Oil stain on teak

Okay forum, suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I messed up big time. Changed my engine oil last Sat and in the process I was able to drop about a quart of oil on my back deck. I soaked it up quickly, but as you can see, it stained. Removing the caulking and sanding the teak was going to be a project in the near future, but now I think it's going to be a priority project. But until I can get to it, any suggestions on what I can possibly do to kinda make it better? Thank you all in advance.

try teak wonder cleaner its a uk product, its very good.

I would try Dawn with brush first

Sudsing ammonia is what I used for spot stains on our teak decks. That's a big stain.

Sanding decks is something to avoid if at all possible.

You’d be surprised how fast it will “heal itself” by doing nothing. I spilled a mixture of oil and graphite lock lubricant on my teak deck and within a couple of months it was gone!

When I was a truck driver they told me to coat the wood deck (8x40’) with used engine oil. It was oily as one would expect initially but soon evolved into a nice wood deck that water beaded up on. Don’t remember it being slippery.

Good chance it will be good as a base for “oil based” finishes. You could put more oil on or start using linseed oil.

You could “wash” the whole deck area w solvent. That would drive the oil down in the wood some but w a light coat of thinned oil on surrounding wood only and then overall you may not be able to tell where the spill was. And as Ray says all of it will dissipate rather soon anyway. But you may like a bit of an oil finish and just keep using light oil.

I think Eric is on to something. However your immediate problem is feet picking up the oil and tracking it.

Maybe try some solvent (turpentine?) and a brush to let it work into the oil and sit for a day. Then I think I would follow it up with some Dawn and a brush so it won’t transfer when walked on.

Maybe try something like kitty litter to absorb some of the oil out of the wood.

dhays said:

I think Eric is on to something. However your immediate problem is feet picking up the oil and tracking it.

Maybe try some solvent (turpentine?) and a brush to let it work into the oil and sit for a day. Then I think I would follow it up with some Dawn and a brush so it won’t transfer when walked on.

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Thanks Dave,
Yes to light solvent wash and no to water and Dawn. I think Dawn residue in the wood will be a negative. Just a tiny bit of soap should be OK for penetration. Just solvent or solvent and a bit of oil best IMO.

CDave,
I like the kitty liter idea but only if max oil removal is the objective. May leave a residue that won’t be compatible with things used in the future.

cover it with baking soda and brush it in to absorb some of the oil. Then lightly apply a lighter solvent and redo the baking soda. The solvent will lighten the oil while the BS will absorb it. then try some teak cleaner. Then let the sun work on it.
Once it is lighter do the entire deck with some teak oil that matches what you have

What bayview says

Giggitoni nailed it, paper towel or something so you don’t track it, mild detergent with a soft brush across the grain ONLY AS MUCH AS IT NEEDS TO STOP TRACKING. Then ignore it. It will vanish before you know it.

Clumsy!

Ditto Giggatoni. I’ve spilled cooking fats, olive oil, diesel and hydraulic oil. I scrubbed a bit with dish soap then gave up. Even under the bimini, it didn’t take long to disappear.

I've done this. Scrubbed with Dawn, then left damp towel with dawn in it (not much, just a dribble) over it for a day and walked on it. Scrubbed again, rinsed and and let the sun do the rest of the work. Detergent got into the wood pores and lifted most oil. Rain helped. Sun helped. In a month or two could not see it.

Oh, and next time don't spill crankcase oil!! Half the time it takes to change engine oil is to make sure you do not spill.

Ski in NC said:

Oh, and next time don't spill crankcase oil!! Half the time it takes to change engine oil is to make sure you do not spill.

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So true. Last week I screwed up when changing the oil. Sprayed used oil on me, and around the ER.

In my youth I worked for a boat broker. Once a new boat owner spilled used engine oil on the cockpit sole in a similar manner. The owner asked the broker for someone to come out and clean it "professionally". After looking over the mess, the very knowledgable broker told me to go down and drain a cup of oil from the engine. We then took a rag and "oiled" the teak. Perfect match! and the teak looked better than it did using the yachty oil.

neworleans, that is a great story!

We recently had to deal with a motor oil spill on teak. A Johnson 9.9 was laid down on the wrong side, all the oll came out onto the teak in a cross-country transport, what a mess!

Kitty litter/diatomacious earth soaked it all up with a few applications, can't tell there was a spill. Low cost, really worked! Just be patient.

newor,
Thanks. Nothing wrong w a bit of oil on wood.

Know this is late,
But, I’ve had great success with naphtha (which evaporates relatively slowly) and diatomaceous earth which is cheaply available from pool supply stores.
Pour diatomaceous into a can, soak with naphtha. Then wet surface of teak with naphtha and apply the diatomaceous earth to the area.
Repeat two more times. Or more as necessary.

Thanks so much for the input and suggestion. I'll see about looking for this stuff. To be honest, never ever heard of either. It's been a little while now so it is well soaked into the teak. It's faded a bit, but still very visible. Would it still work?

I used the diatomaceous earth a week or two later. Worked great for me