Interior teak refinishing - French Polish, oil, Danish oil, or what?

[Gunfleet]

My boat is 1960s with plenty of teak on the inside. I had to remove a locker door as it had split to repair. Afterwards the surface required scraping (some would sandpaper but I used a cabinetmakers scraper). So now I've got a locker door which doesn't match the rest... And the rest is rather shabby. I think I may scrape off all of the interior... Isn't to is a familiar story?The trouble is, what to re-finish with. Even if I was oiled finishing a wooden cabinet at home I might give the scraped surface a wipe of shellac. But is shellac a complete no no on the boat?
Thanks
John

 

[sailorman]

I use international satin, its a very nice finish. i would never ever use oil, it goes dark & collects dust n dirt.
i re-varnished 16 yrs ago & its still very good

some Ronseal varnishes have a tint rather than clear & are nice to use with a good finish B&Q stock it

 

[Tranona]

You might experiment with the door you have stripped. In general matt and satin finishes are best for woody interiors. I use Ronseal satin but Epifanes rubbed finish is also good. As already suggested oil type finishes not good. Your biggest problem will be removing the old finish first, particularly on large flat surfaces.

 

[doug748]

I refinished some panels in the forecabin using Sikkins Novatop (now International Woodskin, I understand) Light Pine, applied very thinly with a rag.

It is pretty much an experiment, but it looks ok, and might suit if you like the open grain look of an oiled finish. Few things could be easier to overcoat, or repair.

 

[itchenseadog]

Ronseal Satincoat Clear is what we used on the interior of all Victoria and Shadow production boats. Easy to apply, and lasts well in a marine enviornment. Can be obtained from most diy stores.

 

[robmcg]

Ronseal Satincoat Clear is what we used on the interior of all Victoria and Shadow production boats. Easy to apply, and lasts well in a marine enviornment. Can be obtained from most diy stores.

+1 for Ronseal

 

[xeitosaphil]

I use international satin, its a very nice finish. i would never ever use oil, it goes dark & collects dust n dirt.
i re-varnished 16 yrs ago & its still very good

some Ronseal varnishes have a tint rather than clear & are nice to use with a good finish B&Q stock it

+1 for international Quick Drying satin finish, mine was done 4 years ago now still fresh looking - mine is Sapele though, but Teak would be just as nice.

 

[prv]

I used Danish oil for most of the new sapele trim I made for Kindred Spirit, and for the saloon table. Not a long-term test as we sold her after three years, but certainly in that time I had no problems with it.

The new chart table was a mixture of solid and veneer sapele, and I reckoned the veneered ply needed more protection than just oil. So for that I used the Epifanes rubbed effect (you actually do most of the coats in normal Epifanes, then the last two using the rubbed). That certainly looked very nice, but it took a lot of time and effort and touching it up is a major undertaking versus putting a bit of oil on a rag and rubbing it in.

Pete

 

[doug748]

+1 for international Quick Drying satin finish, mine was done 4 years ago now still fresh looking - mine is Sapele though, but Teak would be just as nice.

Do you have any tips for cleaning off the old finish?

Your boat looks excellent - I knew Magatha some years ago.

 

[chaldon3]

hi scrap as you have done then flat with fine sand paper, french polish is not a very hard wearing polish and very time consuming to apply i make my own for clocks. danish oil is hard wearing along with linseed oil
most modern varnish are very hard wearing and ideal for boat and dry quicker than oils.

 

[xeitosaphil]

Unfortunately Doug the only way to strip the old stained varnish off was with a heat gun, then cabinet scraper, then sand - no quick fix I'm afraid, and I had to be very carefull not to go throught the 36 year old as well !!

Have PM'd you ?

 

[xeitosaphil]

Do you have any tips for cleaning off the old finish?

Your boat looks excellent - I knew Magatha some years ago.

Brian, tried to send an PM , but it seems you post box is full and won't except anymore?

 

[doug748]

Brian, tried to send an PM , but it seems you post box is full and won't except anymore?

Thanks for that, I have now unbunged my inbox.

