| If you find your boat with gray and weathered | | | | one brand to another. |
| teak, you may use any of the variety of | | | | The only way to tell how much a particular finish |
| products that are recommended from Nauticaleze. | | | | will darken your teak is to try it on a small area, |
| You may also wish to clean it with | | | | or see what it looks like on someone else's boat. |
| Snappy-Teak-Nu. | | | | Most of these oils and sealers will oxidize and |
| If you apply a fresh coat of varnish or sealer as | | | | darken over time, so the color may change as |
| soon as the finish starts to dull or show signs of | | | | the finish ages. All of these oils and sealers are |
| wear and touch up nicks, your work will be very | | | | difficult to remove from fiberglass, gel coat and |
| easy and your profit margin sustainable. | | | | painted surfaces after they dry, so be very |
| You'll want to wear a nice set of protective | | | | careful to avoid runs, drips and smears when |
| gloves, long pants and a long sleeve shirt. Some | | | | applying them. Masking tape helps, but don't trust |
| of these products will have some strong acids in | | | | it too much. Some of the oils have such a low |
| them, which are used to de-clean the teak. | | | | viscosity that they will work their way under the |
| With a very stiff brush, do not use a wire brush, | | | | tape. In addition, many will soften the adhesive on |
| or try using bronze wool or stainless steel wool | | | | the tape. Your best protection is to wipe off |
| but not steel wool, begin usually with the step one | | | | smears and drips immediately. You can apply it |
| cleaner. Apply on a wet surface, the wet teak, | | | | with an inexpensive throw-away foam-type brush |
| scrub in thoroughly, rinse, and let dry for a couple | | | | or even a sponge mop or roller. There is never a |
| of minutes. | | | | worry about brush marks. If you really want to |
| You can either progress onto the last step after | | | | go fast use a long handled mop sponge. |
| letting this dry thoroughly usually taking several | | | | Another idea is to use a mixture of half |
| hours, or you may proceed to lighten the teak | | | | turpentine and half boiled linseed oil. Shake mixture |
| wood as some people like it with a step two | | | | well. Pour a small amount of this potion onto a rag |
| product which kind of bleaches the wood out. | | | | and rub back and forth in the direction of the |
| Basically it is the same as you do with step one. | | | | wood grain. If you put too much teak oil on, don't |
| You put it on a wet surface, scrub gently, rinse | | | | worry. Sprinkle on corn starch to absorb excess |
| and let dry. | | | | stain and oil. Allow to sit one hour and then dust |
| Teak must be extremely dry before applying any | | | | off. You'll find it shiny underneath. Teak oils and |
| of the teak oil. Putting oil on teak that is not | | | | sealers should be re-applied every six to eight |
| completely dry will result in splotchiness and an | | | | weeks. If you do not have a lot of experience in |
| uneven finish. Properly cleaned teak will be tan in | | | | revarnishing, you are advised not to recommend |
| color. If it is grey it isn't clean enough. Remember | | | | this as it requires a long learning curve and very |
| that teak will begin to oxidize within an hour or | | | | expensive products to do this and is very time |
| two so treat it right away. Before applying any | | | | consuming. |
| products to teak, make sure you know how the | | | | However, if you are good at working with wood |
| teak has been taken care of in the past. Be sure | | | | and you have the patience, please contact the |
| not to get any cleaners on adjacent surfaces | | | | home office for some of the procedures on how |
| such as fiberglass, polished metals or aluminum | | | | to do it and some of the recommended products. |
| moldings. If it is varnished or has been varnished | | | | As mentioned, unless you have gone through an |
| in the past, using the steps described previously | | | | extensive training program and have practiced a |
| will not work. | | | | lot on teak that is not on an actual boat, it is |
| Applying a teak oil or sealer is a lot easier than | | | | definitely not recommended that you try |
| applying varnish. There is no industry-wide | | | | varnishing and all the steps involved with it. The |
| standard that spells out the difference between a | | | | good news is that the marine industry is working |
| teak 'sealer' and a teak 'oil', so merely seeing | | | | currently on a system to radically reduce the time |
| these words in a product's name is not always an | | | | for reconditioning teak with a minimal of products. |
| accurate indicator of how one product differs | | | | This will be available soon. |
| from another. Both are penetrating finishes that | | | | When using the cleaning products on teak, always |
| are designed to soak in to the pores of the wood | | | | be careful to keep them away from the gel coat |
| and leave a matte finish. Broadly speaking, a teak | | | | and other striping as they sometimes can stain. |
| sealer is supposed to contain more solids than a | | | | Make sure you wet the area down when you are |
| teak oil, which leads some manufacturers to claim | | | | doing it and if you are ever going to redo teak, |
| that the sealer will require fewer coats or will last | | | | make sure that it's done as the first step before |
| longer. However, some products labeled teak | | | | you start on the rest of the boat. You may even |
| sealers do not last any longer than those that are | | | | wish to tape off an area with high grade masking |
| labeled as teak oils - and some oils actually may | | | | tape. That way by the time it dries, you are able |
| last longer than some sealers. | | | | to apply the teak oil or other coatings as a last |
| All tend to darken the wood somewhat, but the | | | | step. |
| amount of darkening will vary considerably from | | | | |