Machine polishing GRP near a teak deck and other cleaning rituals...

Iain C

Iain C

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Hopefully taking delivery of my "new" boat (2004 Bavaria 32) in the next few weeks and I want to take a week off and get her looking good. I've always had very good results with a slow start machine polisher on my current boat...it brings 47 year old GRP up like new, however as I use Farecla G7/G3 wet it does tend to make a bit of a mess. As the new boat has teak decks, I see that this could be an issue with white spatters everywhere.

Any tips here? Keep the deck soaking wet? Is there a compound I can use "dry"? And what about a good polish to use afterwards? Unfortunately my mooring does seem to receive plenty of attention from sh1tehawks, so anything that stops the guano sticking to the boat would be good.

Also, I'm sure that this has been done to death but any tips on reviving a teak deck? I was going to get busy with the Boracol (diluted 50/50) and a mini pressure sprayer, as this has always worked wonders on greening canvas work and wood on the current boat, and then follow it up with oxalic acid. I am aware pressure washers are a no-no...any other tips?

Thanks!
 
Why not cover the deck near where you're polishing with cheap plastic sheeting? Held down with masking tape or weights or your anchor chain.
 
Wide masking tape around the edges of the teak should work. With, as Twisterowner suggested, plastic sheeting if you're going to get very messy.

There's no point using Boracol before a pressure washer or oxalic acid; Boracol works best as a treatment on clean(ish) teak, to keep algae and mould at bay. I'd avoid using a pressure washer on the teak anyway, it can remove a lot of soft fibres. Wash with a sponge instead. However, a pressure washer is great for cleaning the moulded non-slip areas.
 
Iain C said:
Unfortunately my mooring does seem to receive plenty of attention from sh1tehawks,
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This is extremely unusual, almost unheard of in the history of the known universe, you have my deepest condolences.

Have fun with new boat. It is an exciting time.

If you get that spell from JKK Rowling that envelopes Hogwarts in a protective shield please share it with us.
 
To clean dirty teak decks I simply use a scrubbing brush across the grain with water containing washing up liquid, then rinse with a hose or buckets of fresh water. If there is some verdigris, then treat with cheap bleach diluted at least 10 to 1 in the cleaning water.

For covering the teak, make sure you use outdoor masking tape which is plastic based rather than paper based.
 
Iain C said:
Hopefully taking delivery of my "new" boat (2004 Bavaria 32) in the next few weeks and I want to take a week off and get her looking good. I've always had very good results with a slow start machine polisher on my current boat...it brings 47 year old GRP up like new, however as I use Farecla G7/G3 wet it does tend to make a bit of a mess. As the new boat has teak decks, I see that this could be an issue with white spatters everywhere.

Any tips here? Keep the deck soaking wet? Is there a compound I can use "dry"? And what about a good polish to use afterwards? Unfortunately my mooring does seem to receive plenty of attention from sh1tehawks, so anything that stops the guano sticking to the boat would be good.

Also, I'm sure that this has been done to death but any tips on reviving a teak deck? I was going to get busy with the Boracol (diluted 50/50) and a mini pressure sprayer, as this has always worked wonders on greening canvas work and wood on the current boat, and then follow it up with oxalic acid. I am aware pressure washers are a no-no...any other tips?

Thanks!
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Hi Iain,
You might find better results with wool pads, rather than wet foam.

The reason some add water to foam pads is that the foam heats up the compound too quickly drying the medium out.
A foam pad system is one that works on the very, very fine polishes (salad cream grit) but the compounds such as G7/G3 with bigger diminishing particles (toothpaste grit), dry out and you'll need to add water as a 'slip'. This as you know creates problems.

Farecla on a wool pad doesn't really work for me and I prefer using 3M products on my wool. Less fling, more workability, no water required.
There's lots to it and this is a postage stamps worth, but I think you'll notice the difference right away and get that ah ha moment.
In fairness, I know Farecla have been working hard in this dept with fresh talent and their compounds have improved an awful lot in the last few years, perhaps the next few years they will pull something out of the bag.

If you are going to persist with a foam pad and Farecla, can I suggest priming the pad with something similar to Meguiar's Detailing spray, there are specific lubes for foam but this will work just fine, this should lube things up a bit and lessen the need for too much water.
You will still have problems, just less.
All pads need priming, even wool with product and a little starting lube, but perhaps that's going too much into it and is for another thread.

3M do some great protection potions to follow up, as do Gtechniq. Again the Farecla rate pretty poor on the protection front in my humble opinion. Sorry Farecla.. it be true :nonchalance:

For Teak..
You might like to take a look at the Semco system for cleaning and protecting teak.
Wessex do a cheaper part 2 cleaning process, but I feel Semco has the original and the best 2 part cleaners.

The Semco protection is awesome and will really help keep the teak tip top throughout the season.
Bird strikes are easier to clean off, the teak is more protected against water ingress and it also has a UV inhibitor.
Basically you want it waterproof, yet breathable and to be able to slow the purging of natural oil from within the teak from rising to the surface and oxidising grey.
It's a system that requires quite a bit of effort and a learning curve so it's not for everyone. That said once you do it right the teak becomes easy to manage and aging will be paused.
Additional sprays with Benzalkonium Chloride (AKA Patio Magic) won't affect the coating of Semco providing it's where it should be - deep in the grain like a gran filler as opposed to floating on the top of the grain.

Just to add.. there is a big difference between using a pressure washer - to clean teak - and using a pressure washer whilst cleaning teak.

Many warn me whilst I'm working of the dangers of using a pressure washer on teak, when in fact I find it one of the very best tools to safely remove chemical and control water flow in and around teak. Think of it in the same league as less touching on car panels when washing to reduce swirls.

I've cleaned hundreds of teak decks, all with the assistance of a variable pressure washer on a fan setting and at a suitable distance from the teak surface to control my water as opposed to a hose with a fat nozzle. Just don't use one to clean teak.... reaches for tin hat.

Tony
 
Plus 1 for using Semco on teak and I believe posts on this forum from Mobo owners showing good results . We use on our teak capping , handrails and toenail however it does need renewing so when contemplating for decks you might wish to consider crew time for maintenance notwithstanding small deck areas. On our 34 we just had Bavaria teak in cockpit which we cleaned down with Wessex 2 part. One word of warning is that one some Bav the infiller on teak used by Bav goes sticky so you might want to check condition and replace with proper Sika filler however this might have been limited to certain models . We never Semco the cockpit and just cleaned with normal deck cleaner. On texture GRP a rotating brush on a karcher device works well and less chance of driving water under places it shouldn't be e.g. Stanchion bases etc.
 
Rather than masking off the teak (which'll be a bit tricky to get tape to stick to anyway) use some of your best ex-bed linen, cloth dust sheets etc.. soaking wet. They'll stay exactly where you put them even on breezy days.
 
It is generally reckoned that you will wreck teak by using a pressure washer on it, or at least shorten its life. I wouldn't know, because I've never done it.
 
johnalison said:
It is generally reckoned that you will wreck teak by using a pressure washer on it, or at least shorten its life. I wouldn't know, because I've never done it.
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It would depend on if you were using the pressure to actually do the work of cleaning rather than using it to safely control the water.
There's is a big difference.

Using a pressure washer alone to tackle the job of cleaning will create problems, if you are using the pressure 2" from the surface compared with 2ft away, you are going to be delivering very different results.

Sometimes using what is generally considered to be wrong, is in fact - right.
 
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