Cleaning oil off teak deck

[Formosa]

Hello All:

Was working on my windlass when I accidently spilled close to a litre (quart) of 140-weight gear oil on the raw, weathered teak deck. Mopped up what I could and got soap and water on it but a fair bit penetrated the teak in a five or six square-foot area. Looks bad.

Any suggestions on how to get the oil out even a little bit.

Thanks,

[Adelaide]

Originally Posted by saturnaisland

Hello All:

Was working on my windlass when I accidently spilled close to a litre (quart) of 140-weight gear oil on the raw, weathered teak deck. Mopped up what I could and got soap and water on it but a fair bit penetrated the teak in a five or six square-foot area. Looks bad.

Any suggestions on how to get the oil out even a little bit.

Thanks,

I had the same problem.....I made a bonehead error and ended up dumping some oil on my teak. It has lightened quite a bit over a couple months. Not sure there is anything we can do other than be patient and let the oil weather and lift off naturally.

[Marin]

Been there, done that. No worries. The oil will weather out of the deck planks fairly quickly assuming your boat lives in the weather. If it lives in a boathouse the oil will be there for a long, long time.

[Larry M]

Originally Posted by Marin

Been there, done that. No worries. The oil will weather out of the deck planks fairly quickly assuming your boat lives in the weather..

Same here. Mother nature's the best cleaner for this and is non-aggressive on the teak.

[Phil Fill]

Might want to do the rest of the deck to blend and let them age/weather? I have done that with our side teak decks, after a couple of days I did not even notice/remember there was a stain.

[yachtbrokerguy]

Buy some K2R Spot Lifter at your local supermarket. It seems to be talcom powder in a quick dry solvent that pulls the oil out of the teak as it evaporates. It might take a few applications but works well. I had a travel lift break an hydraulic hose and spray a freshly sanded teak deck, it cleaned it all up. Works great for potato chip oil stains and sunscreen on teak also.

[CPseudonym]

Good to know Tucker, nice pro tip

[Rambler]

potato chip oil stains ?

That's some greasy tater chips.

[Formosa]

Thanks to all. I'll try to find some K2R but, if not, I'll do as many have said by being patient and letting nature take care of it. This is something I'll try not to repeat and hope none of you experience it either. Just glad it was heavy oil that oozed rather than flowed all over the place.

Phil: I did spread the oil around the samson post and anchor platform as they were all ready messed up but it stinks to high heaven -- I can smell the oil from 200 ft away when I row to the mooring.

[BruceK]

Doing some research,the one caulk manufacturer I specifically asked was against using oil dressing products on their caulking as part of dressing up teak decking believing it could damage the caulk. With that possible issue already, best let nature operate and not add to any risk by using solvents.
I spilt about 2 litres of Deks Olje no.2 (the gloss part) on my decks months ago. Thank goodness for disposable diapers kept onboard for fuel etc spills.The stain is still there but the teak won`t be all that much longer, a deck redo to nonskid or fresh teak coming soon. BruceK