First time poster about teak care

DucMan

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Hello everyone. I have just bought my first boat. It's a several years old fiberglass motorboat. 8,60 meters. Since I am a newbie I will be needing lots of help. Before getting into more serious business I want to work on the teak of the platform...The teak on the platform is terrible, it has a white color and it is almost impossible to tell it's actually wood...I wonder if it is possible to save that. Shall I sand it first? If yes, what grade sandpaper shall I use? There are deep cracks on the wood by the way (like 1/2 mm or so)...TIA.
 

adl

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I have used a two part cleaning system before from a company based in warsash or close to there, it a red and green cleaning solution, which you then apply a waterproof dye afterwards. Works a treat for me and get all the rubbish out of the teak without reducing the depth through sanding. It return a new teak colour and once done it only requires recoating every 6 months and cleaning with fresh water regularly. Not sure what to do about the cracks.

Will find a link to the company, or someone will bealong with there details.

Edit http://www.onwardtrading.com/
 

rickp

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Welcome to the madhouse /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Sanding teak is a last resort - I'd try everything I could before resorting to that. Do you know if its teak all the way though, or just a veneer?

I'd start by giving it a really good clean with a decent cleaner. Many on here use this stuff and you can follow the excellent instructions by tcm.

Then take some photos and post 'em here for advice.

Cheers,
Rick
 

adl

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Well apart from the suppliers the colour of both these systems look identical, I always said is only a chemical mix getting the forumula was the problem. How much to that other company charge for there system?
 

rickp

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Not sure they're the same as the Wessex stuff is green first, then red - the Onward stuff is the other way round I think? Can't remember the exact price, but I think it was around £60+shipping for 5 litres of each (part 1 and part 2). You then need to dilute them when using them.

Rick
 

DucMan

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Thank you both for the links. My deck looks somewhere in between those two pictures on the Wessex website but the wooden platform looks much worse /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I will see if I can find those products here ( I am located in Istanbul btw)...
 

Amari

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Could you get advice from local friendly gulet owner? The Turks spend their whole winter sanding down and then varnishing their mega wooden boats. see yesterday's thread 'Alternative to varnish?' - as you will read, my preference is no varnish etc at all. If teak is in good condition (I realise yours isn't) then let it bleach in the sun
 

DucMan

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I will definitely ask for advice from the boat owners around, but the thing is I want to start taking care of this ugly platform asap and there's no one around where I tie the boat /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
BTW, what do you mean by "bleach in the sun"?

Edit: OK I read your post in that other thread and I see what you mean. Actually I like the "untreated/raw" look with my bike but not with this boat. I want the teak to look clean and matte brown/goldish.
 

gjgm

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can you fill in your bio a bit.. where are you, for example?
You can get a small kit of this cleaner for about £20, which will be enough for the next 10 years on a swimplatform !
If its just the platform, all you do it wet the teak, rub in solution 1, wash it down, rub on solution2, wash it off.
It will bring the teak back to wood colour, but of course at some point teak decking has just had it and needs replacing.
By the way, dont use any oils on it, and in fact sea water and a scrubbing brush isnt a bad cleaner itself. Id guess you ll need to seal those cracks.. Maybe speak to Silkaflex, they are the no.1 company on these materials, and maybe they have an idea.
 

adl

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I used these products after having been travelling and away from the boat for 12 months the teak decks were black and green as the person charged with maintaining them had sone sweet fa. Anyway two people on a 38ft boat for 2 days had the decks as good as new. In fact the next w/e the people in the next berth thought that it was a different boat. The stuff is very good just make sure you wear gloves!
 

DucMan

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Thank you all for your suggestions. I will try to find this or a similar product here. I have been searching the web for the Sikkens Cetol Marine by the way, for the teak on the deck. On that other thread (Alternatives to Varnishing) it was highly recommended. No luck. I haven't visited the stores yet but apparently Scotch Brite is the most popular brand here in Turkey and they have a couple of different teak cleaners as well as teak oil. I don't want to commit myself for oiling so that Cetol seems to be the best choice if I can find it here...
 

Steve Clayton

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Get some dishwasher powder. Make up a warm soapy, slippery solution. Wet the deck with it and leave 5 minutes. Now using lots of the solution "gently" clean with a soft across the grain action and then wash off - Amazing!!
 

pvb

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Foolish!...

[ QUOTE ]
Maintain with clean seawater and scrubbing brush.

[/ QUOTE ]How foolish! Anyone with any sense wouldn't let a scrubbing brush anywhere near a teak deck.
 

Seagreen

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Re: Foolish!...

[ QUOTE ]
How foolish! Anyone with any sense wouldn't let a scrubbing brush anywhere near a teak deck.


[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, so you're the bloke who licks the seagull poo off his deck?

My deck's done 20 years and only now just needs recaulking with sikaflex on some places - no wear, no rot. Clean salt water and a quick gentle scrub once a week in commission, and a good daily wetting down, and nothing else.
 

pheran

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I bought the Wessex product having read of it on here and did half our aft-deck with it whilst using plain oxalic acid on the other half. I was expecting to see a dividing line between the two but there was absolutely no difference. Except the oxalic is a fraction of the price - so I think I'll stick with it!
 

DucMan

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After having done some research I found out that the only product that I can find locally is star brite. They have a 3 step cleaning/brightening/oiling kit. Which I do not want to use at the moment, at least for the deck. The boat is in water so I am not able to use it for the swim platform neither since I am too lazy to disassemble it. I am planning to clean the deck with dishwasher powder and warm water as Steve recommended. And I will use the star brite cleaner for the platform. I will post pics. I

f I keep cleaning the deck w/out oiling or cetol (no cetol here) will it delay the teak getting gray or irrelevant? And, how do I understand if any sealant or similar coating exists on the deck which has to be sanded? I don't want to sand it if I don't have to. Do I have to if there's some coating on it?

Sorry for the long post and basic questions BTW
 
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