Star Brite Tropical Teak Oil - Questions!

[HappyMdRSailor]

OK you pushers of the Star Brite Tropical... I finally bit after reading so many praises... I've tried a lot of finishes, but was so put off by the performance of the last one (It was an expensive 2 part), I decided to try something new...

Items:
1. caprails (toe rails really)
2. hatch boards
3. grab rails

All outside, and all have plenty of wood to work with... All parts taken to bare wood, greying spots and staining removed by sander... (that's me)

Questions:
1. The can specifically states to use a cleaner after sanding to bare wood to remove waxes, oils etc... WHY??? I just took off (scraped and sanded) a solid 2 part resin product... There should be no waxes or oils present except oils in the teak??? I don't have any dirty/weathered/stained portions... It's all bright new surface sanded teak...

2. If the consensus of the masses say yes to using a cleaner first.... How the eff long is "wait until the wood is dry" before applying the ??? Days? A week? Overnight? (Conditions are 70f, and dry this week) Take a poll of passers by??? "Do you think this wood is wet or dry?" (cue Jeopardy music)

I coated one panel of the hatch boards, and it looks great... Not quite the same as looking into a 6 coat depth of mirrored varnish... BUT... The praises of longevity have pushed me into... This looks pretty darn good!

Any thoughts are appreciated!

[HappyMdRSailor]

Update...

Just got off the phone with Star Brite.... They say no need to use a cleaner when the previous was a 2 part urethane, or synthetic finish sanded off... Dry is dry to the touch?

Anyhoo... Opinions are still wished for... Pressing on...(with a sander and putty knife)

[tamicatana]

Hey there, how's the Walker Bay treating you?

I thought the general wisdom was to leave teak alone, letting the salt water pickle it grey?

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

Anyhoo... Opinions are still wished for... Pressing on...(with a sander and putty knife)

There was half a tin of this stuff on board when we bought the boat. The other half was in a thick layer over the teak grab rails on the cabin top. It looked like epoxy after 19 years of coatings. Move the clock forward 6 years and what didn't fall off was lightly sanded and then scrubbed with a green pan scourer and fresh salt water. After doing it every day for a fortnight during the summer this has removed the black marks. Also when washed with salt water the grab rails have a nice light teak colour which fades to grey over several days.

So, a bit of elbow grease and salt water as recommended by Zeehag was the answer. Oh and the remaining tin of star brite? well that went to land fill.

Pete

[onestepcsy37]

happymdrsailor - i'm one of the 'pushers' of starbrite tropical teak oil. been using it for the ten years i've owned my current boat (no teak on previous boats).

it has 6" teak caprails all around the boat (37') and a teak fixed dodger. when we bought the boat it was all gray. we gave it a light sanding just to smooth it out, then cleaned it, and then applied two coats. that lasted about four years - in florida and the bahamas. by then the finish was pretty much worn off.

never sand again. we washed the teak and applied two coats. that lasted another four years. the finish gradually wears itself away. two years ago we washed the teak again, then applied two more coats. that's where we are right now.

washing - don casey has an excellent and inexpensive formula for teak; bucket of water, 1/2 cup liquid laundry soap, 1/2 cup bleach. brush it on lightly (always across the grain, never with it). let it sit 15 minutes and hose it off. let it dry to touch (a few hours in the sun). then apply the oil. two coats. three if you feel ambitious but i've never felt that ambitious.

the last time i washed the teak, two years ago, i had to do it twice. it didn't come out light enough for me after the first washing. possibly i didn't put enough bleach in the first bucket.

if you're a lazy sailor like me you'll love starbrite tropical teak oil....

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by tamicatana

Hey there, how's the Walker Bay treating you?

I thought the general wisdom was to leave teak alone, letting the salt water pickle it grey?

Hey Tami

Nervine is doing well... We took her out for a picnic row one sunny day, and she was definitely up to the task...

Saw a funny pic op a while back, so I snapped it... Market umbrella behind her looked like a rig (Chrysler in background)... Somebody needs to design one like this!

Re the teak, I would totally agree with the salt water natural maintenance if there was more teak... decks, cockpit seats, grates... but on the Morgan, these are accent pieces, and I think unfinished look like crap adjacent to glossy topcoat....

Hope you and Jay are well !

E

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Pete7

There was half a tin of this stuff on board when we bought the boat. The other half was in a thick layer over the teak grab rails on the cabin top. It looked like epoxy after 19 years of coatings. Move the clock forward 6 years and what didn't fall off was lightly sanded and then scrubbed with a green pan scourer and fresh salt water. After doing it every day for a fortnight during the summer this has removed the black marks. Also when washed with salt water the grab rails have a nice light teak colour which fades to grey over several days.

So, a bit of elbow grease and salt water as recommended by Zeehag was the answer. Oh and the remaining tin of star brite? well that went to land fill.

Pete

Thanks for the opinion Pete!

