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cleaning teak

  • Thread starter Thread starter bigbill
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bigbill

bigbill

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58' YACHT FISHERMAN (1970 - 1981)
i'm sure this has been talked about before, but i cant seem to find a thread in the archives about it. i am re finishing my salon aft doors, new glass, sand and varnish, and replacing the original 3 hinge setup(i have worn out 2 sets already) with stainless piano hinges. what is the best method to clean dirty,heavily weathered, water stained teak doors? (no varnish left) i have used the 2 part cleaner in the past, but i have read that it eats up the teak. i have heard about using ammonia to maintain the natural look, but will it clean weathered teak, if so how do you dilute it ?i am open for all ideas. thanks, bigbill
 
If you plan to varnish, just sand them down smooth, a coat or 2 of sealer and then go for it with the varnish. With a proper sanding as prep, they should look like new wood.
 
A pressure washer with a slight fan pattern will clean it up. I wouldn't use one rated much more than 2500-3000 psi. The two part cleaners dissolve the soft parts of the boards leaving pretty deep grooves.
 
Hi All,

Bill,

We have cleaned sanded and refinished more teak bright work than I can comprehend and as you know it's a perpetual thing, never ends, as soon as you finish the cockpit you've got to start back at the bow.

As far as cleaning goes I think it depends how badly the teak is weathered/damaged. If there's still a good deal of finish on the doors but a little wood is showing and there is no (black) mold stains or heavy weathering, I'd agree with Eric. A good step up sanding ie 150, 200 then seal and at least 5 coats of finish (depending on what you use).

If it's really neglected (silver grey) but not badly blackened or stained you could go with dsharps power washing suggestion then a good step up sanding ie 150, 200 then seal and at least 5 coats of finish (depending on what you use).

In the cases where there is significant staining from mold the only really effective solution I've found is strip the wood and then scrub the wood with Oxalic Acid Marine Cleaner or a similar product. This will kill the mold that causes the black stains. Sanding alone or even power washing won't eliminate it. If you don't kill the mold and you finish over it, it will re-appear over time.

An example: Since I bought Glittering Image I totally neglected all of the teak on the fly-bridge concentrating all our efforts on the rest of the boat. I decided to tackle the fly-bridge teak this winter and in this case not only were there remnants of old finish, there was severely weathered (grey) areas and a lot of black stains.

What I ended up doing was stripping each piece entirely, washing it, then scrubbing it twice with Oxalic, flushing with lots of water in between, then drying it out and then step up sanding after that.

In this case what I ended up with was basically virgin teak with beautiful grain and very consistent color. All of the severely weathered soft wood was removed, all stains were eliminated and a nice hard surface remained ready for finish sanding and finishing.

I usually go this route with anything that is really neglected. It’s a lot of work but worth it in the long run, looks stunning and is easier to maintain.
 
Gene is absolutely correct about the need to chemically kill black mold if its present. I have to disagree on the power washer though. Sorry! The power wash will blow away any soft grain making the sanding and varnishing project a much bigger job. If its badly weathered it will take lots of sanding, perhaps even starting with 80 or 100 grit and working up to 150 and 220. From 150 on I would sand with a sanding block, with the grain by hand to remove and avoid machine marks from the more coarse papers.

This is a very easy quick job if you don't mind the results looking crappy. To get a nice finish will take time and lots of elbow grease. Or, you could hire a professional.
 
I use Bristol Finish on our door and steps etc. I have found the greatest teak treatment on earth for our swim platform and those 2 strips on the bow pulpit. The product is made by Cabot and is called Austrailian oil. I cleaned the swim platform and wiped on 4 coats. It looked perfect all summer in Miami and is still like new today. I will re-coat next month before we leave for the summer. I may switch to this stuff for all our teak. Why hasn't anyone else discovered this product yet? A local boat service guy told me about it when he saw me cleaning and sanding our swim platform. This stuff is awesome, try it.
 
