We used teak oils of various brands whilst stillsailing in
San Francisco bay. Even in this cool
environment the oiled surfaces soon darkened (oxidation?) and became tacky. Not too hard to get back to looking good, though.
Then we went cruising... and found that in the tropics (both dry as in
Baja, and humid as in most of the rest of the S. Pacific) the above degradation got a lot faster,and was followed by mould growing with great enthusiasm. After some agonizing, we stripped all of the oiled teak below decks and varnished with
polyurethane based products. As in a previous post, we used satin on large flat areas and gloss (much harder wearing) on trim and on high wear areas. It lasted for years, except in the trim around the
galley sink and the
head sink where it required renewing after three years of full time use.
Above decks we had almost no bright timber, so no problems. We have seen folks who got tired of doing the brightwork simply putting one good coat of
varnish on, and then painting over it with "teak colored"
paint. The coat of varnish prevents the paint from getting into the grain of the timber, so that one can restore it to its original appearance if required.
Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Gladstone, Qld, Oz