Unfortunately this is a boat that I see at most a couple times a year.... Hence some need to coat or protect... Nobody around to salt water scrub... I'm thinking now that Scotchbrite pad scouring before recoat might be a good move...

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by onestepcsy37

happymdrsailor - i'm one of the 'pushers' of starbrite tropical teak oil. been using it for the ten years i've owned my current boat (no teak on previous boats).

it has 6" teak caprails all around the boat (37') and a teak fixed dodger. when we bought the boat it was all gray. we gave it a light sanding just to smooth it out, then cleaned it, and then applied two coats. that lasted about four years - in florida and the bahamas. by then the finish was pretty much worn off.

never sand again. we washed the teak and applied two coats. that lasted another four years. the finish gradually wears itself away. two years ago we washed the teak again, then applied two more coats. that's where we are right now.

washing - don casey has an excellent and inexpensive formula for teak; bucket of water, 1/2 cup liquid laundry soap, 1/2 cup bleach. brush it on lightly (always across the grain, never with it). let it sit 15 minutes and hose it off. let it dry to touch (a few hours in the sun). then apply the oil. two coats. three if you feel ambitious but i've never felt that ambitious.

the last time i washed the teak, two years ago, i had to do it twice. it didn't come out light enough for me after the first washing. possibly i didn't put enough bleach in the first bucket.

if you're a lazy sailor like me you'll love starbrite tropical teak oil....

I saw that you were, and also saw the pics on you blog... Looked great to me! The lighter shade like you've done I think is the way to go... I opted for the darker stuff because it seems more the style of the boat... I was pretty freaked out with the "orange" color when wet, but it mellowed into a dark teak shade...

We'll give this a go this time... And report back!

[zeehag]

i use sea water as a cleaner and do not sand my teak. the oil works fine for a year.
i do not use bleach nor soap. just sea water. it works and is cheap unless you are land locked.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i use sea water as a cleaner and do not sand my teak. the oil works fine for a year.
i do not use bleach nor soap. just sea water. it works and is cheap unless you are land locked.

Zee...

Have read all of your praises (and the countless others) regarding the unfinished sea scrub maintenance plan!

I would totally go for it IF I were able to do it regularly... But I'm on this boat only a couple times a year, and can't....

[zeehag]

i touch my teak with sea water cleaning once per year. it gets dirty but that washes off when i again spend my 6-8 hours yearly messing with it. i dont have a shiny finish but it repels water, which is my goal. if i wanted shiny, i would do it every 6 months. 6-8 hours semi annually still isnt bad numbers.

[OnTour]

Originally Posted by onestepcsy37

happymdrsailor - i'm one of the 'pushers' of starbrite tropical teak oil. been using it for the ten years i've owned my current boat (no teak on previous boats). it has 6" teak caprails all around the boat (37') and a teak fixed dodger. when we bought the boat it was all gray. we gave it a light sanding just to smooth it out, then cleaned it, and then applied two coats. that lasted about four years - in florida and the bahamas. by then the finish was pretty much worn off. never sand again. we washed the teak and applied two coats. that lasted another four years. the finish gradually wears itself away. two years ago we washed the teak again, then applied two more coats. that's where we are right now. washing - don casey has an excellent and inexpensive formula for teak; bucket of water, 1/2 cup liquid laundry soap, 1/2 cup bleach. brush it on lightly (always across the grain, never with it). let it sit 15 minutes and hose it off. let it dry to touch (a few hours in the sun). then apply the oil. two coats. three if you feel ambitious but i've never felt that ambitious. the last time i washed the teak, two years ago, i had to do it twice. it didn't come out light enough for me after the first washing. possibly i didn't put enough bleach in the first bucket. if you're a lazy sailor like me you'll love starbrite tropical teak oil....

Where's your boat....I wanna see how the Starbrite looks.

[onestepcsy37]

Originally Posted by OnTour

Where's your boat....I wanna see how the Starbrite looks.

here's a picture showing the light teak version of starbrite tropical teak oil. this was about two years after applying. as you'll notice there is no 'overcoating' look like you might get with varnish. the oil soaks into the teak and the uv component sits on top and gradually wears away.

[tamicatana]

So glad you're happy with Miss Nervine. She did always row real well.

As for the umbrella, you could stick a beach umbrella into the mast slot there. I had a picture of a fella at Marathon who'd done that, had one of those beach umbrellas that look like they're a palapa/palm leaf, was using it as a 'bimini.'

If y'all get this way, let us know - we can go sailing on the big cat
enjoy,
tami

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by onestepcsy37

here's a picture showing the light teak version of starbrite tropical teak oil. this was about two years after applying. as you'll notice there is no 'overcoating' look like you might get with varnish. the oil soaks into the teak and the uv component sits on top and gradually wears away.

I still cant figure out how you get that time out of it. I applied two coats last year, reapplied 4 months later, and again, and now the toe rails, hand holds and everything else is half grey and really worn looking. It looks ok for about two months, but then quickly starts to go. I had better luck with Cetol, and the look is much nicer to my eyes.