Cetol Marine Lite - Cetol Satin Lite; Same thing?

[Max Treece]

I tried some Cetol Marine Lite on my rub rail of the CD25 and really like the looks of it; especially how well it seems to be holding up. Labor Day weekend, West Marine was running a special 2 for 1 of Cetol Satin Lite. Is this the same product as the cans that used to say Marine Lite? There was also a Satin Gloss. I'm not interested in making shiny teak but like the natural look of the Marine Lite. Well, the store was out of the product and had to back order.

With all the Cetol experts on this site, I would appreciate a little technical help.

Thanks in advance.



metreece@duke-energy.com

[Bonnie Gilmore]

We used Cetol Lite (3 coats) with a 4th coat of Cetol clear on top on our Hans Christian 43 (LOTS of teak!). We were very disappointed, and found it to wear as quickly as the varnished teak on our boat. Add that slops (come on, eveyone gets some slops!) are orange on while gelcoat, and that it never really looks like varnish, and we've decided to never use it again. If we still had our CD33, we'd go all varnish. There just isn't enough teak to make the job insurmountable, and varnish looks much, much better.

[Brian]

"and that it never really looks like varnish"

I don't think it's supposed to look like varnish. a lot of people prefer the natural look of oiled teak over the gloss of varnish. but for the amount of work cleaning and oiling through the season, Cetol is a compromise - a pretty natural look with greater durability. at least that's why we switched to Cetol 5 years ago.

Brian

[JimL]

I did #21 with 3-4 coats of satin, and loved the look of it. Within 2 months it was starting to bleach. Other sailors told me to put on the clear top coat for UV protection. I did 2 more coats of satin, then 2 coats of clear and it is holding up very well.

If you want to be neat, buy lots of the little 1/2" artist "square tip" brushes. Pour the cetol into a wide mouth, cardboard, throw-away resin cup, then set the cup in a large plastic dishpan. The small brushes make control easy, especially on the toe-rail and in tight areas. If you spill, have thinner and acetone ready for instant clean-up. With the artist brushes, and the "cup in a dishpan" I had no spills.

I think part of the success formula is cleaning the teak very thoroughly with Barkeepers Friend (a scouring powder with oxcalic acid). The teak was almost "new teak" colored after the sanding and cleanup! That was a nice starting point.

If you need my instructions for mounting the coaming boards without sealer, email and I'll send them (they're in Word with pictures).

Regards, JimL



leinfam@earthlink.net