Teak Cleaning / teach me.

[Arc]

I’m dealing with inside trim. The teak is in good shape . I’m using Amazon Teak cleaner and brass brush . it seems to work ok. The problem is it makes lots of wet mud, very messy. I’m seeking a cleaner solution .

 

[ghost]

I’m dealing with inside trim. The teak is in good shape . I’m using Amazon Teak cleaner and brass brush . it seems to work ok. The problem is it makes lots of wet mud, very messy. I’m seeking a cleaner solution .

Careful. Is it solid wood or veneer? Brass brush? You might wind up digging out the grain. Most teak cleaners are more of an outside, wash it off kind of product for exterior solid teak. I’m not sure what is in Amazon, but the most common ingredient would be oxalic acid. I buy the stuff in tubs, but I would not use it indoors. It raises the grain, so you would typically need to sand it back to flat. Can’t really do that for interior plywood veneer. Trim is often solid wood, but rarely requires that aggressive of a product.

If it’s really dirty, I might sand it with 320 grit, until it comes clean. There will be some kind of finish on it, so the paper is going to load up and need changed out frequently, but the finish is usually not too thick so you can get through it. A random orbital with vacuum will help, but on trim often not enough room to use one, so hand sanding. Only sand solid wood never veneer unless you want to gamble replacing the entire panel.

Try some solvent to get the dirty fingerprints off it. Gently done, won’t raise the grain much.

 

[Arc]

It’s all solid trim so the brush is not hurting anything. I’m not using acid . The products name is Amazon teak cleaner. Works ok. Just looking for a cleaner way.

 

[Swfla]

Arc, that Amazon Teak Cleaner is for deep cleaning/stripping exterior teak. I looked it up and read about it. You're actually removing the oiled finish, not just cleaning the surface. Bayes High Performance Teak Cleaner & Restorer is made for furniture and will work on the interior without damage. It's available on Amazon dot com as well as some other furniture cleaners. Cheers.

 

[Flatswing]

I use soap, water and some chloroform bleach with a magic eraser pad. Gives a very fine abrasive peel and removes dirt & grease in high use areas. Perfect on my satin teak veneer with solid teak trim.

 

[SteveK]

Already answered, you are removing the oil from the wood. That is the mud.
Inside teak is oiled, mine is.

 

[FBoykin]

Tried Murphy's Oil Soap? I have a 2000 Grand Banks 42C with tons of teak trim - inside and out. Murphy's does a great job of cleaning the interior and keeps the teak looking very nice. I usually use the premixed oil in the spray bottle.

 

[Arc]

Murphy’s states , not to be used on unsealed wood. I found that confusing.

 

[FBoykin]

Murphy’s states , not to be used on unsealed wood. I found that confusing.

My interior wood is varnished satin finish. Is your interior wood not sealed with anything?