Exterior wood - what oil?

Leave it bare just giving it a light scrub across the grain every now and then. Oil or the likes looks great for a short time then the dirt gets in!
 
l'escargot said:
I have wooden toe rails and rubbing strake' presumably teak. They have been neglected long enough now that I can remove any remaining varnish back to the wood. I quite like the idea of treating the wood with oil - occasional rub over with an oily rag as opposed to the varnishing, rubbing down and all that entails.

What oil should I use? I want to keep it simple...
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I have tried Deks ole and other oils on rubbing strakes. It looks good for a month but then needs re
oiling. I have tried Coelan marin and that works better. I understand that International Woodskin is a replacement for Coelan and have bought a can so will be trying that next week.

Norfolk Gypsy for sale see http://www.ybw-boatsforsale.com/boa...e-brittany/norfolk-gypsy-116-viva-391701.html
 
If I had teak I would just leave it bare but for a prefabricated structure like my main hatch I have used Wilkinsons teak oil & it seems to have an infinite capacity to soak that up.So much so that I am now thinking of rubbing in Vaseline to the most porous areas.
 
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Nicholas123 said:
What I don't want is the endless maintenance of that woodstain stuff.
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The very opposite of the truth. If you use woodstain, maintenance is just about zero. Recoating every 5 years. Much better than pouring useless messy oil into your wood at regular intervals, only for it to evaporate.
 
viva said:
I have tried Deks ole and other oils on rubbing strakes. It looks good for a month but then needs re
oiling. I have tried Coelan marin and that works better. I understand that International Woodskin is a replacement for Coelan and have bought a can so will be trying that next week.

Norfolk Gypsy for sale see http://www.ybw-boatsforsale.com/boa...e-brittany/norfolk-gypsy-116-viva-391701.html
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Coelan is a very different product. Woodskin is a replacement for Sikkens Cetol and similar formulations such as Novatec. They are porous woodstains. Coelan is a flexible polyurethane coating which forms an unbroken skin over the wood.
 
Tranona said:
The very opposite of the truth. If you use woodstain, maintenance is just about zero. Recoating every 5 years. Much better than pouring useless messy oil into your wood at regular intervals, only for it to evaporate.
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In my experience that woodstain stuff comes off in strips & is impossible to sand down smoothly.I'd rather use Varnish!
& it dos'nt evaporate it soaks right in.(sorry for the editing).
 
Lemon oil is supposed to hinder mildew and also smells nice (the latter more relevant to interior wood). OH used metal paint on our exterior wood on the Jag after the varnish we had lovingly reapplied wore out. He is a welder, so a bit obsessed with adding metallic features to the boat!

Nicola
 
Nicholas123 said:
In my experience that woodstain stuff comes off in strips & is impossible to sand down smoothly.I'd rather use Varnish!
& it dos'nt evaporate it soaks right in.(sorry for the editing).
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Can't help if you had a bad experience, but I can assure you that is not typical. Suggest you read the long term tests of finishes in Classic Boat and PBO. coelan and Porous woodstains outperform any other finish and even the expensive (by volume) woodstains are far and away the cheapest in the long run because you need so little - never mind the savings in time of applying multiple coats and regular recoating common with other finishes. My cedar panel garage door that gets sun most of the day was finished in woodstain 17 years ago and still on the original coating. Same with front door, but that is in a porch so not exposed so much to light and rain. still looks like new.

BTW it does not have to soak in to the wood. That is a myth put about by those who support putting in liquids which evaporate. Suggest you cut up a bit a wood that has had stuff put on that is supposed to soak in. You won't find any of it below the exposed surface.
 
srp said:
What I've found from experience:
Varnish - will last for about 3 months, ie most of the summer season. Will start to peel off at the first sign of frost or after extended sun exposure.
Teak oil, Danish oil etc - will last for a bit longer than varnish provided you give it a regular top up. Won't peel, but you'll have to do it all again next spring, starting at the rubbing down stage.
Sikkens Cetol and International Wookskin etc - the best from a durability point of view, and what I've got on my gunwhales at the moment. But it makes your boat look like a garden shed.
Deks Olje - I've only ever used D1 and D2 together, on the brightwork of a pram dinghy, and it has been superb - good UV exposure resistance, easy to maintain and renew every year or even longer if you winter it inside, and works on a variety of woods including mahogany and BC pine. But very expensive at around £20 for each tin!
Linseed oil, cooking oil etc - take a long time to dry, esp cooking oil. OK for inside but not durable enough outside unless you renew it frequently (every other day??!!).
No treatment - ideal if you're lazy. No good if you like wood to look like it's looked after.

