Cetol light

[John B]

I have the teak sanded.

My plan is to begin w/ cetol light because of the "orange issue".

I can then always recoat w/ the regular cetol later if I choose.

Any insight/comments?

John B
CD25 hull #410

[bhartley]

I have redone all of Miranda's teak with Cetol Light and I'm pretty satisfied. It isn't varnish -- and it doesn't look like varnish. I chose it for the low maintenance. My husband thinks it makes the wood look fake - even with the Light. I think it looks good.

That said, I would recommend using a Scotchbright pad to scuff the second to last coat for smoothness on larger pieces. I was not happy with the finish on my coamings. I gave them a good once over with a Scotchbright pad and an 4th coating of Cetol Light and the finish is much smoother and looks better.

We've gone with a compromise solution on our Sea Sprite's brightwork for this season with Semco Sealer - Natural. Teak oil just doesn't hold up with the Georgia sun and I couldn't sell my husband on the Epifanes Wood Gloss. She's in the water for 8 months and I want something that will hold up for most of the season without a lot of extra work.

Go for it! The 24 hour wait between coats does make it take a little longer than I would have liked, but I'm VERY impatient.

Bly

[Carl Thunberg]

My other sailboat is a Rhodes 18 (yes, that's 18, not 19) with mahogany brightwork. I refinished the brightwork with Cetol Light. I found I needed to apply it in VERY THIN coats. A thick layer will tend to skin over, leaving a thin film of un-cured Cetol underneath. Also, do not apply in cool temperatures. If you need to wear a sweatshirt, then it's too cool. Cetol will tend to bubble in cool weather. Unfortunately, living in New Hampshire, I found it hard to avoid cool weather during the normal spring and fall maintenance periods. Do not apply Cetol in your garage. I speak from experience on that one It needs UV light to cure. Can you tell I've already made all the mistakes? If someone else can benefit from my mistakes, then great!

Also, resist the temptation to put on more coats than the directions say on the can. The finish will not improve with additional coats and it starts to look muddy. Personally, I was not satisfied with the look of Cetol and I switched to Epifanes gloss varnish on my CD25. But that's just one man's experience. As Neil said, Cetol is an aesthetic compromise that let's you spend more time sailing. Good luck!

Carl

[Ed Haley]

After apply 3 coats of Cetol light, you could then put on a couple coats of Cetol Gloss if you desire. Then, annual touchups using the gloss would not "muddy" up the appearance. Only where the entire Cetol finish is removed, such as near wnches or on the toerail, would you have to use Cetol Light again.

To avoid bubbles, wipe the bare wood with acetone and let dry before you apply Cetol. And, as has been said, do it while it's warm and warming up on days when the barometer doesn't drop. These things affect to finish somewhat.

[Joe Myerson]

When I bought my boat, the teak was in such bad shape that I had the yard sand it down and apply 3 coats of Cetol.

They put down one coat of regular Cetol (the orange stuff that stirs up so much emotion on this board), followed by two coats of Cetol light.

Now, all I do is wash the old coat of Cetol in mild soap and water, rough it up with a 3M pad and apply a new coat of Cetol light at the beginning of the season.

Last year, I was working on my exterior teak right next to the yard crew, who were finishing the teak on an impressive looking yacht. The trim looked really good.

The guys on the crew said they had put down one coat of regular Cetol, two coats of Cetol light, and a final coat of Cetol gloss. They told me they planned to reapply gloss each year thereafter.

No, it didn't look like varnish--but it was darn close.

Anyway, that's my two cents' worth.

--Joe

[Joe Montana]

I've had cetol (light) on my teak for several years and I'm happy with it. Last year I didn't apply any new coats, and this year I see some small spots that have worn through because of chafe or little "dings." In these areas, the bare teak shows through and has weathered a little. I've sanded down to bare wood in these areas, and now I'm afraid these areas will remain lighter than surrounding areas when I'm finished applying new coats. How have others dealt with this? Any thoughts on how I can get it to blend in?

[Carl Thunberg]

Antares,

One thing Cetol has going for it is it's very forgiving. It's not like varnish. You can touch up bare spots without having to sand the entire piece down to bare wood. Just use the same products you used the first time. If you started with Cetol light, use it again and then top-coat with the gloss. It'll be fine.

