Interior teak

How do you clean or treat your interior teak?

Varnished interior teak, Lena uses Murphy's Soap as per the directions.


Murphy Oil Soap - Natural Wood Cleaner for Floors & Furniture

Larry M said:

Varnished interior teak, Lena uses Murphy's Soap as per the directions.


Murphy Oil Soap - Natural Wood Cleaner for Floors & Furniture

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We use the same thing on varnished mahogany and at home on varnished white oak floors and cabinets . Sometimes Joy also uses diluted vinegar .

Does the Murphy soak into the wood and ruin the varnish?

I stop using natural varnish on interior teak years ago. Since then I use a one part interior poly on all the interior wood including the floors.

Very easy to work with, fast drying, you can add coats without sanding between all costs and they are far more resistant to water and alcohol than natural interior varnishes. And they are relatively inexpensive.

Capt.Bill11 said:

I stop using natural varnish on interior teak years ago. Since then I use a one part interior poly on all the interior wood including the floors.

Very easy to work with, fast drying, you can add coats without sanding between all costs and they are far more resistant to water and alcohol than natural interior varnishes. And they are relatively inexpensive.

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Brand and/or link?

While the inside teak on our boat is varnished, when we redo pieces we now use a product called Daly's Seafin AquaSpar. It's a one part, water-based, satin finish polyurethane and it's amazingly tough as well as very good looking.

Our first test of it was when we refinished the step inside the main cabin door. Every human and dog entering or leaving the cabin steps on this step. We put on eight coats IIRC, about six or seven years ago I think-- maybe more-- and today the step still looks like it did when we re-installed it.

Based on our test with the step, when we get around to refinishing the main cabin floor, this what is we'll use.

Iirc?????

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

Iirc?????

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"If I recall" typically

IIRC= If I Remember Correctly

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

Brand and/or link?

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Varathane, Deft, Minwax, Zar. I've had good results with all of these. I like the oil based ones. I tried the water based ones when they first started coming out years ago and I wasn't happy with the results. But water based finishes have come a long way since then. So things may have changed.

FWIW, the description of the AquaSpar product calls it a "waterborne polyurethane," not "water based." I have no idea if there is a difference.

Damn! My TMA was startin' to kick in there.

Marty.....................

Marin said:

FWIW, the description of the AquaSpar product calls it a "waterborne polyurethane," not "water based." I have no idea if there is a difference.

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Can you wash your brushes out with water after you use them with it?

Waterborne sounds the same as water based to me.

But as I said, water based/borne finishes have come a long way in the last 10 years or so.

Here is some information I found on the differences between the two.


"Both water based and oil based poly offer good protection; the biggest difference is in appearance. If you love the natural look of maple, apply a water-based (waterborne) polyurethane. They appear milky in the can, but go on clear and remain clear. They'll slightly accent the character of your wood without giving it the amber tint of an oil-based poly. (However, some woods, like the oak shown, cry out for that amber tint.) Water-based finishes dry fast—most within two hours—so you can apply several coats in a day and use the room that night. They have minimal odor and clean up with water too.

But water-based polys have their tradeoffs. They cost twice as much as oil-based polys. They won't give wood the rich glow that oil-based polys impart; some even consider them cold looking. When I applied waterborne poly recently, I found that it went on so clear I had to use a bottle cap to mark each 8-in. wide swath of finish as I went.

Most water-based polys contain only 30 to 35 percent solids, compared with the 45 to 50 percent solids in oil-based products. Since these solids create the protective finish, you need to apply four coats, as opposed to two or three. And you may need to apply additional coats every two years or so."

Capt.Bill11 said:

Can you wash your brushes out with water after you use them with it?

Here is some information I found on the differences between the two.

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Don't know about washing the brushes out as we use only foam brushes and so throw them away after use.

The explanation of the differences seems pretty accurate to me. The teak on our boat, being from the early 70s, is much prettier with more figuring and interesting color variation than the teak generally used today, which tends to be plantation teak with fairly straight grain and uniform color to it. So we don't want to darken our teak down much at all, particularly on the interior.

For exterior use we use Bristol over CPES. The CPES does darken raw wood down a bit but while we don't particularly like that aspect of it it's a good trade-off for the protection it gives the wood and the adherence it gives to the first coat of finish. Bristol, of course, is not water-based.