teak deck cleaning with saltwater

[ralf1]

Hi all,
heres the problem my boats on freshwater,ive used the chemical cleaners but have to say i prefer the grey look,now if i wash with river or tap water it goes green so would dishwasher salt do the job or something like that,there has to be some trick of the trade.......? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[rich]

Take it out to sea /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[ccscott49]

You can use garden centre moss killer, in the water, thats what I did in Holland, works really well. Its available clear. Decks stay clean and nowt will grow on them.

 

[jerryat]

The crews on the large yachts (motor and sail) in the Med. and Caribbean wash the teak decks down with salt water morning and evening. The salt crystals, being hygroscopic, attract moisture and help stablilise thermal movement. Keeps 'em remarkably clean too!

When cruising in those places (and even in this country) we do exactly the same and never see and algae or the like.

 

[ChrisE]

Erm, moss kllier in freshwater, really? A bit dodgy for the fish and varment, n'est-pas.

 

[LittleShip]

When I left my boat out in the winter months I put a large container of sea salt on the deck so that any rain water will slowly dissolve it and it will flow down the deck. This helps prevent the green growth we find in the winter months. It will work just as well in the summer months.

I cheat these days and put my boat in a shed............ not the best for an old woodie but it's better than not working on her until spring!

You can buy salt in large bags anywhere that they sell Koi carp!

Tom

 

[Alfie168]

On the good ship Bark Endeavour we scrubbed sea water into the decks every day, being mindful to scrub across the grain otherwise you eventually gouge channels in the wood.

As for putting chemicals into fresh water...I dunno, but I'm not keen. Keeping my boat on Rutland Water does tend to make you more thoughtful about contamination. Even so there was quite a big fish"kill" on Rutland in June, I sailed past some large and very dead fish. They looked in good nick, so whatever killed them did them in quite suddenly.

Tim

 

[ccscott49]

Doesnt seem to kill any of the garden plants etc when I used it on my fence, or lawn.
But I washed the decks with water, then sprayed the moss killer on the deck, it then dried, I suppose the rain would wash some off, but it didnt need treating again all year, so maybe it's not washing off into the water. Or not too much anyway.

 

[Chris_Robb]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi all,
heres the problem my boats on freshwater,ive used the chemical cleaners but have to say i prefer the grey look,now if i wash with river or tap water it goes green so would dishwasher salt do the job or something like that,there has to be some trick of the trade.......? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Being mindfull of not scrubbing away the precious teak, I use a mould and moss killer called MMC available at most garden centres. I use it at the start of the season, and spray it on with a garden spray in settled fine weather, and LEAVE it - do not wash it off. After a week, there may be a lot of brown around, which will be washed off by the rain. The deck then goes a clean grey colour and needs no cleaning whatso ever, other than chucking buckets of seawater over them.

I your case you may need to apply MMC twice a year if the green starts reappearing mid season as you only have fresh water. I am now into the second year of using it, and after last winter, there was very little green on the deck.

 

[alant]

Not sure if teak affected by salt water.
Mahogany certainly is - will rot badly if rainwater collects on it, but ok in salt.

Dishwasher powder is probably best to use to clean green stuff etc off teak.