Teak Deck Maintenance

[siestakey]

My teak deck cleans up nice but if I am gone for 2 weeks the grain gets dark it cleans easy with teak cleaner

this last time I was gone 5 weeks the teak still look conditioned but the black was very hard to remove teak cleaner did not do the job

any suggestions

[siestakey]

forgot the pic after cleaning

I need a pic of dirty next time maybe

[caltexflanc]

I take it you want it to look like that all the time and not natural silver grey?

[Larry M]

We use Cascade Liquid Dishwashing Detergent with a white 3-M Scotch pad. There seems to be something in the soap that helps really clean the decks and the Cascade and the Scotch pad aren't to aggressive. Twice a year we use Semco Teak Sealer after cleaning.

[Donsan]

Originally Posted by siestakey

this last time I was gone 5 weeks the teak still look conditioned but the black was very hard to remove teak cleaner did not do the job

any suggestions

My suspicion is the black stuff is ordinary Florida mildew. The normal treatment on most surfaces is bleach or a bleach water solution but that isn't something you want to put on teak decks.

[siestakey]

Caltex yes mainly because a large area is so shaded it will not grey

I was pretty sure the black was mold

Larry I will have to try that in 2 weeks when I get back

[Pack Mule]

The 2 part cleaner from Semco works pretty good also .

[siestakey]

Thanks Pack going to have this boat a long time I hope so I will try several things including this

I used to make extra money at the St. Pete Yacht club and muni marina as a teenager sanding and cleaning teak

there was a old boat at the end of the muni ( I think used to be Earl Flinns may of been a urban legand)

The guy that owned it made a mix that cleaned it so well was a powder and a liquid and water was about 35 years ago wonder what it was

[Xsbank]

Mild dish soap and a soft bristle brush used across the grain, salt water. You will cut your deck's life in half with abrasives and aggressive cleaners. The soft wood between the grain is easily removed then you have to sand it to be smooth. You then take off valuable wood. Teak oxidizes to a nice grey colour and getting the colour back to brown means you are losing wood. When your first paper-thin bungs start falling out then you need to start remediating the deck, then you find out it's too thin then you pay big boat dollars to remove or replace.

If you want it to stay brown you either sand it regularly, use an aggressive cleaner or varnish it. Varnish will fail eventually then you need to sand...

[Capt.Bill11]

Originally Posted by siestakey

Thanks Pack going to have this boat a long time I hope so I will try several things including this

I used to make extra money at the St. Pete Yacht club and muni marina as a teenager sanding and cleaning teak

there was a old boat at the end of the muni ( I think used to be Earl Flinns may of been a urban legand)

The guy that owned it made a mix that cleaned it so well was a powder and a liquid and water was about 35 years ago wonder what it was

You only want to use a two part cleaner once or maybe twice a year. It's very hard on the wood. I have a home made recipe for two part cleaner that work just as well as the over priced commercial cleaner and cost about 1 tenth or less of the price of the commercial products to mix up. I'll post it when I'm back to my computer.

To clean teak on a regular basis use Cascade or powdered Tide with bleach in it and a doodle bug pad. Scrub across the grain of the wood. You can also beach the wood out using oxalic acid crystals.

[siestakey]

Capt Bill

Thanks neighbor!

[Giggitoni]

If you don't like gray....you should consider another deck material.

[Dawdler]

Someone could make a fortune inventing a synthetic teak that had all of the great qualities of the real thing yet stayed that beautiful gold color that is so attractive. Any brilliant scientists out there?

[siestakey]

Dawdler

yes sure could

[Donsan]

Originally Posted by Dawdler

Someone could make a fortune inventing a synthetic teak that had all of the great qualities of the real thing yet stayed that beautiful gold color that is so attractive. Any brilliant scientists out there?

There is something called Plasteak:

Teak Boat Flooring, Holly Boat Flooring, Maple Boat Flooring | PlasTEAK Inc.

