Teak Question

Thepipdoc

Thepipdoc

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Just had all of the teak sanded and it looks great. It has not being treated with anything, it's just bare teak.
I want to keep it looking great - the question is should I leave it bare and occasionally use one of the two part cleaners (is Wessex any good?), or should I do nothing other than occasionally wash it with soapy water?
I previosly dropped a clanger on a previous boat and used a sealer! I now realise that this is not the best thing to do because it turned very dark, very quickly?
I want to try and maintain a "honey" shade.
 
It sure looks good when it's like that! My sailing boat has a teak deck and I've found the best way to keep it looking good is to give it a regular salt water scrub, across the grain of the wood. It's hard work, but the salt water is free, whereas teak cleaners are not!
 
If you want to retain the honey colour then I''d look at using Semco. Have seen some excellent results on other boats. Have a tin that I'll be using this spring on our rails.
 
+1 for Semco. I put it on clean teak this time last year and it's still looking like sanded teak now. I've also read on hear that there's a Starbrite product (TeakWonder???) that's pretty much the same as Semco but quite a bit cheaper.
 
npf1 said:
+1 for Semco. I put it on clean teak this time last year and it's still looking like sanded teak now. I've also read on hear that there's a Starbrite product (TeakWonder???) that's pretty much the same as Semco but quite a bit cheaper.
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I previously used both of the above products. Teak Wonder was good but for some reason that I can't remember I thought I wouldn't use it again! Star Brite wasn't that good either.
 
If you have teak veneer you dont want to sand it ever again or over wash it as you are removing teak each time,

My teak has gone through to the glory of plywood in one area and I am putting off replacing the whole lot.

The killer is green slime that lives on your deck and eats it all be slowly.

I use a algae and fungicide Boracol.

Clean teak as normal not brushing along grain, give it two coats the another every 6 months.

My deck is rarely washed ( twice a year) plus localy bird**** marks and grease etc.

It stays clean, completely free of green slime even in damp areas where water lies until it dries off and is a light silver colour.

Boracol is clear and you cant see it has been applied once dried, feel it ir smell it, just no slime and less annual damage to deck.
 
Thepipdoc said:
Just had all of the teak sanded and it looks great. It has not being treated with anything, it's just bare teak.
I want to keep it looking great - the question is should I leave it bare and occasionally use one of the two part cleaners (is Wessex any good?), or should I do nothing other than occasionally wash it with soapy water?
I previosly dropped a clanger on a previous boat and used a sealer! I now realise that this is not the best thing to do because it turned very dark, very quickly?
I want to try and maintain a "honey" shade.
Click to expand...
What is "outside" will turn silver quite quickly- basically the swim platform. So be it.
"Inside" should stay honey coloured most of the season. Salt water, or mild soap seem popular for a quick tidy up. I find once a season wessex two pack is enough to keep it honey.
Incidentally, oxalic acid is a "lightener" and availbale in powder form off ebay for peanuts. With the two pack products, the first is the cleaner. If you dont need to clean the teak, there is a cheap alternative.
Someone has said on here that a quick tab of white spirit is good for those peanut and crisps greasy blobs.
 
Sorry, just to be clear, it’s the Semco sealer I’m referring to, not the two part cleaner (which, BTW, appears to be identical to the Wessex).

The sealer very easily applied by wiping it on using a sponge or similar – it’s got the consistency of water and it is not like a varnish or oil at all – took me about two hours to do over 100ft of capping rail that was approx 8” in total width. The first time you do it, the wood soaks up quite a lot of Semco and I did two coat per the instructions. A further coat, every six months is what the instructions recommend.

When it’s done, the teak still has the matt sanded look but does look ever so slightly powdery. But the bit I liked best is that more than six months later, my teak still looked the same, apart from a couple of areas where the fender lines had rubbed off the semco. Also, as the Semco is a temporary coating, if you decide you don’t want to use it anymore, it’s probably all gone within a year.
 
npf1 said:
Sorry, just to be clear, it’s the Semco sealer I’m referring to, not the two part cleaner (which, BTW, appears to be identical to the Wessex).

