Teak

[Dick]

A sailing buddy recommended using baby oil as a treatment for teak.  I have been using teak oil. Comments?

[wes]

Baby oil is just mineral oil with perfume added. You can buy the straight mineral oil without the perfume; cheaper too. People use it for teak items in the kitchen because it's non-toxic in contact with food, but I don't see that as a factor for boat use. Personally if I were going to perfume my oil, I'd pick a scent other than Baby. But that's just me.

Wes

[capt_nemo]

Dick,

Based on many years of experience on and around boats with teak I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANY TYPE OF TEAK OIL.

Teak oil does penetrate the wood, provides a protective coating, and looks nice FOR A WHILE. But, it doesn't last very long and tends to attract and absorb DIRT. Then it has to be cleaned, which involves caustic liquids and scrubbing that removes the soft pulp in the wood and leaves high ridges which then have to be sanded smooth before recoating with oil. And then the process repeats itself. That is why some exterior teak looks so worn and undersized, from repeated cleaning and sanding.

Many years ago "Practical Sailor" performed an extensive test on all kinds of "Teak" products. If I remember their reported findings correctly they reached the following conclusion. Teak should EITHER be left alone to turn that beautiful weathered gray color, OR be coated with several layers of a "proven" protective teak coating, such as a type of varnish (lots of work) , Sikkens Cetol Marine (my favorite and not so much work), or some other like product with UV inhibitors.

This is what my exterior teak looks like after recently applying two "maintenance" coats of Sikkens Cetol Marine Light after initial application 42 MONTHs AGO!  Boat is kept under WHITE Polytarp when not in use.

Hope this helps.

capt_nemo

[Bob23]

   I agree with the Capt. When I first bought my 23, I innocently used Teak oil on all the interior wood. Huge mistake! I discovered that it attacted mold like a bribe attracts a crooked politician. Never again! On the exterior, you do indeed need something that has some kind of UV inhibitor, beit varnish or a Cetol like product. I've been dying to try Armada finish which applies easily like Cetol but apparently is harder.
   A friend of mine sails a Norwalk Island Sharpie 29 here in our NJ salt water environment. He has chosen to do absolutley nothing to his teak and it remains a pleasant silver grey.
Bob23

[skip1930]

I use furniture Min-Wax right out of the can.

Rub it in, wait 20 minutes, buff, rub it in again, wait, buff, and continue.
What else you gonna do on a hot day sitting on the dock just messing around with your boat?

It took like a few years to get rid of the varnish.

skip.

[brackish]

Wow, here we go again, the age old debate.

The answer is "it depends"

Can't speak for baby oil, but I personally like teak oil, if the boat is in the water, otherwise unprotected, and you don't mind spending an hour or two doing the process four times a year.  The process is cleaner, neutralizer, brightener, oil.  In my view it is much easier than the mask and application of any hard coating. 

capt_nemo's approach is great, however, notice the caveat that his boat remains covered with a white tarp when not in use.  My boat remains in the water, in the weather, uncovered when not in use. HUGE difference.  On my dock, with other boats in the same situation, I and other folks have tried marine varnish, two part poly's, Silkens Cetol, and other like products with similar results.  After a year, you have a rather big job to do to repair, prep and recoat.

Those that have just left it weather gray end up without gray but with mold, tree pollen, dirt and bird dung in the grain of the teak making it a not so pleasant mottled green black color.

The Capt is right, the process does raise the grain.  However, once oiled, it looks and feels great at least to me.  I never touched my teak with sandpaper when doing the teak oil process for 16 consecutive years on my Columbia 8.7, with no deleterious results.

If my boat was closer, and the weather was pleasant year round, I would do the process and use the teak oil system.  I like the look.  That's what I did with my last boat that was docked five minutes away from my house, and 300 miles further south, and found it rather pleasant to go through the process once a quarter.  However with this boat about forty miles away, and weather that is not conducive to the process during the winter, I continue my quest for something that holds up more than a season and looks good.

My recommendation is "it depends"

[brackish]

And Bob brought up interior teak.  A horse of a different color so to speak.  The previous owner applied Waterlox original when the boat was brand new.  Nine years later it is still perfect.  All I do is wipe it down with a damp rag to clean off the dust every so often. 

[Jon898]

There's a good discussion of the alternatives and their pro's and con's at the following from last year:

http://cpyoa.geekworkshosting.com/forum/index.php?topic=6871.0

Baby oil IMHO is not a good idea as it will probably turn to petroleum coke in short order as well as remaining sticky.