[caltexflanc]

And Seadek:

Teak Swim Platform Pads – SeaDek Marine Products

And, the best I've seen:

MarQuipt ... A Reputation for Quality,Â*Service, and Reliability

I'm from the school that all a teak deck needs is a very soft brush and clean salt water. For the occasional diesel or other stain, maybe a little very diluted sudsy ammonia. About every 3 years, Ann liked to have them heavy cleaned, we used Snappy Teak which seemed to be among the least corrosive according to various detailers and teak deck guys. Others swore by Semco's "cleaner" and others still by those from Teak Decking Systems (who hands down has the best caulk)

[Capt.Bill11]

+1 on cleaning teak with salt water. Rinsing it with salt water after and letting the salt water evaporate dry is even better.

[Andy G]

Originally Posted by siestakey

Dawdler

yes sure could

Check the archives ,there are some good threads on this subject

[Marin]

Teak cleaner/restorer is a great way to shorten the life of a teak deck. There is only one way to get a teak deck back to brown from silver-gray, and that is to remove the weathered wood cells. You can do it with sandpaper or you can do it with the teak cleaners/restorers. The end result is the same.

Sandpaper removes the wood mechanicaly, teak cleaners/restorers remove the wood chemically. Either way, wood goes away and you cannot get it back. The more you use teak cleaner/restorer, the faster the deck goes away. If you insist on using a teak cleaner/restorer, every time you apply it imagine yourself giving the deck a sanding because that is exactly what you're doing.

If one is interested in maximizing the longevity of a teak deck, there are only two things that have to be done. One, learn to love silver-gray. Two, keep it clean by regular washings with a string mop or sponge and saltwater with a soap like Lemon Joy that makes good suds in cold water.

That's it. One to three times a year depending on how dirty the environment is, it's a good idea to give the deck a bit of a light scrubbing with a doodle bug and the salt water/Joy mixture to get out deeper dirt.

So.... never use sandpaper, never use teak cleaners/restorers, never use a power washer, and try to never wash or scrub the deck with the grain. Always go across the grain unless deck hardware prevents this.

Our boat still has its original teak deck, which is now 42 years old. Previous owners over-sanded it, but it's still serviceable. Given the expense of replacing a teak deck, and the fact that we don't like fiberglass deck surfaces, we are naturally interested in making our deck last as long as we possible can.

To that end, over the last 16 years we have learned a hell of a lot about teak decks, their care and feeding, how to repair and replace deck seams, what deck seam material is the best, the whole nine yards.

Bottom line is keep the seams in the proper condition, keep the deck screws covered with teak plugs properly seated and glued, keep the deck clean, and don't do anything that can cause wood cells to go away.

[Capt.Bill11]

Home made 2 part teak cleaner.

Not to be use to clean your teak on a regular basis. Just like commercial 2 part teak cleaners this is a very strong cleaner that should only be use when the teak is very, very dirty and nothing else less caustic will work. It can of course be used to clean and bleach teak before varnishing if need be.



Here's the formula:

Part 1 or A

To 3 - 5 gallons of water add 1 cup TSP powder and 1 cup ammonia, mix well.

Use as you would the commercial part 1 or A.
Keep wet and do not rinse off after scrubbing.

Part 2 or B

To 3-5 gallons of water add 2-3 cups muratic acid. Apply as you would the commercial part 2 or B.

As you genitally scrub the part 2 around be sure you get it into all the areas covered with the part 1 so it can react with the part 1 and cause the teak to go blond. Keep all surfaces wet while doing this. Try to keep it off of anodized aluminum and painted surfaces that are not painted with a 2 part ploy paint just as you should with the commercial 2 part products. And rinse everything very, very well after all the teak goes blond.

Eye, hand and feet protection should be worn just as with the commercial products.

You can make the 2 parts as strong or as weak as you like. And the cost is 10% or less than the cost of the commercial products.