Trojan Boat Forum

Hi all,

Last summers I took the outside teak wood trim and redid it. I first used a teak cleaner, then applied teak oil.
The wood is already gettiung dull and fading.

I would like to know if I can varnish the wood to help keep it looking good.

Thanks,

Larry

There are a hundred answers for this. I like to use Cetol, a common Marine finish. Some people like spar varnish. Others like to use teak oil on an ongoing basis.Just depends what to want. One piece of advice though.... As you probably know teak wood is a very oily wood which is what makes it so desirable for Marine applications. If you are going to use any type of finish other than teak oil the last step prior to application is wiping the teak down with acetone. This will draw out the surface oils, allowing the finish to penetrate the wood, and not peel prematurely. Good luck

Like Peter said, there are many answers to this question. I don't like sanding wood so I deal with the frequent oiling....my procedure is to clean the teak with tide powdered laundry soap with bleach. I mix it with water and clean the teak with a brush using this mixture, rinse, let dry and apply teak oil with a cheap throw away brush, let set about a half hour and wipe off excess. I do this about twice a year. My teak swim platform requires the most maintenance due to more sun and water exposure.......I have found that the process goes very good with a beer or two......just another pleasure of boating.......

I use varnish , some folks like Cetol as it holds up better . But I don't like the looks of it .

I sanded and painted all my trim with Cetol and am very happy with the results. It is supposed to hold up better than varnish. My swim platform was a mess, being half old varnish , many coats thick and half bare wood where the varnish had worn off. I love the look of varnished teak, but the prospect of refinishing it every year persuaded me to strip it to bare wood and paint it with a two part epoxy I got at West Marine. It has proven to be very durable, and should not need to be redone for 5 years or more. For traction, I sprinkled fine sand on while the first coat was wet, and applied the second coat over it. I think it looks good too. See these pics. Roy

Go here for larger pics.

http://s728.photobucket.com/albums/ww281/RottenRoy/

larglo wrote:Hi all,
Last summers I took the outside teak wood trim and redid it. I first used a teak cleaner, then applied teak oil.
The wood is already gettiung dull and fading.
I would like to know if I can varnish the wood to help keep it looking good.

You have to decide what you want it to look like. If you want the natural look of Teak then redo what you did and then just oil it once every 6 weeks or so. The oiling is quite light after the initial cure. regular oiling will keep it looking like natural teak.
Cetol light teak is quite good... though it does not really look like natural teak, some people prefer the look. Most just like the lack of maintenance.

You need to decide how you want the teak to look..... then use the process that fits that.

I use Cetol Light. A cheaper way to prep your teak is to wash it down with a 50/50 mixture of White Vineger and water. Vineger is a great all pupose cleanr, removes grease and oil.

i have the extra teak trim all around the cockpit and up the sides forward to the bow i think a trojan medallion version. read that somewhere. the previous owner used cetol and i have added cetol to it since i have owned the boat and i can say it does hold up very well and looks good, however i do really like the varnish look. i have kept the teak on my sailboat varnished and theres not a lot of it but i have thought about changing the cetol on the trojan to varnish. my trojan is in a covered slip so the varnish would last longer and i know about the upkeep once its on . i have read about the work involved in removing the cetol but since this is brought up have any of you removed cetol and how did you do this? any pointers? cant really decide which way to go but the varnished teak is very nice.

I use Cetol on my swim platform..it ears down over the course of the season. I sand it down to bare wood every spring and reapply the Cetol.

i'll throw in my .2 (which in today's econmy, is worth .00000002 )

when i bought my f 32 this last february, the wood had been done in varnish...not sure what brand, etc, but it was varnished. and as g3 can tell you, it was horrible. not sure how long it had been left to rot, so to speak, but it was fugly.

i elected to go with the natural teak look, so i had all of the wood...pulpit, rails, platform, etc. redone (paid someone to do it while i was in D.C. for work for a couple of weeks.). i got instant compliments on the wood from all of my dock-mates.

to upkeep the wood, i simply reapply oil to it about every month...more like once a week if it's out in the sun a lot, to keep it looking fresh.

others may say that's too much work, etc. but i don't mind, and even like it, because it gives me something to do when there's not a lot going on...AND i'll NEVER have to worry about that pesky sanding that the guys with varnish will have to go thru again eventually.

just my .00000002

I vanish mine ever 4-5 years. It lasts a long time and looks beautiful all the time.

About the difficulty removing cetol.

Two words.

It's not....

There is a soy based product, called Captain John's. Available at [please don't start] West Marine. It is a gel, water soluble, not at all stinky. You paint it on with a brush, let it sit for 15 or 20 minutes, and the finish bubbles right up. Use a paint scraper to gently scrape it off [ scrape is a much harsher description than it really is, peels right off]. Spray off with water, and you're done. [Ready for teak cleaner]. If the cetol is especially thick with multiple, multiple coats, may have to repeat the process once.

I refinished my teak swim platform, [among other projects] using this method, followed by cetol light and it looks absolutely fantastic.

I'm all over the CETOL new teak finish. It's easy to apply, dries to a nice finish (the older versions looked too orange for me), and is a breeze to maintain. I have used it on exterior and interior teak as well as swim platform. It dries to a mat finish which can be "glossed" with a gloss coat. There are three versions of CETOL, I think. Try the natural teak one (I think that's what it's called).

I go the oiling route....because my wife says so. She doesn't care for the cetol look. So I continue to perform my manly duties about every 3 or 4 weeks and it keeps her happy