 

[Caer Urfa]

My boat is 1960s with plenty of teak on the inside. I had to remove a locker door as it had split to repair. Afterwards the surface required scraping (some would sandpaper but I used a cabinetmakers scraper). So now I've got a locker door which doesn't match the rest... And the rest is rather shabby. I think I may scrape off all of the interior... Isn't to is a familiar story?The trouble is, what to re-finish with. Even if I was oiled finishing a wooden cabinet at home I might give the scraped surface a wipe of shellac. But is shellac a complete no no on the boat?
Thanks
John

I have teak by the boat load which had not been re-stained for at least 10 years so last year I sanded it all down with 120 grit very lightly, I then applied one coat of International Woodskin) (ex Sikkens Cetrol) and 'rollered' it on then, just feathered it off lightly with a brush.

Mike

View attachment 37507View attachment 37508[View attachment 37509View attachment 37510

 

[Nina Lucia]

Lovely, I am about to tidy up our interior, especially fore cabin, can we see more photographs of nice interiors of small cruisers to get some ideas, please

 

[itchenseadog]

I have teak by the boat load which had not been re-stained for at least 10 years so last year I sanded it all down with 120 grit very lightly, I then applied one coat of International Woodskin) (ex Sikkens Cetrol) and 'rollered' it on then, just feathered it off lightly with a brush.

Mike

View attachment 37507View attachment 37508[View attachment 37509View attachment 37510

120 grit is a bit coarse especially if used in a sander. I would go for 180g but be careful to only rub with the grain especially if you're getting close to the veneer otherwise you'll get some horrible scratches showing through. Many boats are finished with laquer these days purely because many coats can be applied in a day thus saving labour time. However many laquers are not durable enough for marine use andthey do need a particular technique to get them to flow properly. I have applied most types of interior finishes in my time but always return to good old Ronseal Satincoat

 

[geem]

I used Danish oil for most of the new sapele trim I made for Kindred Spirit, and for the saloon table. Not a long-term test as we sold her after three years, but certainly in that time I had no problems with it.

The new chart table was a mixture of solid and veneer sapele, and I reckoned the veneered ply needed more protection than just oil. So for that I used the Epifanes rubbed effect (you actually do most of the coats in normal Epifanes, then the last two using the rubbed). That certainly looked very nice, but it took a lot of time and effort and touching it up is a major undertaking versus putting a bit of oil on a rag and rubbing it in.

Pete

11 years ago we scraped off the old varnish from our teak interior as it was all in poor condition. We used Rustins danish oil as the new finish. About every two years we gave it another quick coat with a cloth to freshen it up. We sold the boat last year and the interior looked great. its a lot easy to use danish oil to touch up areas than the work to repair a varnished finish in my opinion.
On our new (33 year old boat) we are doing the same slowly. The galley is complete and looks excellent. Still got the rest of the interior to do.

 

[ALPHORA]

I have a teak interior that has been oiled for many years and is getting darker and darker. It does collect dust and soon goes mouldy in a winter damp spell. It is however very easy to recoat with a rag and teak oil. I am tempted to go for a satin varnish. Is the International Woodskin one of those that washes out with water? I have done some test pieces with similar sounding products and the water based ones seem a bit milky rather than a nice clear finish that you get with an oil based varnish. Don't want a gloss finish though.

 

[itchenseadog]

I have a teak interior that has been oiled for many years and is getting darker and darker. It does collect dust and soon goes mouldy in a winter damp spell. It is however very easy to recoat with a rag and teak oil. I am tempted to go for a satin varnish. Is the International Woodskin one of those that washes out with water? I have done some test pieces with similar sounding products and the water based ones seem a bit milky rather than a nice clear finish that you get with an oil based varnish. Don't want a

you can't overcoat oiled wood with varnish wirhout getting rid of all the oil out of the grain otherwise the varnish will never dry or be rejected. Once oiled, stay oiled - not my favourite finish for many reasons. Ronseal Satincoat is easy to apply and touch up but not over oiled surfaces.

 

[Vara]

For over oiled or claggey oiled surfaces, ronseal do a soft finish remover which is easy to use without major abrasion so ideal on veneer. Then either reoil or apply a varnish type finish.

i do quite like the finish you get with oil, gives a warmer feel than even silk or matt varnishes.