Suggestions for problems with unvarnished, exterior teak

[Richmond]

Hi everyone,

The teak on my boat is unvarnished and has gone gray. It's been getting a bit dirty of late with black spots, dirt, or stains here and there, so I decided I would clean it. I used a solution of liquid detergent, bleach, and TSP (accidentally used about 3-4 times more TSP than I should have) and started just with the coamings. I scrubbed lightly with the abrasive side of a scotch brite. Problem is after I finished, the teak looks worse than when I started. It's not pure gray anymore but has some stains of varying intensity (maybe due to the excess TSP), and it's sort of a brownish/gray (one or the other is okay but the combination looks bad). Even worse, I think I was scrubbing it wrong since it looks like I wore quite a few more grooves in the wood than were there when I started, which don't look good. Wish I could undo what I did here. What was recommended to me was to try and sand the wood smooth, before I try and clean it again. Any suggestions on how I go about doing this? The teak is already worn down from it being a 30 year old boat and I'm worried that sanding too much or incorrectly will leave me with no teak left. Once I sand it, can I just let it be and have it go gray again? I like the gray color and just wanted to clean the dirt, not remove the gray. Or am I in too deep now and better off trying to clean it again after I sand it, and then finish with teak oil? I also read that it seems I was scrubbing wrong because I should have been scrubbing across the grain rather than with the grain (what I was doing) to avoid creating the grooves.

[Dick Kobayashi]

I have a 1983 CD 25D which has never had varnish on the teak - This is an advantage. The teak doesn't need varnish (owners do). I only clean the parts that pick up green mold/mildew and these portions I clean gently with a tooth brush or nail brush and a solution of dish soap and clorox (not too much). I make this effort once a year and spend a maximum time of 90 minutes.

Summertime's direct sun will mitigate the black in the grain mildew.

John Vigor's advice on teak is priceless. He has words to the effect of ---the only time to clean the teak is when you are going to sell the boat.

I have one exception - each year I clean the hatch boards with a brush and detergent solution and coat heavily in a WM teak oil product - and repeat the oil in mid season. It keeps them fair looking through the summer and the effort takes about 20 - 30 minutes.

Essential Advice. Stop cleaning teak

[swhfire21]

I spent what seemed like an eternity stripping, cleaning/prepping and varnishing the rub/toe rails on a TY last winter (plus I had to take two days off from work to access decent weather). I'm now following Dick's lead on teak care for the most part and am not going back to varnish ever again (I don't care how good it looks, its just way too much work/time for me).

The last owner of our new acquisition let the varnish on everything go to hell, which was a god send. It made stripping it very easy. I used a painter's scraper and a heat gun, no sanding. I also used a cleaner and brightener on this go around as the stuff was pretty icky looking (technical term). I finished with a coating of teak oil and plan on leaving it be for the season now. Stripping, cleaning and oiling was basically done in a day and the weather just needed to be good enough to make for a comfortable day outdoors.

I lightly sanded the coaming boards, but only enough to get them to match the sanded area around the 3' long split I repaired (there would have been no sanding otherwise). There is still a little varnish in the grain here and there, but mother nature can take care of it.

[M. R. Bober]

If there is one thing the posters on this board know about/ask about, it's teak. Probably the only thing that I don't remember seeing is recipes for southern fried teak. That being said, whether to varnish--and that includes Cetol--or not, is a personal decision that can change as the seasons pass.

To answer the question of how to clean teak is less subjective. IMHO. Avoid two part cleaners. They etch away the softer portions, which raises the grain. I have had the painful experience of grabbing a hand rail that felt like a bunch of razor blades. I generally use a mixture of bleach, liquid detergent, and a pinch of Comet cleanser (to add a bit of abrasive). I wet the teak and then use a scrub brush to work the mixture into the wood, then rinse. If discoloration is still visible, I redo the process. Then varnish with whatever, or don't.

Mitchell Bober
Sunny Lancaster, (Where when we want to make varnish vanish, we remove the "r.") VA

[Richmond]

Thanks guys. I hadn't been doing anything to the teak figuring it would just take care of itself. This worked fine until just recently when the teak started showing stains and was turning a little black. It definitely looks worse after my first attempt at cleaning it but what I think I'll try is cleaning it again with detergent and seeing what happens. Then to deal with the grooves that I wore in the wood by scrubbing with the grain rather than across the grain, I'll try a bit of sanding, not too much. We'll see how it goes.

[Oswego John]

A friend, who at the time a few years back was the owner of a larger Cape Dory, gave me a tip on how he cleans wood on his boat.

The magic elixir is called Bar Keepers Friend.

O J

[Jim Davis]

On my boat (not a CD) I have teak decks. For cleaning them I use a mild solution of dish washing soap and some Oxy Clean. I wet the deck and gently brush the mixture on with a very soft scrub brush. After about five minutes I give it one more light brushing and rinse it off. This keeps the decks sorta a light grayish color. I have also had good results using the stuff you clean the siding on a house. Only use gentle pressure with the brush and hose.

The cap rails and all the other exposed teak is varnished.

[swhfire21]

As a follow up, now that the teak is mold/ick free I don't plan on using the cleaner/brightener again. Plans are to stick with soap and a touch of bleach for now on and an annual oiling.

[tartansailor]

A friend, who at the time a few years back was the owner of a larger Cape Dory, gave me a tip on how he cleans wood on his boat.

The magic elixir is called Bar Keepers Friend.

O J

That's my go to regimen if we're not going to varnish.
Reason being is that oxalic acid in Bar Keepers Friend
leaves a more uniform coloration than bleach.
dick