Teak Guard

Has anyone used "Teak Guard" ? How does it look and wear? Would they recommend?

Looks really interesting. If you use it please post how it works for you. I need a miracle.

TeakGuard Teak Protectant - Teak Finish and Restoration Superior to Teak Oil - MarineStore.com

I've used it two years ago with a recoat this year. It's not a miracle cure. Put it on upper and lower rub rail, teak swim platform and mahogany transom. It came out to orange for my taste. I lightly sanded and low pressure washed then let dry for a day or two. turned out nice on the teak but where ever you stop and started a brush stroke on the mahogany showed darker and I couldn't get it to go away. Looked good from a distance, not up close. The bad part was that it wore off within weeks on the teak transom steps and by the ladder. Also stained lower rub rail where the scuppers (what ever they're called) drained the deck water. We've decided to remove it next spring and try something else. Mostly because of the color. I'm just not a brightwork person and with a little more patience it may come out better, In my opinion I would not recommend this product.

I did buy a product called Australian deck oil by Cadott. Tried it on the name plate a month ago. We'll see how that holds up.

Hope this helps

Clay

I’ve been using Teak Guard for about a year and a half now and can tell you a bit about it from my experience. My boat has been in south Florida since I started using Teak Guard. Be sure you get the allguard teak guard as there apparently is another product with a similar name and not as good.
To begin with, my teak was all gray and there was no residual finish on it that I could tell. I began by following the directions explicitly and soon realized I would not live long enough to finish using the cleaner and brush and washing off with water, as I have a good amount of teak on my boat. So I pressured washed and then sanded most of it, except for what I had done by hand to begin with. The pressure washing cleaned the teak very well, (sanding just smoothed it out some) but on some of the pressure washed areas, I used the cleaner and brush as well. The reason I’m saying this is because in the end, there was no appreciable difference in any of the areas that were prepared differently.
The application process was followed as prescribed, and I can tell you that it is important to apply ‘light’ coats as per the directions. I have found that the best way to apply is one very light coat in the early morning or on cloudy days where it won’t evaporate right away, but won’t get rained on for a few hours either. One coat per day seems to work best and plan on at least 4-5 coats. It will not look very good after two coats, gets somewhat better after 3, but once that 4th or 5th coat is dried it takes on that really nice ‘golden honey’ look.
Admittedly, 4-5 coats seems like a lot of work, but with the foam brush (I wouldn’t use anything else) it goes on quite quickly and easily. One thing here to remember is when applying, always clean up drips or splatters on anything else right away with a damp cloth. It will clean up easily. If you don’t, it doesn’t take long at all to stain and then you’ll need an acetone type solvent to remove the stain.
When I was done, all the teak had a very uniform golden honey look that I would describe as a somewhat satin look, not shiny like other varnishes, but a very natural look that I liked. When it rained, the teak guard did not repel the water much, as it would soak in, but it dried back to the same golden color.
Now for the “butt” side, sorry, ‘but’ side…
The sun in South Florida can be brutal, but all in all I was pretty pleased with how the Teak guard held up. After a month or two I began to notice slight dark streaks forming in some of the grains. I imagined it would only get worse and eventually all turn gray again, but that never happened. It got to a point where it gave the teak a nice contrast within the grainy structure, not gray or black at all, just a somewhat darker amber honey within the different grains. What did happen though were some surfaces, mostly large flat surfaces such as door panels, and surface areas constantly in direct sunlight began to get rather blotchy looking, as the darker amber color contrasted with lighter areas that didn’t absorb that dark amber color.
This I tried to lightly sand uniform again, but it must be differences within the wood why some sections turn darker than others. The areas that seldom get any direct sun like the underneath side of the handrails, rub rails etc. have remained almost unchanged and required much less attention overall.
As for the attention, the instructions say the product is guaranteed not to chip or flake for one year and I have found that is almost exact. For in one year sure enough, the finish began to chip and flake off. Needless to say I was a bit upset. But after researching all available products on the market again, I decided to try and work with what I had.
The problem for the most part was that when I first noticed some flaking, I just applied more product over the spots. That only succeeded in making the appearance blotchier, as the bare spot never blended with the rest because what wasn’t bare got more product applied to it also. Another thing I hadn’t realized was that when an area starts to flake, there is generally a lot more loose product that just hasn’t come off yet. So after a lot of experimentation, this is what I do now.
Now when I notice some bare spots, and they are always quite small, tiny chips if you will, I very lightly sand the area to remove anything that is barely hanging on. I use 60 grit, but do so very lightly, just to blend the spots with the surrounding area. I tried a finer grit, but it tended to gum up and I had to sand harder. So just very lightly with the sandpaper, then apply thin light coats as mentioned above a few times and it all blends together very well. Very easy to do. I find that so far it seems to be holding up much better. It has never turned gray or black, and the upkeep is minimal. I just keep a check on it so that I catch the problem areas before they become too extensive. This also keeps it looking nice all the time.
This has been my experience and in comparison to how labor intensive most other varnishes seem to be, I’ll stick with teak guard till something better comes along.
Last but not least, I like the look of it on my boat. I don’t think I would like the look of it on a newer boat, as you would expect a newer boat to look..well.. new!
This product after a while takes on an ‘old world’ salty satin kind of look to it that compliments my boat rather well. I can honestly say that I have had very many positive comments on it, even though up close its flaws are apparent, but from a few feet away it looks great! But you would do well to consider the overall look of what you are trying to achieve.
Oh yeah, just one more thing. If I put my bare feet up on the teak gunwale cap, the sweat will pull some of the finish off most every time, but the steps, handrails and lazarett cover never chip or flake at all!...weird..
Hope this helps…