The sealer very easily applied by wiping it on using a sponge or similar – it’s got the consistency of water and it is not like a varnish or oil at all – took me about two hours to do over 100ft of capping rail that was approx 8” in total width. The first time you do it, the wood soaks up quite a lot of Semco and I did two coat per the instructions. A further coat, every six months is what the instructions recommend.

When it’s done, the teak still has the matt sanded look but does look ever so slightly powdery. But the bit I liked best is that more than six months later, my teak still looked the same, apart from a couple of areas where the fender lines had rubbed off the semco. Also, as the Semco is a temporary coating, if you decide you don’t want to use it anymore, it’s probably all gone within a year.
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Thanks for this - So it doesn't darken?
 
Correct. It doesn't darken. Not too sure where you are but if you want to pop down to see my boat you are very welcome - it's on the river hamble.
 
Thepipdoc said:
Just had all of the teak sanded and it looks great. It has not being treated with anything, it's just bare teak.
I want to keep it looking great - the question is should I leave it bare and occasionally use one of the two part cleaners (is Wessex any good?), or should I do nothing other than occasionally wash it with soapy water?
I previosly dropped a clanger on a previous boat and used a sealer! I now realise that this is not the best thing to do because it turned very dark, very quickly?
I want to try and maintain a "honey" shade.
Click to expand...

Can recommend Wessex two part system, would NEVER recommend using anything harsher than a sponge, never brush it, unless you want to ruin the teak.
If you search here for previous post you will find most recommend the same.
My deck is teak, that all i use is a sponge as most severe tool, my toerails are also teak, I took them back to the wood a couple of years ago, removed all the old varnish, and used 2 coats of SIKKENS oil not the water based, all I do now is wash them down with soapy water and annually apply another coat, it looks good and is UV resistant, I am in the Med so lots of that.
 
longjohnsilver said:
If you want to retain the honey colour then I''d look at using Semco. Have seen some excellent results on other boats. Have a tin that I'll be using this spring on our rails.
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Semco works great in the UK but is useless in the hot Med sun unless you are prepared to reapply every 2 weeks.

I talk from experience and no longer apply any treatment to the teak.
 
I'm always amazed at the variety of answers on this. IMHO (!) there is only one answer, which is that the teak must be kept honey/straw brown and not allowed to go grey, and it should be cleaned with fresh water and soap often (every few days when the boat is in use) and two-parted every once in a while (couple of months praps, but it depends on weather, and tcm's instructions are among the best available) and sanded every couple of years. No oils or other treatments. You can of course do whatever you want but you wont find any other regime used on a modern superyacht
 
jfm said:
I'm always amazed at the variety of answers on this. IMHO (!) there is only one answer, which is that the teak must be kept honey/straw brown and not allowed to go grey, and it should be cleaned with fresh water and soap often (every few days when the boat is in use) and two-parted every once in a while (couple of months praps, but it depends on weather, and tcm's instructions are among the best available) and sanded every couple of years. No oils or other treatments. You can of course do whatever you want but you wont find any other regime used on a modern superyacht
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+1. Not difficult either. I did mine with two-part the weekend before last; will do it again in mid summer and mebbe again in October-ish. In between I will prolly swoosh a bit of water about and stand leaning on a broom pretending to be busy every now and again.
 
jfm said:
I'm always amazed at the variety of answers on this. IMHO (!) there is only one answer, which is that the teak must be kept honey/straw brown and not allowed to go grey, and it should be cleaned with fresh water and soap often (every few days when the boat is in use) and two-parted every once in a while (couple of months praps, but it depends on weather, and tcm's instructions are among the best available) and sanded every couple of years. No oils or other treatments. You can of course do whatever you want but you wont find any other regime used on a modern superyacht
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Sorry for the dumb question, but what exactly do you refer to when you say "two parted".

Thanks

Graham
 
GSL said:
Sorry for the dumb question, but what exactly do you refer to when you say "two parted".

Thanks

Graham
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The cleaning products are in two bottles: Basically you apply the part 1 product to clean the dirt out of the teak and then rinse it off and then apply the part 2 product to brighten it and then rinse that off.

With the Wessex two-parter, one bottle has red liquid and the other has green liquid which is rather nice, albeit not much help if you forget which one is which and apply the wrong one first. One stings a bit if you get it into any area of broken skin. Not sure which one, but imagine its the part 2 which, I think, is basically oxalic acid.
 
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