teak guard

[berwick1]

Has anyone used teak guard http://www.allguardproducts.com/
and if so what were the results?

Thanks, Richard

[rweiland]

I wish there were answers to this question as I'm interested in the product, too. The information I have from another Westsailor is that he's been using it for two years on external teak and he found it to work well and be easily recoated on bow platform, grab rails and boom gallows, but he removed it from his cap rails and went with Cetol. Sounds like areas subject to wear work okay but areas with no wear don't. I'm a bit puzzled but am trying to find out more, especially about its removal if you don't like the results.

[sander06]

I'm probably in the minority, but I don't use anything but a high quality varnish just because it's part of the history of wind power. Kind of like sextants and mermaids!! But then, no one has ever called me very practical, either.

[TxLnghrn]

Rweiland,
Welcome to Sailnet. I haven't used teak guard yet, but I have a kit sitting here waiting for it to hit the top of my project list. It had gotten close but the fuel system just took priority. (When you read on this forum to change fuel filters and bleed it for the first time at the dock so you don't have to try under sail believe it). I didn't and had an interesting last outing. If you wait a couple of weeks I'll be glad to post my review with before and after pics.

Michael

[Wanasail]

I began using Teakguard in a comparison test against Armada (Cetol-like teak treatment) last season. Result: I like Teakguard overall and will continue to use it on my boat's teak exterior trim this year. My boat is kept on a mooring in the Northern Chesapeake Bay region during season, and is kept on the hard in off-season.

Background: In May 2008, I bought a small supply of Teakguard to "trial" it on my sailboat's cockpit teak floorboards. Application was easy, fast-drying and extremely easy to clean up afterwards. I wanted to see how it looked on the floorboards before applying it to the teak combing and toe-rail. After 3-4 coats I and my friend Mike checked it out. Mike said that the finish looked a little "plastic-y", like it had a plastic, unnatural looking coating on the wood. And in fact I agreed with him, it did have a kind of plastic sheen to it, even though the teak wood appeared to be well protected. Mike had just refinished the teak on his Alberg and offered me a can of "Armada Wood Finish Water Clear" that he had on hand from that job. He said that it would probably give a more natural looking finish to the teak. I took him up on his offer and applied four coats (which took a lot longer than Teakguard) to all of the remaining teak with the exception of the floor boards, which I decided would retain as Teakguard. By the way, I first sanded and cleaned the teak wood before applying the Armada.

By July, the first signs of bleaching and wear started showing up on the teak finished with Armada but not with the floorboard treated with Teakguard. In fact that plastic-y look actually faded and the wood looked more natural than immediately after initial application. But the most important result is that not a single spot of Teakguard wore away, while the Armada did. As an added test, I sanded off the Armada on one of the teak tread pads on the top of the cockpit coaming and applied just three coats of Teakguard. As of March 2009, the surfaces (floor board & tread pad) treated with Teakguard are a little faded and dirty, but the Armada is entirely faded and flaking off. My decision is to use Teakguard on all exterior teak surfaces. Less maintainance will hopefully translate into more leisure time on the water. I do not have a "classic" boat, nor do I aspire to follow brightwork traditions for tradition sake, but I do like to have a safe, clean and attractive sailing vessel. I'd recommend Teakguard.

Teakguard Pros
Fast application with sponge brush
Liquid consistency gets into grain of wood
Excellent coverage
Fast drying time - 20 mins between coats on a dry day
Soap and water clean-up
No flaking of finish, has uniform wear.

Teakguard cons
Not a high gloss finish like varnish
Slightly unnatural looking finish (plastic look eventually dulls down)

[foxglove]

I used teakguard in 2004. I not only followed reccomendations but called the mfgr several time to be sure to get it right. By spring of 2005, most of the finish was gone and it's hell trying to get the rest off.

My boat has looked like crap for the past three seasons while I waited for the stuff to fall off. Mfgr reccomendation for removal was high pressure spray at low angle so you don't remove the wood.

Never again.

[MJBrown]

I've been using it for over 7 years and just applied it to our new boat. Wanasail nailed it pretty well. Easy to apply, no need to tape the gel coat as it wipes off with a damp rag, it's a water based product. Goes on easily with a foam brush. Leaves a natural golden color, deepens with more coats. Yes you may see a slight sheen to it the first few weeks but it does fade but the color stays. It doesn't turn black like teak oils do. Next season just scrub the teak and clean with either their product or an oxcylic cleaner. I've used TLSEA and Bartenders Keeper with good results. The finish will wear away during the course of the year but any flakiness washes right off. I've never had the problems foxglove spoke of. It's not slippery when wet either. I have nothing but good things to say about it and will continue to use it.
Mike

[eolon]

I used it on the shower grate in the head. It looks nice, but it is too much work. It's also expensive.

Best Regards,

e

.::.

[wsteeves]

I have exact same experience as Wanasail. Its very good stuff and makes it all very easy. Beware: there are 2 Teak Guard products from 2 different manufacturers. Foxgloves experience sounds a lot like the reviews for the "other" product. I believe allguard is the correct stuff and is TeakGuard without a space or dash. The other stuff which rated poorly, held up poorly and tended to flake off is Teak-Guard.

[noreault]

I just got the kit from TeakGuard. I have only used a bit of the cleaner so far to test it. But, the cleaner is simply amazing. Tested it on the arm of an 8 year old teak bench and the results were incredible.