How to take care of wood interior?

Hi all,

Hopefully an easy question on the proper way to care for interior teak. I have a mostly all-wood interior in my 1986 36' trawler, and some panels are starting to look like theyre drying out and cracking. The interior is a mix of what looks to be solid panels, and pieces covered with a veneer. What's the best way to care for this type of wood? Should I be rubbing the entire interior down with teak oil on a regular basis? We're a liveaboard with two humans, a dog and a cat, so the wood probably sees more wear and tear than your average boat.

I tried applying teak oil on a small section last night, and that area is still fairly tacky to the touch. Its also more glossy than the non-oiled sections, although I'm assuming that's normal (and maybe the point of teak oil). A picture of one of the cracked sections is attached, in case it helps at all.

Thanks in advance for any input!

I expect the eventual.

For 20 years been using Liquid Gold, you can buy at most grocery stores.

I am a HUGE fan of boiled linseed oil. Try it in a hidden area and see if you like it. CAUTION..... dispose of soaked rags carefully. Google "spontaneous combustion".

On another post a member S41 talked about Howard Feed and Wax. Well we tried it out and we were amazed at the difference it made to our teak interior. Sorry no photos yet but we are very impressed.....

I pretty much only use one part satin or flat interior polyurethanes. Inexpensive, easy to apply, fast drying, you can add a coat without sanding between every coat, long lasting, water proof, alcohol proof and long wearing.

I have used Liquid Gold for years. ALso used Teak oil if I want to speed up the matching of new teak colour to the older stuff. Otherwise we found the teak oil darkened the wood a lot faster which we did not want. Mine is an off brand.

All of those oils need to be wiped down after about 10 minutes to remove excess other wise the stuff will do exactly as you have found - gummy/sticky.

GET RID OF THE RAGS or at least seal them into an air tight METAL CAN and keep outside. I often use old, good condition, metal paste wax cans that can still be sealed. NO PLASTIC LIDS OR BODIES.

TO clean it up reapply some fresh stuff and then wipe down immediately.

Oddly I have some of that Howards stuff I use on a beautiful cutting board a friend made for us several years ago. That's what was recommended by him. I will try some on a spare piece of teak and an out of the way spot on the boat.

I have seen flat varnishes and poly's used as described by Capt Bill. They look good. But for all of them try in an out of the way spot so if you don't like the appearance you have not created a disaster.

I think FF, a long time ago, suggested that the T.T. were often done with laquer because it went on fast and looked good. Maybe try that too out of the way.

What kind of a boat is it? Try contacting the owners forum if the brand has one. Grand Bank, Marine Traders, ALbins and some others have their own forums and those members can be very helpfull as they have gone through similar problems. Even if yoru boat is an oddball to those forums try it. The info may be there or a question may get an answer.

The first thing to do is see if you can determine what your wood is coated/sealed with now. If it's sealed with urethane or varnish smearing some kind of oil on it my not get you the best results.

We use Orange Glo Wood Polish and Conditioner on our interior mahogany. We've been very pleased with the results and the temporary fresh orange smell.

Orange Glo®

I agree with Capt Bill, no point using a product that is not compatible, or won't really soak in due to a worn existing varnish finish etc. You also don't want to contaminate the surface in case you need to recoat it with the same product.

Cheers Chris D Liberty Australia

A word of warning:

I thought I would follow a friend's recommendation and use Varathane, water based diamond finish. I also still had some oil based varnish,. So I tried an experiment and did one side of the front of my main cabin in each. It took me at least 10 times the effort to get rid of the horrid finish from the Varathane Diamond finish. The oil based varnish looked great right away and is still there.
I don't like the dark look of teak oil, so wont use it again.

The original bright teak on our boat has'nt been coated w anything but a bit of linseed oil (raw) and turpentine wiped down well.

I paint our salon floor w dark green perch and deck paint from the hardware store. It has excellent color retention and most importantly abrasion resistance.

koliver,
I think the "canned teak oil" has some stain in it. You may be happy w a bit of real teak oil or linseed oil at about 10-1 w turpentine. If you ever get tired of the hard shinny varnish look. May require wooding down though.

Whatever you end up doing, sample in an out of the way place, and stick with one product...many products don't overlay each other well...

Thanks all, sounds like preferences vary. The prior owner left me with a can of teak oil, so I'm assuming that's what he used on the wood before me. I don't mind the color of what's there now, just want to keep it from drying and splitting any more than it already is. Hopefully a fresh coat of teak oil will take care of that issue.

C Lectric, thanks for the tips - I just let the oil sit on the wood and sink in on the first application, will reapply and wipe off after 10 mins next time as you suggest.

