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HEndreH · 20-08-2011, 14:16

Hello. I see it written a lot about the devastating treatment of Teak. Are any of the above-mentioned good to treat the wood in your car, home or other places? Teak is an excellent wood that is naturally impregnated with grease. This property must be taken care of and not scrubbed out or added a lot of chemicals. Not least, it seems that all this advice is a lot of work as the should avoid. Some prefer Teak as if every day would have come from the forest. With all due respect you can not be achieved every season for years. Teak is exposed to sunlight, rainfall and temperatures. This provided results in mold, fungus, grass and dirt. Twice during the season I rub with brush, even into my own teak with Boracol Rh 10 This prevents mold, fungi and green algae. The remaining dirty washing I removed with a sponge and mild fatty soap. Teak deck look as gray and weathered like the larch. And the only thing I need to think of each season. Good luck with the best wood and respect that is fine too old and gray.

cabo_sailor · 20-08-2011, 14:38

Well oiled teak can look gorgeous in the interior of the boat but a proper job is pretty labor intensive. For the exterior teak, exposed to UV and the elements, my position is that you either let it go gray as others have suggested, or use a high quality varnish. Using oil on the exterior is like whizzing into the wind. The labor for high quality varnish is also intense for the first application(s) but if one is vigilant the maintenance thereafter is not too bad. For my teak, about once a year I give it a light sanding with 220 grit, wipe it down with mineral spirits and apply a coat of varnish. I do that for two coats and its good to go for another year. It's applying the original coats that's the pain. Taking the wood back to like new bare, and applying at least 10 coats. It'll look great after 5 but the additional coats are needed for protection.

At least that's my take and my practice.

Rich

**boatman61** · 20-08-2011, 14:49

The only teak on my boats (being UK built) is usually the rubrail and the grab bars on the coach roof... occasionally the odd bit of trim on the cabin sides...
start and end of Season I clean with spirits and oil... works fine for me...
the interior I do not oil... spray polish is good enough... if it looks grubby a wipe down with white vinegar removes the grime... ready for another years spray on....

zeehag · 20-08-2011, 15:09

teak done in oil ios NOT labor intensive. is easy enough for this lazy old woman to do . it takes me 6 hours per YEAR to do 110 feet of caprail and taffrail and my house top. i wash it with a green 3m pad and sea water then, when is dry to look at, i add the oil with a paint brush. it soaks in and is gorgeous. just make sure the wood is clean to avoid black wood. dirt makes the wood black. no need for chemicals . no need for sanding., no need for complications. so i have more time to sail.....loving it!!!!

the inside i treat less lovingly than does boatman--i ignore mine and spray 'n' wipe with murphys oil soap occasionally-- dont even know how often. mebbe rarely.

VirtualVagabond · 20-08-2011, 15:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by HEndreH

Hello. I see it written a lot about the devastating treatment of Teak. Are any of the above-mentioned good to treat the wood in your car, home or other places? Teak is an excellent wood that is naturally impregnated with grease. This property must be taken care of and not scrubbed out or added a lot of chemicals. Not least, it seems that all this advice is a lot of work as the should avoid. Some prefer Teak as if every day would have come from the forest. With all due respect you can not be achieved every season for years. Teak is exposed to sunlight, rainfall and temperatures. This provided results in mold, fungus, grass and dirt. Twice during the season I rub with brush, even into my own teak with Boracol Rh 10 This prevents mold, fungi and green algae. The remaining dirty washing I removed with a sponge and mild fatty soap. Teak deck look as gray and weathered like the larch. And the only thing I need to think of each season. Good luck with the best wood and respect that is fine too old and gray.

Welcome to CruisersForum!
I'd be interested to know what kind of boat do you have and what part of the world are you in?

zeehag · 20-08-2011, 15:32

welcome. i have bad manners--just ask him^^^^^
welcome and have fun
smooth sailing
teak decks need a daily washing off with salt water and will do you well for many years.

four winds · 20-08-2011, 15:53

Will sea water, a green 3m pad, and some elbow grease prepare grey teak for an oiling?

That is to say will it bring back the reddish brown color in prep for oiling?

I don't have a pad to test right now, but I have half and half grey teak and failing varnish. I'm in the planning stages to do something about this.

I stripped one had rail, then sanded lightly, and oiled it. I think it looks good.

My teak has been sanded too much. Some places on the toe rail are down to the screw heads so I don't want to sand any more than needed.

D&D · 20-08-2011, 16:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeehag

teak oil on it. 6 hours per year. looks goooood and repels fresh water for 12 months.

Thanks zeehag...we are moved to try to replicate your experience. We have vastly less teak than you, but would still like to look after it.

Is there a particular sort/brand of teak oil you use?

We also may have two different 'grades' of teak...the factory-installed cockpit floor and toerails, plus two custom-made, burmese teak pulpit seats. From other comments in this thread, we're wondering what (if any) differences we might need in the maintenance of those two. The pulpit seats are currently just beautiful pieces of oiled timber about to be installed...and now we're wondering (from other comments here) whether to heavily varnish them before installing them...

...

zeehag · 20-08-2011, 16:42

varnish will be slickery as hail. if you have to rely on them in sailing with wetness on board, like a pooping sea, you slide hard. i like my cockpit teak washed with sea water and maintained for non skid, which it is excellent .....but needs that sea water every day. is easy if started well. grey is a bad color for teak--is powder and is part of the wood disappearing.
i use watco teak oil from home depot--makes a crustiness like a varnish on top. i dont redo it again until is no longer beading water--it goes thru a lot of changes on its way to gone. i apply it with a paint brush. and i let it soak in reallly well. it will dry in a few hours and look awesome. as it changes then you decide what you like best--many different looks will happen.

D&D · 20-08-2011, 16:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeehag

varnish will be slickery as hail.

From your pics we gather your 'feature' timbers, e.g. helm wheel, are varnished?

Yours is a beautiful boat, by the way!

zeehag · 20-08-2011, 17:03

thankyou. isnt as shiny anymore--those were 2--3 or 2004 before previous owner messed her up. i found her in 2005, was next door to her from 2006-2008 and started to fix her in 2008, bought her in 2008--

those were varnish over cetol. it all came off and i love the plain wood color--is light to medium tan..the wheel is oak and the rest is teak. i dont have newer pix yet.

cabo_sailor · 20-08-2011, 20:34

Hmmm? Perhaps we have a failure to communicate. Are we talking about teak decks or teak trim? The only teak decking I have is in the cockpit and that is just rinsed with saltwater. Handrails, brow, caprail, and such I varnish. I'll still stand by the statement that an oiled teak interior is labor intensive if done right. There are multiple coats of oil and a hand sanding/rubbing between coats to have it turn out the way it should. In the end, whatever you are happy with will be the best finish. I've seen some boats with so many coats of Cetol without prep that they might just as well painted the teak baby poop brown. Nevertheless, the owners seem satisfied and unwilling to do more. My opinion doesn't matter. Their boat, their decision. For almost everything cosmetic, that's what it boils down to.

Rich

D&D · 20-08-2011, 22:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

Are we talking about teak decks or teak trim?

Good point Rich. For teak decking, what (if anything) are the material consequences in terms of maintenance options given the presence of the rubber/whatever spacing between the teak? Does the black rubber spacing leave residual 'dirt' on the teak during the cleaning process?