Visit our Popular Forums

bigpuff · 03-02-2013, 21:53

nappy san,wash on with soft brush,leave 10 min. then hose off.

**minaret** · 03-02-2013, 22:06

Anyone mention TeKa yet?

VirtualVagabond · 04-02-2013, 05:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by minaret

Anyone mention TeKa yet?

It gets a mention in the Morgan le Fay link with how to duplicate a DIY product with the same active ingredients.
DIY Teak Cleaner | Morgan le Fay
It's what got us looking for phosphoric acid for the part B.

Vic

IdoraKeeper · 04-02-2013, 06:40

I am currently in the middle of a winters long experiment that seems to be yielding positive results. Here in the PNW we have damp weather and temps in the middle 30 to 40F range. I have been applying rock salt to Idoras' teak deck. The salt melts slowly in light rain and kills green slime and mildew. Paint and stainless fittings seem unaffected. The cleaning process is very slow but over the course of the winter it is achieving a very clean and bright teak deck with no apparent wood loss or damage. Rock salt $4.60 for 40lb bag at Wall mart. So far so good.

Todd

delmarrey · 04-02-2013, 06:52

Todd,
You must have been hanging out with the ole river boaters.

Where's the white vinegar?

Ocean Girl · 04-02-2013, 07:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by IdoraKeeper

I am currently in the middle of a winters long experiment that seems to be yielding positive results. Here in the PNW we have damp weather and temps in the middle 30 to 40F range. I have been applying rock salt to Idoras' teak deck. The salt melts slowly in light rain and kills green slime and mildew. Paint and stainless fittings seem unaffected. The cleaning process is very slow but over the course of the winter it is achieving a very clean and bright teak deck with no apparent wood loss or damage. Rock salt $4.60 for 40lb bag at Wall mart. So far so good.

Todd

I LOVE that idea.

your teak will love you for it!

Remember all you teak folks, never , never, use bristle brushes on your teak. Even the softest Brushes dig out the soft grain, the pithy goodness that makes teak so wonderful. The soft grain is the non skid element and it draws up the oil from deep in the wood. Use a scotch bright pad(3M pad). If the stain is not coming off with your scrub with 3M pad, walk away, the soft grain should take care of it. I used tide with bleach to clean an especially bad teak deck and Murphys oil soap for a good deck/teak. I alway shied away from two part cleaners, and acids, unless i could remove the teak and insure complete rinse. I always finished off my deck with a healthy dose of salt water.

I workEd at west marine during the Golden era. It used to drive me crazy that the merchandiser would put "teak" scrub brushes in the teak care section, one was a bronze brush! I'd move that sucker over by the bilge paint

Whew, sorry for the long winded lecture. Anywho, 3m pad will de-grey old teak. If the teak is especially abused be careful of teak splinters, so a plastic handle on your 3M pad is recommend.

Cheers,
E

Mike OReilly · 04-02-2013, 07:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

We have teak that is as old as the boat, 30 years, and plenty of it. We like grey teak for the decks and salt water is the go. We don't like grey for all the trim and fiddly decorative bits.

...

The result is that we are never out of work,

we have a home, a boat that would cost close to $1m if we were buying new, for a fraction of that figure. The compromise is the work. Well worth it to us.

We make instant friends wherever we go because the boat has that 'romance of sail and far away places' about it. People come up and ask to take a picture and the next thing you know you've been invited for a meal. That tends not to happen with 'just another piece of Tupperware'

So, we work on keeping her looking good, not pristine, just cared for. And the members here have helped a lot to keep that work manageable, both from a cost perspective, and longevity.

Thank for this Vic. I strive for your state of teak-Zen. We too have a bought into an older boat with teak decks, teak rails, teak cockpit, teak tiller... and teak everything down below. I often joke that the only way I could have more wood on my boat is to have a wooden boat

.

We have also opted for the natural grey deck, but are oiling our rail and varnishing the cockpit. As you say, there's never a question of being without a project. If there's no other urgent task, there's always the teak. So far I don't find this the burden that some people perceive it to be, but like you, we don't strive for perfection, just satisfaction.

And we certainly turn heads coming into most anchorages. With most newer boats all looking the same (to my eye anyway), it's nice to be a bit unique and "snippy."

IdoraKeeper · 04-02-2013, 08:14

Del, the white vinegar goes in the head. I may however experiment with beer!

Todd

delmarrey · 04-02-2013, 08:34

Back in my old woodie days I use to go thru a quart of white vinegar every couple of weeks for all of the vertical joints (transom/stem) and around the cabin base. In San Diego dry rot was a major problem.

zeehag · 04-02-2013, 08:53

in san diego i used sea water and have no rot. yay.
in tropics i use sea water and i have no rot. yay....i oil after thr cleaning and have wonderful teak colored teak. not grey not over bleached blonde, but real teak yummy red brown colored true wood. is gorgeous and rain beads up after my treatment for more than one year. not a lot of work and low maintenance as teak is spozed to be.
with my 3m pad use, i have noticed no further disappearance of wood volume. is not to be used as a substitute for a sandpaper...
the greasy hand prints come off and new oil soaks into the wood and life is awesome good.
as for decks--just pour sea water over them daily and is all good. they wont grey that way. do not need to scrub, as no oil is going to be used there..in pnw-yes, do salt the decks--will save the teak! is what the old ones used to do --salt bilges and decks when in fresh water areas....and rain..
remember, the woodies used to be sailed, not left in marinas forever and only used for cocktail sand bragging rights.....
why re invent the wheel--i do as my ancestors and forefathers did. they SAILED. and oiled ..and sailed......

delmarrey · 04-02-2013, 09:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeehag

in san diego i used sea water and have no rot. yay.
in tropics i use sea water and i have no rot. yay....i oil after thr cleaning and have wonderful teak colored teak. not grey not over bleached blonde, but real teak yummy red brown colored true wood. is gorgeous and rain beads up after my treatment for more than one year. not a lot of work and low maintenance as teak is spozed to be.
with my 3m pad use, i have noticed no further disappearance of wood volume. is not to be used as a substitute for a sandpaper...
the greasy hand prints come off and new oil soaks into the wood and life is awesome good.
as for decks--just pour sea water over them daily and is all good. they wont grey that way. do not need to scrub, as no oil is going to be used there..in pnw-yes, do salt the decks--will save the teak! is what the old ones used to do --salt bilges and decks when in fresh water areas....and rain..
remember, the woodies used to be sailed, not left in marinas forever and only used for cocktail sand bragging rights.....
why re invent the wheel--i do as my ancestors and forefathers did. they SAILED. and oiled ..and sailed......

Old sport fishers are a bit different. You don't want to be dumping a bunch of sea water into the aft deck. The fuel tanks and genset were steel and all under the teak planked aft deck.

.

zeehag · 04-02-2013, 16:27

i actually learned the sea water douche method from a guy who owned a sport fisher, 1940s model, beautiful classic. he douched his decks daily with a few buckets of sea water, ran his pumps and had gorgeous teak wood decks. he told me how he kept them so nice.

i owned a 1960s sports fisher--and a 1960s cockpit motor yacht when i resided in port of lost angels....neither had teak decks.....