International Woodskin- yay or nay?

Would you use Woodskin again?

  • Recommend

    Votes: 52 68.4%

  • Avoid

    Votes: 8 10.5%

  • Mixed results

    Votes: 16 21.1%
  • Total voters
    76
Sandy said:
Last winter I was introduced to

https://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/varmain.html

I won't be using Woodskin again.
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Gave that a go on an inside hatch surround - couple years the UV (presumably) did it in, won't be used again.
Maybe up in the frozen north UV isn't such a problem.. ;)

Woodskin gets my vote, no need for a mirror finish, easy to apply & touch up plus usually good chance of actully finding some if you're on the move.
 
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mogmog2 said:
Kelpie, what did you go for in the end and how has it been?
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I went with Woodskin, and got some mixed results. Not sure what variables changed but I have one toe rail looking lovely and golden, and the other is all patchy with no gloss. Likewise my handrails- which I removed from the boat to sand and treat.
I am going to continue using it (when I find the time!) but I do wonder if it's sensitive to something like the moisture of the wood, or humidity at time of application.
 
Kelpie said:
I went with Woodskin, and got some mixed results. Not sure what variables changed but I have one toe rail looking lovely and golden, and the other is all patchy with no gloss. Likewise my handrails- which I removed from the boat to sand and treat.
I am going to continue using it (when I find the time!) but I do wonder if it's sensitive to something like the moisture of the wood, or humidity at time of application.
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Many thanks for that. Mixed review but positive enough to keep on with it...
 
People use Woodskin on wood where neither its condition or their preparation would ever allow varnish to be remotely successful.
I've seen people slap it where creosote or waste engine oil should be their only real choice.

Therefore there will be a range of 'successes' experienced and trapping moisture is a common cause of it lacking any luster or the wood going dark, etc.

It's only fair to compare it with varnish if the substrate and preparation are equal.
 
I have voted yah because we have had some great results. Our cockpit table which is mostly protected from sunlight by the Bimini still looks great a few years later. Our toe rails do have black in them and need redoing this summer but I suspect that this could be water coming from under the toe rail because they were well prepared and it was the middle of a dry spell. Finally the handholds are still looking good.

Overall, really pleased despite the toe rail issue right now.

More details below:

https://mariadz.com/2017/05/14/teak-handrails-getting-the-woodskin-treatment/
 
Motor_Sailor said:
People use Woodskin on wood where neither its condition or their preparation would ever allow varnish to be remotely successful.
I've seen people slap it where creosote or waste engine oil should be their only real choice.

Therefore there will be a range of 'successes' experienced and trapping moisture is a common cause of it lacking any luster or the wood going dark, etc.

It's only fair to compare it with varnish if the substrate and preparation are equal.
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Valid point about preparation.

It would be only fair to compare it with varnish if one was comparing it with varnish. Neither the OP or myself mentioned the v-word. I am not going there: I remember only too well scraping on my father's boat.... ;-)
 
Motor_Sailor said:
People use Woodskin on wood where neither its condition or their preparation would ever allow varnish to be remotely successful.
I've seen people slap it where creosote or waste engine oil should be their only real choice.

Therefore there will be a range of 'successes' experienced and trapping moisture is a common cause of it lacking any luster or the wood going dark, etc.

It's only fair to compare it with varnish if the substrate and preparation are equal.
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What puzzles me is that I've had mixed results with Woodskin on the *same* piece of wood, despite it all being prepped the same way. Some bits of my toerails look as good as the day I did them- two years ago now- others never came up with any shine at all. And some parts have blackened and faded badly. It's weird, but I'm going to persevere with it.
 
I have a "classic" boat with a lot of teak and Woodskin has been great. Not perfect, but what is? As others have pointed out, it has very little abrasion resistance. However, that's a positive as well as a negative: it sands off much more easily than some harder finishes. If I had a team of dedicated professionals at my disposal, I suppose I'd get them to apply and maintain lovely shiny hard gloss varnish, but I have me, the odd other thing in life that requires my attention, and a mad desire to spend at least a little time sailing the boat rather than polishing it. In those circumstances, Woodskin is an excellent compromise: it looks pretty good, most of the time.
 
A chum and fellow forumite has started using Woodskin these last couple of seasons - pretty sure it's on mahogany - and no doubt due to his patience and skill as well the boat looks fantastic.
 
simonfraser said:
Not perfect but i dont have the time / patience to look after ‘proper’ varnish, have used it for years.
Recon you need 4 coats for an acceptable result, can go a bit matt if damp. Put another coat on easy.
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If it goes matt, do you have to sand it back or can a fresh coat give it a bit of a gloss?
 
Kelpie said:
If it goes matt, do you have to sand it back or can a fresh coat give it a bit of a gloss?
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I put first lot of Woodskin on about 5 years ago. I have not sanded any of it (except where it's been rubbed off completely and the wood has taken on the silvery finish), just added more coats. Natural abrasion seems to mean it doesn't just get thicker and thicker, and adding an extra coat seems to restore the gloss. I'm probably less fussy than some, but overall I think it looks pretty good.
 
toerail.jpg
Here's a little bit of the toerail to give you an idea. You can see a couple of black bits to the right of the picture where I suppose a bit of moisture has got in, and how the finish has rubbed off completely by the fairlead. This, though, is essentially the coat I put on 5 years ago. The toerail was last given a quick once over 2 years ago, the bitts 3 years ago.
 
I tested woodskin out on the gunwale of my Vertue and it wintered well.
So I spent a full week stripping off all the Epifanes varnish, sanding down and applying 3 coats of woodskin under perfect conditions.

To my horror, less than 2 months later, it is starting to break down on the toe rails and cabin sides.
I'm waiting for a reply from International and hope there is a simple fix.

But I've been here before using Epifanes Rapidcoat on the gunwale, which broke down in 2 months and virtually disappeared in a year.

Is there really an alternative to varnish? I don't want to spend my life maintaining a varnish finish. If I can't sort this out, I'll paint most of the wood so that I can go sailing.

Images show the gunwale OK but the toe rail degrading.
IMG_20180830_111900 (Medium).jpgIMG_20180828_091145 (Medium).jpg
 
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andrewedmondson said:
To my horror, less than 2 months later, it is starting to break down on the toe rails and cabin sides.
I'm waiting for a reply from International and hope there is a simple fix.
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Looks like you had the same results as me.

I was very disappointed in the product after all the good things I had heard about it.
 
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