Cleaning / Restoring small amounts of teak

gandy

gandy

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Hi,

I need to do something with the teak on our boat, coachroof handrails, toe rail and rubbing strake. These were previously finished with some sort of varnish, but this is breaking down and some of the wood is weathered or stained. I'd rather not have to sand right down to clear wood if there's any alternative way to get the colour restored.

Are there any super-dooper teak cleaning products available in small quantities? Or any particular products to look for, or avoid?

Thanks in advance, Tony S
 
The wessex marine two pack is about £20, last you a long time, I think! This is very good at cleaning and restoring the colour, though I dont know if will remove varnish etc.
 
I don't think there is the magic solution you are perhaps looking for. Preparation is the key and that means getting rid of everything that's gone before and starting from a fresh clean surface.

Last year I scraped my my external woodwork (Iroko?) back to bare wood using a hook type scraper (My dad's old Skarsten scraper, for which I found we have a couple of packets of spare blades), sanded and re coated in Sikkens Cetol Marine, using the "natural" finish.

The Skarsten scrapper made short work of the old coatings and The Cetol has stood up well. I know it did not see a lot of sun last year but at least we know it's windproof!. A light sanding and a fresh coat will be all that it needs for next year.
 
Hi Tony, probably you need to get the broken-down stuff off completely first. I used a scraper of the Skarsten type on some bits and broken glass on others. I found sanding was not a good idea as it was very slow and laborious and not very effective.

I refinished with Sikkens Masterstroke, sadly no longer available. Sikkens now make a stuff called Cetol, which I first saw being used in Victoria (Vancouver Island) where they get more UV damage than we do, and reports are that it is pretty good. I have used it on the hand rails with good results and when I need to re-do the rubbing strip, I will use it there as well. Most years, we just need to touch in damage, and roughly every three years, we just sand down any bare bits lightly and patch-coat, followed by a wash and very light sand and overall coat.

I know that a lot of people like to leave Westerly teak unfinished and it turns a grey colour, but our preference is for something that looks a bit more like varnished wood.
 
Cheers everyone. I agree that the old coating has to come off, and I'll use scraper and/or chemicals to get that done. The problem is the discolouration, which is ingrained in some places - ie doesn't come off when the surface is scraped.

Tony S
 
If using a chemical stripper either be sure that it is compatible with GRP or be very very careful !
 
For discoloration, you can use two of the parts of "three-part teak treatment." International and Starbrite sell them (I use the Starbrite stuff) and use the teak cleaner to remove grime followed by teak brightener to restore the colour. Magic stuff; just squirt on, scrub about to wet all the wood and rinse off after a few minutes. The third part is teak oil but I don't use that as I said in an earlier reply.
 
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