The Durability of oil versus varnish

[sebastiannr]

Hi there,

I'm building some seating slats for the cockpit out of iroko. I was thinking of simply giving them several coats of teak oil / Danish oil instead of varnishing as the finish is pretty nice and it would require less work maintaining than varnish.

My question is whether this would be durable enough for the marine environment or would the iroko deteriorate sooner rather than later?

Many thanks,

Seb.

 

[VicS]

For seat slats I would oil them or even not bother to do that. I think varnish is likely to be damaged and it only takes a little nick along an edge somewhere for water to get underneath.

While nothing looks better than well maintained varnish nothing looks worse that varnish that is lifting, has water stains under it or is too obviously touched up here and there.

 

[oldsaltoz]

It has taken me many years to replace ALL timber on deck or exposed to sunlight.

I now have more time to enjoy sailing and do far more important maintenance.

Have considered replacing the timber with other material?

Good luck.

 

[Tranona]

You can leave Iroko bare - it is very durable. Do not use "teak oil" as this invariably leaves a sticky residue which attracts dirt. You could use an oil such as Deks Olje D1 which supposedly soaks into the wood but in reality I think just evaporates leaving a small amount of solids, but this needs doing regularly and is very messy.

If you do want a "finish" that coats the wood and lasts well then use Sikkens Cetol which is a porous woodstain. Does not chip but slowly erodes. Lasts typically 5 years and is cheap and esy to apply.

 

[saltwater_gypsy]

Another vote for Cetol which is I think an Oil-varnish mix. Be sure to get the "Natural" finish as the "Teak" finish has rather a lot of pigment in it.

 

[elton]

Previous owner of my boat had varnished all the woodwork, and it did look great. But within 18 months it was peeling right left and centre, and looked absolutely terrible. To make matters worse, the bits that weren't peeling were almost impossible to remove.
I'd alway use oil on exterior woodwork, but it's going to take a long time to get it looking decent again.

 

[alahol2]

Bear in mind that the last thing you want on cockpit seats is a waterslide. You want something that allows the grain to remain or some other non-slip additive.

 

[Salty John]

I'd leave it bare. As a general rule I leave horizontal surfaces, especially if they are walked on, bare or oiled and vertical surfaces varnished or Cetol'ed.

Oil can cause streaking down adjacent surfaces as the oil and dirt are washed out. This is what happens with oiled decks and toerails - black streaks down the hull.

A good idea with teak decks is to varnish the edge plank all round the deck (up against the toerail) so that it allows water and dirt to drain away through the scuppers without contaminating this vulnerable area, and leave the majority of the deck bare. This can also work with hatches and cockpit seating but be careful not to varnish any areas that need to be non-skid.