Teak cleaning

[alanporter]

Being naturally lazy I neither varnish nor oil my teak. I have let it "go gray", as the books say. However, it has gone past gray to almost black. I have a power washer that I use on my car, just 1200 foot-pounds pressure,. Is there any problem with using this on the teak ?

<hr width=100% size=1>Alan Porter

 

[BrendanS]

Re: Yes there\'s a problem

Have a look around the forums (do a search on teak for all forums in the last 4 weeks)

Teak is basically a soft wood.

There's a section of brickwork up on the top of Hurst Castle opposite the Needles on the Solent.You have to go up on the roof to see it. It's been wind blasted over many, many years. The brick was obviously softer than the mortar the brick course was laid in. It now resembles a honeycomb, with very little brick left, but the mortar is in far better repair. It's amazing to look at.

That's what happens to teak. There are small ribs of hard material, filled in with larger areas of softer. If you scrub or pressure wash teak, or treat it with harsh materials, you end up with a honeycomb effect on a very small scale.

This means you have a surface which is rough, and gets dirty far more easily as the pits accumulate dirt. Far better to keep a nice smooth surface which is kept clean more easily.

The pressure washer will get it clean, but you're causing up future problems, and the teak will get dirty faster and faster

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[[2574]]

Alan,

No closer than three feet to the teak with your pressure washer, it's bad news. See a thread on the motor boat forum by "Joanne2" and there you'll find advice regarding a product called Semtec.

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[tillergirl]

Get some oxalic acid from the chemist. I got a 500 gram jar that lasted for years. You use 25grams per half a litre of water. Wash it on as though you were mopping/swabbing the deck. Leave for 10 minutes or so and rinse. If you have a serious black problem, you may need to repeat but it will be a lot cheaper than commercial teak cleaners which are also based upon oxalic acid. You can leave it alone thereafter and repeat the cleaning as often as you like or dislike.

Don't, don't power wash. It doesn't need it and it will as the others have said, it will ruin the teak.

I hope this helps

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[warrior40]

Please don't powerwash it It'll open up the grain, best not to ever use fresh water on it really, as the salt helps keep it nice and moist so it doesn't dry out. As the Tiller girl said, Oxalic acid is the stuff to use.

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[tcm]

Re: Yes there\'s a problem

what a nice persuasive and explanatory post.

By contrast: alan, don't powerwash yor teak as it will wreck it. If you must clean it, use two-part teak cleaner, which cleans and then restores the natural colour, without tons of scrubbing.

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[warrior40]

Re: Yes there\'s a problem

Remember to scrub across the grain with a scotch brite/scouring pad thingy, do not use a deck brush.

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[BrendanS]

Re: Yes there\'s a problem

Well, there's always lots of posts saying don't pressure wash, but never any explanation of why not.

So I thought it was about time to explain why.

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[tcm]

Re: Yes there\'s a problem

very good.

I am sneakily planning to actually use sandpaper after cleaning but before sealing. I trust that this will be permitted. Sanded teak feels joly nice underfoot. We aren't allowed shoes on board, you see.



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[david_e]

Re: Shoe ban

How do you manage this without being seen by all as Saddam of St Trop? I have got fed up of asking other bods to take shoes off, kids completely ignore any requests especially when not there.

Is there a low voltage electrolitic machine that can detect dark soled shoes?

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[tcm]

Re: Shoe ban

everyone, but everyone, has no shoes on a Posh Boat. Its almost the law. There's a big basket for shoes and this is on the quayside. You can't even wear shoes up the passarelle. Especially in st Trop. Not sure how to enforce it on kids except going ballistic and chucking their shoes overboard. That would work.

Note: posh boat, take shoes off before even stepping on passarelle. Quite posh boat, shoes up passarelle, then takem off. Fairly posh boat, esp in cold places like uk, no shoes down below. Not-posh boat, shoes ok anywhere. Any boat with Treadmaster, the rules reverse and you need shoes and overalls as protection from the boat damaging your clothes.



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[upstream]

Re: Shoe ban

What you need is a HIGH VOLTAGE machine, this will deter any offender from re-offending.

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[Riccardo]

Re: Yes there\'s a problem

I have been reading the advice about not rubbing teak with the grain, but on my deck the rubber is proud of the teak, and rubbing across the grain would be difficult - what does everyone else do in this situation?

Richard

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[tcm]

Re: Yes there\'s a problem

You can very gently, with fine sandpaper and with the grain, sand down the whole thing manually, with a backing block to ensure a flatter surface? Yup, you'll sand down the rubber/caulk, but will have a better surface. Then follow everyone else's advice re cleaning with sponges i spose

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[alanporter]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Points well taken.

<hr width=100% size=1>Alan Porter

 

[david_e]

Re: Shoe ban

Interesting, obviously on sailyboat shoes very necessary to keep stable and can't chuck kids over just yet so grim and bear it and nsure non marking wherever possible. But, is the lego deck on bennytoes the treadmaster type or is it called something else?

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[david_e]

Beneteau say....

...from the owners manual.

"Scrub the woodworks using water. The teak woodworks do not need any particular protection. If you just rub them down with fine sandpaper, it will renovate the look of the teak"

Shame the dealer decided to varnish my teak toe rails, they lasted about two minutes with peeps climbing on and off, another prob to sort.

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[tcm]

Re: Shoe ban, treadmaster

I beleive boat would easily warrant the a "no shoes down below" category. If it was 30+ metres insted of 30+ feet, then you have enough teak acreage to warrant a shoe ban. The lego deck isn't treadmaster - I think it is actually moulded into the deck itself? so you are all right there.

Treadmaster is the aftermarket nasty stick-on antislip stuff to be found on ageing river cruisers, usually light blue but sometimes beige. However, I saw a bit near the transom fitted by the factory on a brand new flybridge Sunseeker, gasp.

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[BrendanS]

Re: Beneteau say....

Yep,

rubbing with fine sandpaper takes both 'hard' and 'soft' down equally at the same time. Restores surface to flat. Not something you'd want to do too often though. You'd not T-cut paint on car weekly

Most people who have teak will agree not to scrub hard nor often, if at all.

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[Guest]

try www.rejuvanu.com

<hr width=100% size=1>robinwdunham