Teak Decks - Cleaning

Teak will always go silver grey if not treated. oxalic acid is good and cheap, but its a question of what you want your deck to look like. If you are expecting that initial colour to be maintained, you need to seal the deck - but that is creating a problem for later on. Some people treat it with Coelan, and it looks fabulous, but the longer term work will stilll mount up, others use some form of seal (I think there is a version from the states that works quite well, and others let it go silver grey.

Whatever you do, dont use a pressure washer to clean it. It will remove softer elements in the wood and cause dirt trapping hollows, and will led to rapid wear.
 
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Teak will always go silver grey if not treated. oxalic acid is good and cheap, but its a question of what you want your deck to look like. If you are expecting that initial colour to be maintained, you need to seal the deck - but that is creating a problem for later on. Some people treat it with Coelan, and it looks fabulous, but the longer term work will stilll mount up, others use some form of seal (I think there is a version from the states that works quite well, and others let it go silver grey.


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I'm probably going to cover mine with coelan but i was wondering what problems i'm going to store up for myself?
What is this stuff from the states?
I need to cover mine with something because they leak and it's driving me mad but what?
Rob
 
If you brush the decks you are going to have to replace them again sooner or later - at vast cost. I have not scrubbed my decks for 2 years - just us a mold killer. I spray it on once at the start of the season and once at the end then leave. Any green initially on the decks just disappeared. Now it seems to be maintenance - or prevention. The decks stay a silver colour rather than trying to get that new teak look.

I think the coelan finished teak looks horrible and artificial.

This is the stuff I use.
http://www.brintonproducts.co.uk/framedset.htm
 
If they leak, then I have heard that Coelan is the best answer, but have no personal experience. I have seen a beautiful yacht that was finished in coelan, but I have also had adverse comments from a shipyard - possibly all down the the expertise of application. I also believe that for decks, you would need to add something to provide a better grip.
 
Fresh water, a stiff brush and a bit of elbow grease is the best solution I have found. Tried most of the potions and coatings and most of them have side effects and increase the maintenance burden. A good scrub will get the ingrained grot out and the deck will dry to a splendid honey colour. As advised elsewhere, don't be tempted by a pressure washer, just scrub and rinse and allow to dry. Getting down and dirty with your deck also allows you to spot any future problems such as loose plugs or caulking flaws. The same treatment works well for the rest of the teak on the boat. In the Med or hotter, varnish takes a real beating. Unless you are a maintenance junkie and have lots of time, keep it simple.
 
No, no, no...

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Fresh water, a stiff brush and a bit of elbow grease is the best solution I have found. Tried most of the potions and coatings and most of them have side effects and increase the maintenance burden. A good scrub will get the ingrained grot out and the deck will dry to a splendid honey colour.

[/ QUOTE ]Don't ever scrub teak decks - all the soft grain will be removed, leaving them ridged and encouraging algae and mould. Any cleaning should be across the grain, using nothing more vicious than a plastic cleaning pad. Incidentally, I notice from your blog that your boat doesn't have teak decks.
 
Getting rid of mould...

There are various cleaners available, many of which include oxalic acid. Whatever you use, be as gentle as possible to avoid damaging the teak. Don't ever use a scrubbing brush or a pressure washer! Slightly abrasive plastic cleaning pads can be used (Scotchbrite, etc), but always across the grain.

To keep mould and algae away, treat the decks with a good timber preservative. Boracol is very good. Much of the "dirt" on teak decks is actually tiny spots of mould, so treating with preservative will have the added benefit that the decks will appear to stay clean longer.
 
Various proprietary teak cleaners from Wessex chemicals 2 part (very good) to oxyalic acid all seem to work - I then treat the decks with a brick/patio cleaner such as MMC which kills off all the mould and algae and keeps working for around 9 months, but keep away from bronze/chromed fittings. This will leave the decks a light green/blue/grey. T o finish off a mixture of Stockholm tar, boiled linseed oil and paraffin brings back and retains the colour. The latter is/was used extensively in the Baltic, as for the Tropics.....
 
Someone recommended poycell 3 in 1 mould cleaner from B&Q or Focus in a previous post. Apparently it has the same acitive ingredient as the stuff Hallberg Rassy recommend. I've been using it twice a year for the last couple of years with good results. No green mould and no need to scrub. Personally I think the silvery grey look is the real beauty of teak decks.

Colin
 
Polycell...

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Someone recommended poycell 3 in 1 mould cleaner from B&Q or Focus in a previous post.

[/ QUOTE ]Yes, that was me - I've been recommending it here for several years. I use it on my deck, sprayhood and wheel cover. It's more dilute than Boracol 10, but works fine. Takes about 2 litres to do the deck of my 35-footer.
 
I've tried different products. Deks olje, teak oils, sealers, coatings and more over the years. In the tropics I found nothing really worked for very long - had to keep re-treating and eventually so much built up it needed removing.

Now in the UK I have nice newish decks and I treat them with salt water and a soft brush across the grain every now and then. Once a season I dilute (10% ish) bleach in a bucket brush this on the decks then wash off gently with fresh water to re-move any 'GREEN'.

My decks are a silver grey colour as a reslt but I've never found any way of keeping them 'an new' that lasts.

Never scrub teak - you will remove the soft part of the grain and leave the rest proud. This will lead the need to replace them sooner.

Are your planks solid teak? I've seen teak veneer shrink then fall off in the tropics if it gets dried out - in this case you need to use some form of oil based protection, every few years clean off the residue and start again.
 
Re: No, no, no...

So we haven't got teak decks. Sensible huh! We do have some substantial chunks of the stuff around the boat : rubbing strakes, grabrails and some heavyweight gratings, I have also spent quite a bit of time on boats that are teak decked, perhaps you might consider that experience enough to to allow me to comment? However, you are quite right about the crossgrain scrub, I should have included it. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
Re: No, no, no...

We use Brinton Products mould and algea killer (see Chris_Robb above) once a year, and then just lots of fresh or salt water with a soft mop/brush. Beautiful silver finish, hardly any wear whatsoever, since 2003. Beautiful.

I cringe when I see people sanding their teak and using harsh cleaners to bring back that teak colour. Poor teak. rather like endless face lifts, one after the other! However, horses for courses, and it depends whether you want the silver look, or the original look.
 
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