Teak oil or varnish for exterior

craiglockwood

craiglockwood

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Just got a new boat and the exterior grab handles and tails are a very tired looking teak.

Once jet washed and cleaned, what are people using to finish?

I am assuming oil for exterior stuff which is exposed to UV and varnish for interior teak?
 
1. Never pressure wash teak, it’ll blast away the soft timber and permanently damage it, irrecoverable.
2. Teak oil is the work of the devil, I’d never use it on my boat. It turns teak black over time and, as above, ruins any teak surface.

Ideally clean with sea water. If a more powerful solution is needed there are various teak cleaning products available. After cleaning I’d simply use saltwater, gently brushed, to keep it clean. Others prefer to seal the surface with products such as Semco, not my choice though, I leave it natural. Teak just needs gentle cleaning with water, that’s it.
 
Lots of choice for external woodwork. Generally oil and other products that claim to "soak in" are a waste of time as they do not last long and need regular refreshing. The broad choice then is between porous woodstains or conventional varnishes. My personal preference is for woodstains and use International Woodskin because it is easy to apply once you have taken back to bare wood and lasts usually 2 or 3 years before a refresh. better on vertical surfaces so extra coat or 2 on horizontal is a good idea. Internal depends very much on what is on there currently but in general a good quality interior matt varnish such as Ronseal is fine.
 
It entirely depends on what look you want. You can get a varnished look with the right finish, or you could leave it to weather. If you want a glossy look you will have to prepare it and get it back to a natural wood colour first. My grab handles have been left alone apart from using an anti-mould application such as Patio Magic, with the result that they look clean and grey, or as I prefer to call it, silver. It might not do any harm to start off with such an application and see what you think of the result. You might be surprised at how much lighter the wood looks, even after one application, given a week or two to take effect. I hope you didn't pressure-wash the teak as this won't do it any good, though there should be enough thickness on the handles for this not to matter much.
 
I HATE silvered teak ..... UGH !!

I like to use a decking stain ... first is to wash with fresh water to remove all salt and crud. Next once dry is to lightly sand to get rid of the weathered hairy surface that is the silver / grey ....
To complete - you can brush or wipe the decking stain onto the wood ...
I like to do multiple coats as they saok in and provide anti-mould and UV resistance.

Using such a product means that it is easy to re-apply later ... plus you keep the grab handles etc suitably surfaced for GRIP ...

I use it on any surface that needs to maintain grip ... cockpit sole, side benches, cabin sole, grab rails, handles.

Where I do modify that - is washboards / hatches etc ... where I use the same stain - but then give final coat of clear varnish or furniture gloss.
 
Having been a fan of teak oil for years, I have given up. It takes a lot of work and looks good, but rapidly fades in direct sunlight, but lasts well in shaded areas. Eventually it looks tatty and dirty and the teak requires cleaning, brightening and oiled again. It is just not worth it as far as I am now concerned.

Internally I use a Ronseal Satin Varnish, clear, which darkens the prepared wood just enough for my taste. Next season I am moving to Le Tonkinois with matting agent for the washboards and teak trim outside, grab rails remain untreated except for cleaning with proprietary teak cleaner about every 2 to 3 years.

This summer I started boat washing with salt water, rather than the hose and freshwater, and mildew has just gone, when before it was an issue.
 
We have wooden hand rails on our boat, cleaned up and initially varnished about 18 years ago. To maintain the varnish I made acrylic covers for the handrails, using canvas from an old sprayhood etc. They do look scrappy and tired but the hand rails do look good when covers removed! Fitted to the rails with velcro in the hand holes. Only cleaned up & revarnished after 10 yrs.
 
This year for first time we met at SIBS the current man behind Seemco (Mark) a business of importing started by his parents -he sold us a reasonable priced cleaning kit (less vicious than Wessex who are with Starbrite main names in teak cleaners) anyway we have used Seemco for many years and if you can afford costs of a quart tin around 50 GBP then with just rails it lasts a couple of years application. Seemco have website with info etc. if you don’t like the idea of varnish type products it’s easy to apply . If in doubt as what to do maybe try out options on teak garden furniture . The great thing about semco is easy to renew each year on rails -just clean off old coat with washing powdere mixed in bowl of water with a little baby bottle cleaner/bleach product and rub with a green dish cleaning type pad from local poundstores
 