Hi All,

Eric, I can't really defend the power washer option because I've never attempted it, however I know several folks that used it on teak decking at very low pressure with a cleaning additive and were satisfied with the results.

Makes sense that it could at high pressure strip the soft wood away and make prepping for finishing even more difficult.
 
I've power-washed mine and it comes out clean and fairly light, ready for a brightener and oil or whatever. But you've got to exercise a LOT of finesse with the power washer or you will pull the fibers out of the wood. It's not a job I'd hand off to the guy who cleans the bottom of the boat. Also, that's on bare or oiled teak. Trying to remove varnish with it would be a mistake.
 
Some time ago I saw an article on Marlin magazine regarding the use of CASCADE dish washer. Its not so hard on the wood. as the 2 part cleaners.
Good luck
 
Pressure washing can damage the fibers and push dirt into the wood

I have tried cascade but it didnt work for me... Snappy NU is a 2 part cleaner which works but is very harsh on skin and wood. A few months ago I tried a new one part west marine deck cleaner which is 90% as good as Snappy NU but much easier on the teak

That said, for doors, rails and trim sanding is really the only way to renew the teak before varnishing. Speaking of which my rails have last been done 18 months ago with Bristol and they are still nice and glossy
 
Pascal said:
Pressure washing can damage the fibers and push dirt into the wood

I have tried cascade but it didnt work for me... Snappy NU is a 2 part cleaner which works but is very harsh on skin and wood. A few months ago I tried a new one part west marine deck cleaner which is 90% as good as Snappy NU but much easier on the teak

That said, for doors, rails and trim sanding is really the only way to renew the teak before varnishing. Speaking of which my rails have last been done 18 months ago with Bristol and they are still nice and glossy
Click to expand...

Hi All,

I agree with Pascal when it comes to doors, rails and trim etc however I would like to mention again that on seriously neglected and stained wood I have had my best results stripping the old finish first followed buy an acid wash, sanding and refinishing.

If the project is in somewhat good shape just sanding and refinishing works well.

We've done a lot of projects with both Bristol and premium traditional varnishes.

I'm not in love with either yet. With Bristol you can't beat the ability to apply multiple coats over an hour’s time without sanding in-between. The result is a beautiful finish and the things we've used it on have remained beautiful for at least 2 years, then aged somewhat quickly. The downside to Bristol in our experience is that it's a bit runny and more difficult to finesse, and one coat doesn’t seem as heavy as one coat of premium varnish.

That said, the projects we've done with premium traditional varnish took triple the time. You had to sand and clean before each coat, and you could only apply one coat a day. The result is beautiful and rich, and each coat seems heavier than a coat of Bristol. It seems varnish is slower to show signs of wear.

With either product, if you don’t take care of it constantly (clean, treat etc) they will both degrade quickly.

Our strategy at this point is to get into a routine of constant maintenance ie choose a target, wipe it down with cleaner, lightly sand it and throw on a quick coat of Bristol, then move to the next victim.

(takes a lot of discipline, and we do fall off the wagon on occasion)
 
SKYCHENEY said:
Is this the stuff?

http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=wfdKT47BMaLz0gGHt4msDg&ved=0CDsQ8wIwAw

What does it look like on the teak? Does it look like oil, or Sikkens, or what?
Click to expand...
Sky, that is almost the product. We used the "natural" version not "honey teak". The finish leaves the teak looking very natural, much like the color of Bristol Finish. The finish is not shiny and more like oil. The color is very nice and the durability in sunny Florida is awesome. I initially applied 4 coats. I did re-apply a sigle coat 3 months later, but the original finish looked just fine. I have done nothing since last October and the stuff still looks just like it did when I applied it.
 
If it works that well, we should buy it and repackage it with a "marine" label and sell it for 5X the price. :)
 
Hi All,

Sky,

Can I be your business partner !!!!
 
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