My own conclusion after playing around with them all over the years is Sikkens Cetol or equivalent for a workboat, Deks Olje for a pride and joy, varnish for anything that can be covered up (like a tiller), and probably on balance I'd again choose Cetol for a non-classic yacht (but it would have to be varnish if it was a classic). IMHO.
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I have to say i have not had problems with linseed on my cockpit sole grate. I put it on at the start of the winter in the garage and it dried out well over the winter in there. Since then i do a wipe over and leave it to dry for a day and still no problem.
 
For my grab rails (African Cherry), cockpit floor and seats (Afromosia - poor man's Teak) - all exposed to Aussie tropical sun and lots of salt. I tried everything that International Paints had to offer, different oils - nothing worked.
I came across "Burgess Hydrosol" ( http://www.coatesmarine.co.uk/boat-...-c7/burgess-burgess-hydrosol-wood-sealer-p215 ).
It really is great, it does at least 2 seasons and is so easy to put on. Read the "data sheet" - it claims to be able to do everything (except World peace) but for me it can do what it claims. Andrew.
 
Tried most of the alternatives and reckon sadolin ultra wood stain is the way to go although I did apply a light coat of Deks before hand to really bring out the colour of the teak hatch and wash boards. Only applied one light coat as I ran out of time / dry weather but amazed by how well it's lasting and if you shop around it's less than half the price of international woodskin. Just go for the lightest shade you can find.
 
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Having tried most of the products mentioned over the years and one or two that haven't, I am rather taken with Danish oil at the moment.
No doubt I will change mymind in a year or two
 
claymore said:
Having tried most of the products mentioned over the years and one or two that haven't, I am rather taken with Danish oil at the moment.
No doubt I will change mymind in a year or two
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I stood in the hardware shop and read lots of labels yesterday and came out with a tin of quick dry, exterior Danish oil to try - I was leaning towards tung oil and it seems to be tung oil+.
 
Tranona said:
Can't help if you had a bad experience, but I can assure you that is not typical. Suggest you read the long term tests of finishes in Classic Boat and PBO. coelan and Porous woodstains outperform any other finish and even the expensive (by volume) woodstains are far and away the cheapest in the long run because you need so little - never mind the savings in time of applying multiple coats and regular recoating common with other finishes. My cedar panel garage door that gets sun most of the day was finished in woodstain 17 years ago and still on the original coating. Same with front door, but that is in a porch so not exposed so much to light and rain. still looks like new.

BTW it does not have to soak in to the wood. That is a myth put about by those who support putting in liquids which evaporate. Suggest you cut up a bit a wood that has had stuff put on that is supposed to soak in. You won't find any of it below the exposed surface.
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I did look at those tests & none showed the results after five years plus when you are faced with rejuvenating whatever you coated & the teak oil does soak in,you can see it disappearing remarkably in the most porous areas.It coagulates so it eventually blocks any pores as far as I can tell so it is not just a surface treatment as are most of the treatments recommended here subject to the surface coating remaining in tact throughout all the vagaries that the weather can throw at it.
I used that woodstain stuff for several years & it was a nightmare.The only stuff that really impressed me was that Ronseal "low maintenance wood finish" that I mentioned in previous threads & they guaranteed that for ten years.It more than exceeded that in my experience & I would buy it again now without any hesitation if it were still available.
 
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viva said:
I have tried Deks ole and other oils on rubbing strakes. It looks good for a month but then needs re
oiling. I have tried Coelan marin and that works better. I understand that International Woodskin is a replacement for Coelan and have bought a can so will be trying that next week.

Norfolk Gypsy for sale see http://www.ybw-boatsforsale.com/boa...e-brittany/norfolk-gypsy-116-viva-391701.html
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Apologies yes it is "Sikkens Cetol Marine" I should have referred to as the forerunner of International Woodskin (and not Coelan which is a totally different product).

.

Norfolk Gypsy for sale see http://www.ybw-boatsforsale.com/boat...va-391701.html
 
Nicholas123 said:
... when you are faced with rejuvenating whatever you coated & the teak oil does soak in,you can see it disappearing remarkably in the most porous areas.It coagulates so it eventually blocks any pores as far as I can tell so it is not just a surface treatment
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I believe the point of oiling is to return the teak to its natural oily state near the surface, not to increase it. So once the oil has soaked in, you shouldn't be able to see any difference across a cross section.
 
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