Tonkinoise with gelmat has been mentioned, I use alot of it on deck and below, but this winter I need to refresh the original satin varnish. Has anyone tried Le Tonk with the gelmat additive?. Hempel do a Dura satin Varnish anyone tried it? The trouble with most houshole varnishes are water based and I cannot get on with water based paints.
On deck I like the natural look on teak, wash with salt water to remove the dirt, I like the colour , it keeps changing depending how wet or dry it is.
David MH
 
davidmh said:
Tonkinoise with gelmat has been mentioned, I use alot of it on deck and below, but this winter I need to refresh the original satin varnish. Has anyone tried Le Tonk with the gelmat additive?. Hempel do a Dura satin Varnish anyone tried it? The trouble with most houshole varnishes are water based and I cannot get on with water based paints.
On deck I like the natural look on teak, wash with salt water to remove the dirt, I like the colour , it keeps changing depending how wet or dry it is.
David MH
Click to expand...
Yes, we’ve used LeTonk with gelmat additive, good results and easily applied. We mixed three different ratios of additive on a test piece then chose the level of matting effect that matched our requirement, very straightforward. Pleased with it.
 
craiglockwood said:
Just got a new boat and the exterior grab handles and tails are a very tired looking teak.

Once jet washed and cleaned, what are people using to finish?

I am assuming oil for exterior stuff which is exposed to UV and varnish for interior teak?
Click to expand...
I’ve used Boracol for many years. Wash it down with soapy water then apply Boracol. Clears all the algae and leaves a silver looking finish (which I like).
 
Sparrowhawk said:
I’ve used Boracol for many years. Wash it down with soapy water then apply Boracol. Clears all the algae and leaves a silver looking finish (which I like).
Click to expand...
From the name I'd expect this to contain borax, which I understood was now only available to Professional Polluters in the UK and Europe.

Last year I looked into this for a rush job temporary holding action on my newly acquired boat before I returned to Taiwan, and settled on a scrub with Fairy Liquid, then painting on antifreeze, scattering a lot of road salt around, and covering where possible.

It'll be interesting to see how its held up (or not). It was covered in lichen and moss and cleaned up much better than I expected, but the natural recyclers might have made a comeback by now.
 
On a classic wooden boat, I could see using varnish for authenticity, but not for lazy gits like me who prefer sailing to sanding.

I use le Tonkinois on any external woodwork on the boat - good, non-slip, gloss finish and, when it gets damaged, it doesn't lift like varnish. Just sand smooth and slap on a few coats. I had it on the cockpit locker lids on our last boat, and it was still good after several years.
 
...
ashtead said:
This year for first time we met at SIBS the current man behind Seemco (Mark) a business of importing started by his parents -he sold us a reasonable priced cleaning kit (less vicious than Wessex who are with Starbrite main names in teak cleaners) anyway we have used Seemco for many years and if you can afford costs of a quart tin around 50 GBP then with just rails it lasts a couple of years application. Seemco have website with info etc. if you don’t like the idea of varnish type products it’s easy to apply . If in doubt as what to do maybe try out options on teak garden furniture . The great thing about semco is easy to renew each year on rails -just clean off old coat with washing powdere mixed in bowl of water with a little baby bottle cleaner/bleach product and rub with a green dish cleaning type pad from local poundstores
Click to expand...
We get 6 weeks out of Semco if you are lucky in the tropics. It needs regular coats. We used to do our teak but now let the teak on the raised area infront of the cockpit go grey. We still use Semco in the cockpit as it is under the sprayhood/bimini. This last about 3 months.
 
Why not tung oil?

Vs. teak oil, it is more durable, more water resistant, and doesn't build up on the surface. It does potentially take about one more coat. I use it on wood working projects all the time. The only advantage of teak oil, as I see it, is that it contains a little varnish so that it can seal in fewer coats, but from all I read it does not last as long and can require stripping, so more work in the long run. It contains linseed oil as a cheaper filler material and typically costs more because people have been convinced it is "special."

I use tung oil.

A typical woodworking site quote:

Benefits of Using Tung Oil​


When comparing teak oil vs tung oil, many woodworkers prefer tung oil for its unique ability to enhance wood’s natural character. Tung oil penetrates deeply into wood fibers to create a water-resistant barrier that also allows the wood to breathe. This characteristic is particularly beneficial in preventing wood from cracking and warping, making it a superior choice for wooden items that are exposed to the elements or those that experience frequent changes in humidity.
 
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