teak deck treatments

[plockton18]

Has anyone experience of teak cleaners/brighteners? I'm thinking of using one of these on my teak decks, then applying something like Burgess woodsealer. Any comments greatly appreciated.

 

[ccscott49]

I have heard from good sources, the stuff from "Wessex chemicals" Is the dogs danglies! However I use my own mix and finish off with an oxalic acid wash, finished with loads of water.

 

[purplerobbie]

My decks leak quite bad so i'm going to use one of these to clean them
Then varnish them and then put colean (spelling?) over the top.

If you find a good one let me know

Rob

 

[ccscott49]

Dont varnish first, use the coelan primer (clear), two/three coats, then the coelan, much better. The coelan will stick much better to it's own formulated primer.

The clear primer is a touch yellow, so does for teak nicely.

 

[Ocean Hound]

Wessex Chemicals are excellent but do not last forever and you soon revert to the grey. The best treatment I have found is to get all the grime and algae out using a proprietory cleaner and then spray treat with MMS, a patio cleaner which keeps the deck clear of any algae forming for about 9 months. Then scrub, clean and spray again. It leaves the deck with an attractive blueish grey tint and no further maintenance. Keep away from bronze or chromed fittings though!

 

[ccscott49]

Attractive blueish grey tint?? What, like an old womans' hair?? Yuck!

 

[ajc]

Go to your local Chemist and buy a tub of Oxalic Acid, this is what all the proprietory cleaners have which is the element that does the job but much cheaper from the local chemist. You just mix with water and scrub into teak, then wash off. My boat spent 4 1/2 months under water, came up did this oiled it and looked like new!!!

 

[Dayspring]

Have just lightly hand-sanded my iroko decks (not dissimilar wood) and coated them in a mixture of linseed oil, stockholm tar and paraffin. They've ended up a beautiful colour and it lasts so you don't have grey decks. All the classic boats in scandinavia do this.

 

[joliette]

I've tried various expensive cleaners like Star brite (which contains oxalic acid, as I couldn't find a chemist that would sell oxalic acid crystals) and within a few months the deck is back to grey! So I now just salt scrub with buckets of sea water. It's good exercise, environmentally friendly, and the finish is pretty good. Whatever method you use make sure you scrub ACROSS the grain and not with it as this will erode your deck. I have no experience of applying Burgess but would not bother as I prefer the appearance of a natural salt scrubbed deck.

 

[colinroybarrett]

“Dayspring” A couple of questions please?

Does this concoction smell

Is it non-slip (particularly when wet)

How long has it lasted, (what does it look like now)

Ok more than a couple, but I’ve just sanded our teak deck and would appreciate knowing if it is worth trying to preserve the colour whilst I’ve got it.

 

[Dayspring]

It does smell as it goes on - but of stockholm tar, which as any true boaty appreciates is the most beautiful smell in the world! Now, it doesn't smell at all. I put it on a month ago and it is dark, but hasn't darkened much. I really like it and it's very good for the wood, makes it more stable and less prone to drying out (therefore less leaks!!). It's a bit slippery in the first few days, but now, no different to previous. I am told that the scandinavian boats keep coating their dacks and thereore the decks do darken, but with a quick sand before each coat, it shouldn'e do that I would think. only put one coat on at a time, but they prabably need redoing 2x a yr. Just a word on coelan from previous in the thread - I've got it on my hatches and even the less slippery coating is still pretty lethal!