Danish oil / teak oil question

Woodskin / varnish - look great at first, but will look shabby after a few years, even with the best of these types. They take hours to remove. They can be over coated of course, but it tends to end up looking patchy, or the wood goes very dark, which is fine if you dont mind dark wood but you will loose that beautiful grain.

Teak Oil etc - disaster, dont really know why they were ever popular. They attract dirt and fungus and last very little time.

Patio Magic and bare wood - not bad, treat frequently and it will stay looking ok, with minimium work.

Boracol and bare wood - works really well, again with minimium work. Teak looks great, and as long as you coat every 3 months doesnt even go the typical grey of bare teak.

I have tried them all as you can tell. I love varnished teak with a really good quality two pack, but it will not last more than three or so years. It looks superb. Woodskin lasts very well, but does darken the wood and eventually needs to be taken back to bare wood if you wish to preserve the grain. Having just removed all the Woodskin from 100 feet of teak toe rail, I am now a convert to Boracol, if only because I never want to do that job again. Once back to bare wood, I can coat it in an hour, without any real concerns about masking up etc and so far it looks really good.
 
All well and good, but read the OPs first post. He has iroko and plywood to deal with, not solid good quality teak like you have!
 
Tranona said:
Yes, and in my view another waste of time effort and money. It is like water so not easy to apply as it runs everywhere. Gives a nice matt finish when you have just done it, but disappears in a matter of days as it evaporates.
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I've been using Deks Olje 1 for teak and holly faced cabin soles for about 30 years. In my experience it goes on easily, dries fast and wears well. I expect to get about five years out of it before bare wood starts showing and it needs another application. The trick is to keep the floor wet with it for a good long time - several hours - and then mop up any showing an inclination to pool.
 
ip485 said:
I have tried them all as you can tell.
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My boat was used as a floating test bed for teak finished by Sailing Today. Each side of the capping rail had three or four different finishes, with another one or two on each handrail. I can say with confidence that everything they tried - and they tried everything - was falling off or had fallen off within five years. Nevertheless ...

Tranona said:
All well and good, but read the OPs first post. He has iroko and plywood to deal with, not solid good quality teak like you have!
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... so something might stick.
 
Tranona - good point, but I was focusing on the Iroko which, the OP said was a new piece and should respond much as good quality teak. I agree with you and especially as reagrds the ply.
 
JumbleDuck said:
I've been using Deks Olje 1 for teak and holly faced cabin soles for about 30 years. In my experience it goes on easily, dries fast and wears well. I expect to get about five years out of it before bare wood starts showing and it needs another application. The trick is to keep the floor wet with it for a good long time - several hours - and then mop up any showing an inclination to pool.
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Fine for inside. Mine were like that for 20 years before I cleaned it all off and used floor varnish. However no good outside which is where the OP wants to use it. Remember doing my mast after I stripped it and put most of a tin on it. Left it for a couple of weeks and most on the side exposed to weather (lying down) had disappeared so did it again and then 4 coats of D2. This lasted less than a season before the film ruptured on the forward side that faced west. Absolute disaster so stripped it all off again and discovered porous woodstains.
 
Tranona said:
Fine for inside. Mine were like that for 20 years before I cleaned it all off and used floor varnish. However no good outside which is where the OP wants to use it. Remember doing my mast after I stripped it and put most of a tin on it. Left it for a couple of weeks and most on the side exposed to weather (lying down) had disappeared so did it again and then 4 coats of D2. This lasted less than a season before the film ruptured on the forward side that faced west. Absolute disaster so stripped it all off again and discovered porous woodstains.
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Fair point. I also used D1 on the traditional Westerly teak subbing strip and grab rails on my last boat, and found it needed redone every year for not a huge benefit. I wonder if the hard skin of D2 is more susceptible to ageing and flaking than the softer D1 finish?

For the OP's plywood I think a varnish of some sort has to be best. Does iroko need anything or can it be left to weather like teak?
 
JumbleDuck said:
Fair point. I also used D1 on the traditional Westerly teak subbing strip and grab rails on my last boat, and found it needed redone every year for not a huge benefit. I wonder if the hard skin of D2 is more susceptible to ageing and flaking than the softer D1 finish?

For the OP's plywood I think a varnish of some sort has to be best. Does iroko need anything or can it be left to weather like teak?
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D2 is billed as a durable finish but in my experience is anything but. Very different kind of product from D1 which acts effectively as a primer for D2.

Iroko varies a lot and is often considered a substitute for teak from a durability point of view but weathers badly in comparison in my experience. I have used some on my Eventide, particularly in framing a hatch garage and looks good coated with Woodskin.
 
Tranona said:
Iroko varies a lot and is often considered a substitute for teak from a durability point of view but weathers badly in comparison in my experience. I have used some on my Eventide, particularly in framing a hatch garage and looks good coated with Woodskin.
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The rubbing strip on my Drascombe is - according to the original Honnor marine spec sheet - iroko. It has survived five years of the boat being abandoned in a yard and two seasons outside since with no obvious rot of any sort, though it isn't as pretty as teak. If the OPs is of similar quality he might get away with leaving it.
 
JumbleDuck said:
The rubbing strip on my Drascombe is - according to the original Honnor marine spec sheet - iroko. It has survived five years of the boat being abandoned in a yard and two seasons outside since with no obvious rot of any sort, though it isn't as pretty as teak. If the OPs is of similar quality he might get away with leaving it.
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It's good iroko, but if I use the same finish on thecockpit seats it will all match (nearly, a bit, sort of perhaps . . . .)

Definitely going to try woodskin, if it is slippy when wet will think again or cut grooves in teh ply. (The iroko already has grooves)

- W
 
I've used Woodskin on my handrails and toerail. Easy to apply being quite thick. I wouldn't consider it especially slippy, mot as slippy as varnish anyway. But it's not very hardwearing- easy to top up though.
My reservation about it is that I have sometimes got poor results with a dull, matt finish. No idea why as it can be on the same bit of wood, same tin of Woodskin, same type of brush, just done on different days. Something to do with atmospheric humidity or something??
 
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