Refinishing Interior Teak

[JusDreaming]

I want to refinish the teak walls in our cat. I think they are oil finish, the wife has used "Old English wood cleaner" for years.
Now I want some shine and protection, so I am going to do a satin poly finish. My question is what should be done to prep the walls? Really doesn't need any sanding, so can I just wash the teak with something or do I need to do anything at all?

[MarkSF]

You need to get it clean, dry, and oil-free. So I cleaned mine with soap and water, then a solvent. A thinner compatible with your varnish is good to use as a degreaser, then you'll know there'll be no incompatibility issues later.

Then I'm afraid you will have to sand it lightly to get a mechanical key for the varnish to stick to. 320 grit is ideal.

Finally, remove dust with a tack cloth.

These days I get tack cloths and foam brushes from amazon, in bulk.

I didn't like the finish from satin poly, too matt, so I went for spar varnish with a rubdown with rottenstone afterwards, to reduce the gloss. Admittedly, this is more work.

[sv Winterlude]

Here's a post I did on touching up our tired interior teak on our Passport 37. I hate to say it, but IMHO sanding is not optional. Lightly sanding roughs up the surface allowing whatever you decide to put on it to adhere. On some advice from our "varnish artist" friends, we opted for Minwax Clear Satin Polyethylene. 16 months later the tired spots I touched up still look good. What To Do With Tired Interior Teak?