Pokey2 said:

I did buy a product called Australian deck oil by Cadott. Tried it on the name plate a month ago. We'll see how that holds up.

Click to expand...

Could that be "Cabot", not "Cadott", the former is a known wood treatment brand here.
I`m using Deks Olje, recently did my second annual cappings revival job. No sanding, a wash with water and a dish scourer, a coat of oil where the finish looked "dry", 2 coats of gloss, good to go.

Yes, you are correct.

We have put on teak guard. 3 coats only then went to haul out and ran out of time to put on 2 more coats. We did this in july and with 3 coats and a haul out we are happy with the golden color we have. The first coat i did not like the color but the wife told me to just wait till the other coats got applied. Glad i did as i like the color.
I will look for some pix and post them

I used teak guard on the trim of my last boat, a small Grady White that was 20 years old. The teak was all gray, the surface severely weathered and in some areas, black. I removed it from the boat, sanded it smooth and applied several coats of teak guard. Three years later, when I sold the boat, the teak still looked great in spite of nearly constant exposure to the weather here in VA. The boat was on the lift year round. During the summer months, the teak may have been protected somewhat by the bimini top and during the winter months, definitely had some protection by the bimini and curtains. I'm planning to do the teak trim on my current boat this winter, also using teak guard.

Gary

I have used Teak Guard for about three years now and love it. I personally like the look of natural teak but it's not for everyone nor dose it last for more than a season. Having said that, all you do is clean up the teak with some brass wool and wash it with mild detergent let dry and apply several coats and you're back in business. I have tried teak oil and Cetole in the past and every year I would have to sand it down and reapply so there is no difference in the work. The difference is that when it does wear off is those were off doesn't flake off it just turns whitish whereas with teak oil that would eventually turn gray or black.

My slipmate is using Starbrite Tropical Teak Oil Sealer, and I think it looks pretty good.
I am thinking of using it too.

Anyone experienced with it?

We are just finishing the last of 8 coats of Teak Guard and are very happy with it. Took forever to get the 10 or so coats of Cetol off and prep for TG.

Anybody can mix up their own "teak oil" .....
There's no magic to it.
And when you mix your own you can vary the contents to suit the specific job you're doing at the moment.

Nice thing about Teak Guard, no oil in it at all.