I'm not positive if the gunwale is made of teak or oak. My plan was to sand it and then apply some teak oil-- I'm not sure if thats the best approach though...


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## tager (Nov 21, 2008)

I think varnish is the best. It's really not all that much work! It's actually kind of pleasurable. 

A respirator, gloves, chip brushes, a can of varnish, a work pot, mineral spirits, a heat gun, a scraper, some 220 grit and a sanding block. 

That's all you need!


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## funjohnson (Aug 20, 2008)

I love the look of the Cetol Natural Teak (two coats) and the Cetol High Gloss on top (three coats). It seems to be close enough to the look of varnish without loosing the grain detail.


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## stoomy (Jul 8, 2008)

Hi All,
I know this is an old thread, but I'd like to get some thoughts on this.
I recently purchased an OC40 which had spent an entire summer under it's Fairclough cover. The teak toe rails were a mottled gray/green/black color with half a dozen Nickel-sized spots of rot around 0.25 inches deep on the inside of the rails.
I got it end-of-season, brought it home and almost immediately hauled for the winter. Before I put the cover back on, I added a little boat soap and some oxy clean power to a bucket of water and took a scrub brush to the toe rails.
WOW! what a difference and only a couple hours of scrubbing made. There are still a few black streaks, but mostly the teak is golden-brown and fabulous.
My current plan for March is:
1) repair the rotten holes with some epoxy and epoxy-based putty.
2) Repeat the oxy clean scrubbing
3) Coat the toe rails with teakguard (allguardproducts dot com)

I don't want to varnish.
I was just wondering if anyone has direct experience with teakguard.

All comments and opinions welcome.
thanks!


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## deltaten (Oct 10, 2012)

Here's a 'monkey wrench' ta thow in the mix !
What about the exterior wood preservers, like Thompson's deck sealer? Too slick? Howzabout "wood life" for sealing teak? I know it works well on cedar siding and the like without changing color or surface.. just adds UV and rot proofing, to a degree.
I like the idea of a tung oil product; not a mile of varnish. Could 'Cetol' do it without the ever-recommended varnish atop?


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## Philzy3985 (Oct 20, 2012)

Without started yet another thread about it, I am re-surfacing this one because it's all relevant to my question.

I'm getting pretty tired of this teak stuff. 3 months ago I set out with West Marine teak cleaner & brighter and West Marine Gold Premium Teak Oil. I followed all the directions perfectly, and by the end of the weekend people on the dock were coming by to compliment how good the hand-rails looked (in addition to the hatch boards, cockpit pockets, and teak around the sliding hatch board)

Anyway. After 1 week the port side started to grey. I re-applied another layer all around, thinking the oil just didn't absorb well enough. It looked good again. After 2 weeks it started to grey again. This time I set aside a whole day to liberally apply the oil again. All around, again. It looked okay from far for about a month, but up close you could see it just wasn't absorbing or staying in the grain of the teak.

It's been 2 months and it has rained off an on previously but nothing really happened to the teak. Last night it rained like normal southern california- nothing heavy. And it essentially looks as though I never EVER treated my teak. It pisses me off.

Additionally, even though I wiped off excess oil after 10-15 minutes of application (As the directions say) it seems that the oil seeps out when the hatch boards get wet. Then I have rain-saturated teak oil on my fiberglass. Increasing the level of pissed offness.

Any advice? I don't want to keep laboring away once every couple weeks with layers of teak oil to sustain "the look". I don't want to varnish because I don't want to varnish.








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## stoomy (Jul 8, 2008)

I've read a lot about this, but have little practical experience.

My understanding is that the gray stuff, is actually a mold which is feeding on the teak oil.

I'm adding some before and after pictures of my drop boards.

This is what the y looked like when I bought the boat.










This is after I cleaned the brass with flitz and the wood with some "oxygenated cleaner"...an Oxyclean knock-off.










Then I used allguard's teak treat.










I have no idea how long "the look" will last.

I'll post some updates after I'm back in the water this spring.


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