Carl

[Joe Montana]

Carl, I was just about to sand everything down again, so by encouraging touch ups you saved me a big job. Not just that, but 99.9% looks fine, so it seemed a shame to remove all those old protective coats. I'll try touching up, then finishing with a coat or two overall. I've been the varnish route on bigger boats with lots of teak. Nothing beats a good varnish job, but Cetol is a godsend for me at this point.

[John B]

Well she is done and I am quite satisfied. The boat looks 100% better. I threw on some bottom paint and stepped the mast today. A gleaming new c&c 99 was almost directly behind me which worried me a bit as I was still a "virgin mast stepper." Im happy to say that the mast went up like a hot knife through butter. Next is splash down!

Thanks for your advice re cetol. I would now recommend it.

Our original plan was to name our vessel "adoryble" however after a discussion with my wife and a listen to our old favorite Janes Addiction cassette....we have decided on the name "Classic Girl"

Be safe

[Michael Abramson]

Hi John,

I'm also interested in doing Cetol light. You don't say how many coats you used, techniques that worked well, etc. Also, do you have some pictures of before and after you could post? Then the rest of us could assess how close it comes to the look of varnish, final color, etc. That would be a big help.

Thanks.

Michael

[Brandon]

After following this post I am curious about this cetol thing. Without being rude I have to say that I'm not a big fan of the Cetol jobs I have seen, which isn't many. To throw in my two cents worth I don't think that people should be so afraid of using varnish. There are some great books out there that describe technique. The cap rails on the boat I'm mate on just recieved it's final coat of 16 coats! Now I know that is alot, and it was alot of work, but on a small sailboat with minimal teak trim you only need 6 coats, and if you sand down a layer every 6-8 months and put one more layer on you'll be good for another 6 months, and so on. I don't use Epiphanes though. I prefer Awlbrite. Start of with a couple of coats of Awlspar then four coats of awlbrite and you will have beautifully shinning teak. Great color and all. The intimidation factor is usually there because of all of the different factors involved. Temperature, Humidity, wind, sun, dust, drips and sags ect... If you get proper intructions on it, and are patient, you can really end up with a professional look in two weekends worth of work.

With all of that said, I've never used Cetol. Maybe it's just that much easier. I really enjoy varnishing though. Very rewarding.

Here is the name of a great book I recommend:

"Sailboat refinishing" by Don Casey published by Mcgraw Hill.

This book goes over many things in detail and gives the properties of almost all chemical you will ever need on a boat.

Thanks![/b]

[Clay Stalker]

Brenno:

It's not so much that folks are afraid of using varnish. And I agree with those who say that applying varnish is just as easy as applying Cetol...I have used both. It's just that as nice as varnish looks when applied, that nice look only lasts a short time before dullness sets in. And when nicked, varnish requires real diligence or the whole thing has to come off. If I only had a little brightwork to deal with, varnish would be the one. But with the acres of teak that cover my boat, Cetol has been a good alternative....not as nice looking as varnish, but much more durable and forgiving....and I still get compliments on the condition of my brightwork, and I don't work too hard at it to boot.

Clay Stalker

[Michael Abramson]

The forgiving quality of Cetol is certainly one of the appeals, and hence the inquiry. My boat lists slightly to starboard, and after rain, water always pools against the starboard toerail. Varnish would lift quickly and involves too much work to redo in order to repair a small discolored or lifted spot. So I think there are good reasons to investigate a more flexible option that gives 90% of the results of varnish.

[Oswego John]

Hi Michael,

Some owners drill limber holes at the lowest point of the toe rail where the water pools up. This allows the collected water to run off.

O J

[drysuit2]

When my father made the choice to use Cetol a few years back, I hated it. [prior to that we would use oil]. I had seen other boats with Cetol, and the orange tint really tuned me off. But, now after a few seasons I love Cetol. Here’s why.

I use Cetol light, with Cetol gloss over it. The first time I used 2 coats of each. But now I just use one of each. I only have to do this once a season. I scuff up the teak with a scotchbrite pad. If there are any bad scrapes I’ll LIGHTLY sand them. I apply one coat of Cetol light, followed by one coat of gloss a few hours later. THAT’S IT. I don’t have the time to apply 9 coats of anything. Let alone something I have to sand in between coats.
Cetol is very forgiving. It breathes, so moisture is less of a problem. Plus you can touch up spots with out all the sanding. It