I also have some extra teak oil currently sitting in a plastic tupperware and a few old rags lying around, so will be getting rid of those immediately...

I go with what Nordic Tugs are doing, or at least what they where doing when I purchased my NT32 10 years ago. Nordic uses a combination of Daly's Seafin Teak Oil and Fomby's Lemon Oil. On clean or raw teak, sand with about 350 grit, tack off any dust. Apply the Daly's with a good bristle brush. You can also apply with a clean rag or fine bronze wool. I prefer to brush it on and rub it in. Will take about 24 hours to absorb and dry. Lightly buff with a clean rag and apply another coat. 3 coats should be OK for interior teak. After drying and buffing, will leave a smooth, satin finish. Periodic wipe down with a 50/50 combination of Daly's and Fomby's lemon oil will keep it looking good. An occasional dusting with just Fomby's oil is a good thing as well. The Fomby's thins out the oil and it smells good. I will put down 5 coats of buffed Daly's on high foot traffic interior steps. I also apply 5 coats of Daly's on the trim teak on my Trinka dinghy. Unlike some oils, tung oils, etc., Daly's can be used on exterior wood as well.

Now the down side. Daly's Seafin is tough to find. Defender used to carry it but stopped a couple of years ago. I've been told you can special order it from West Marine. You can also purchase Seafin online but expensive. A $20 quart will cost you another $9 for shipping. The last quart I purchased, I found in a local ACE hardware store. If you don't keep on top of it, the oil will dry out and requires another sanding and multiple coats to get it back. Any water not wiped off will soak in and leave streaks or dark spots or drops. Again, sanding and more oil brings it back. Sounds like a little work, but I like the look.

I've been tempted to try Watco's Clear Matte Teak Oil, available at Home Depot and Lowes for about $10 a quart. Watco claims to be a penetrating oil, good for teak, dries to rich, warm glow, provides UV protection, and can be used on exterior woods. OK, I talked myself into trying Watco.

camdunning said:

Hi all,

Hopefully an easy question on the proper way to care for interior teak.

Thanks in advance for any input!

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camdunning...

Obviously lots of favorite solutions... my all time favorite wood finish is Waterlox Tung Oil Finish which comes in a couple of choices - oil, water based & gloss, satin... I use and like the satin oil finish. I've used it on furniture as well as interior wood aboard the boat. I like to thin it and suggest rubbing it on if you want a finish that resembles a rubbed oil finish - paint it on if you prefer a thicker varnish like appearance.

I've tried other brands but have found the Waterlox stuff the best.

Here's some (maybe more than you wanted) info on oil finishes.

I would prefer to put something on that dosn't have any build. Someday you'll need to remove it w scraping, sanding ... probably both. Many teak oils are just a very "high oil" varnish. I'm quite sure we've used SeaFin from Dalys and there was build. Well wiped oil will never build up.
But if you want the high gloss you'll never get it w oil.

I use Guardsman polish for all our wood both at home and on the boat. It contains no silicones that can break down some finishes. It also doesn't build up. Plus it feeds the wood, and gives it a nice warm glow. It is available at our Ace Hardware.

http://www.shopguardsman.com/detail/TCL+460100

I have the same project, refinishing the interior of a 37' Canoe Cove, that's been there for 30 years. So it has panels that are dirty in some places, just years of not being washed in any sense, other areas in the galley are dry and blond vs dark brown.

My question: Do I just add more teak oil, or do I get into a teak cleaner - or is that solely for exterior work? I don't want to sand those huge areas, but don't mind wiping them down with solvent, etc.

Be careful if the panels are veneered. Any aggressive cleaning or sanding will just burn through the veneer.

We use Daly's Sea Fin Teak Oil.

Old deckhand said:

We use Daly's Sea Fin Teak Oil.

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Daily Sea Fin is produced is Seattle mainly for resturant tables chair floor wood work. My son's who own restaurant gave me a can when we bought the Eagle, we have a lot of teak. However, we refurbish and stain most of the teak first. Daily is thin and drys sort of hard like varnish, but not as hard but a little to heavy for interior teak vaneer, that is why I use Liquid Gold. However I do use it of the exterior teak deck, they look like they are varnished with multi coats. Not a believer fan of teak oil.

Capt.Bill11 said:

The first thing to do is see if you can determine what your wood is coated/sealed with now. If it's sealed with urethane or varnish smearing some kind of oil on it my not get you the best results.

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Very important before you put something on it. Some finishes will soften when oiled and not dry out well, stay tacky.